PIAA State Champs-Boys AAA Race Story
PIAA State Champs-Boys AA Race Story
PIAA State Champs-Girls AA Race Story
One race which didn't surprise was the girls' AAA, where Frances Koons went to the front, as is her style, and cruised to a very fast 18:37. Hatboro-Horsham repeated as AAA State Champs, and only loses one of their top five.
Koons has been the class of the state all season, winning races all fall, with the exception of finishing 2nd to 2002 Foot Locker Laura Cummings of Bay Shore NJ at the Spiked Shoe Invitational in September. Koons was alone at the front very quickly. That was the plan, but not necessarily the expectation. "I was going to go out and try to lead the whole way. I thought at the beginning that there would be a couple of more girls up with me, but that's OK that they weren't."
She was somewhat surprised with the level of support the entire race, and it gave her strength. "Everywhere I went, I heard my name. It made me feel really good." But the confidence to actually take the risk and go for it from the start came from her little sister, Anne. "So many people told me I could win, but my little sister had complete and utter faith in me. That was the one thing I was thinking about before the race. Anne has complete faith in me that I can do this, so so should I. I was real nervous, but that just made me feel real good."
The young led the Hatboro-Horsham girls to a repeat of the state title, and it doesn't look like they'll be any weaker next season. All season, observers were waiting for freshmen Kerry Swayne and Brittany Sullivan. Both not only didn't wilt under the supposed pressure, each medaled at their first state meet. Swayne was 12th in 19:26 and Sullivan 23rd in 19:35. Sophomores Theresa Gould (34th) and Jen O'Neill (63rd) ran 3rd and 4th for the Lady Hatters, with, senior cocaptain Anna Baker (72nd), getting the final points. The spread, a remarkable 1:08, with their final two runners in within 16 seconds of that. Baker, a senior, has been to States three years in a row. She was the only one to race two years ago along with last year's team leader Janine Ricci. "Last year no one knew what it was like, except for me and Janine, so I tried to help them." She said the team had some hints that this year's squad could be special. "We knew there were some good girls coming in, but no one was threatened. We just brought them in and we trained as hard as we could. We worked for it." And she believes they have a great chance of going three in a row. "With four of our top runners underclassmen, we should repeat next year. I hope."
Koons pushed the 2nd mile to gain the lead she needed.