9/5 WKND: Brophy, Mackey run 15:48! Feeney 18:42 @ Robbins! Hockenbury on track!

PA 2015 XC Weekly
Press Release PennTrackXC.com

Follow this page all weekend for highlights, photos, videos, and results from all the action of the opening weekend. Coaches, please send your results to alexis.mercado@flosports.tv so we can post them and put the results into our rankings system.

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John Sharp

The boys state meet course record holder and defending AAA state champion Jake Brophy laid down a marker that will send a shockwave through the state. Brophy successfully defended his title with an outstanding 15:48.1 performance that was 17 seconds better than his 2014 victory!



Runner up honors went to Jeff Kirshenbaum of Methacton in 16:02.8, which was faster than Brophy's 2014 win. Rock Fortna of Central Bucks West finished 3rd at this meet for the 2nd year running with a time of 16:10.7.

Fortna's performance led the defending meet champions CB West to a successful defense of their crown with a score of 44 points with a 55 second spread. Council Rock North defeated Central Bucks East for 2nd place thanks to the 6th runner tiebreaker. Both teams scored 100 points.

In the girls race, favorite Lotte Black of Wissahickon was trailing freshman Katie Irelan of Villa Joseph Marie for much of the race. Irelan came close to pulling off the upset on her full high school debut, but Black made the decisive move in the final quarter of a mile to secure victory in 19:50 to Irelan's 20:00.4. Hannah Morris and Tate Dawson finished side by side for 3rd and 4th place in 20:29.


Despite the graduation of Marissa Sheva, Pennridge emerged victorious in this meet, holding off defending meet champions CB East and young Villa Joseph Marie 82-87-94 thanks to a 93 second spread that was 44 seconds better than Central Bucks East.

Boys Highlights


Oakbourne Relays

AAA boys team favorites Downingtown West came out of the blocks well at the opening season Oakboure Relays. The team of Ben Ryherd and Ryan Sappey finished as the winning team, combining to run 20:13 for the combined two mile legs. Finishing behind them in 20:30 were Ryan Barton and Jake O'Neil. The bronze position went to the Germantown Friends team of Nick Dahl and Jonnie Plass in 20:38, just ahead of Spencer Smucker and Michael Thompson.

For the girls, Unionville produced the winning relay pair once again, with the team of Anna Juul and Alison Herr edging out a one second victory over the Emmaus team of Katie Bacher and Katrina Durrwachter, and three seconds over the Conestoga team of Johanna Nasman and Dominique Schultz. Unionville had two teams in the top five.

Father Bede

Mother Nature has already made a dampening impact on some teams in the early stages of the season. The college men and high school boys were able to beat the lighting at St Francis University, but the college women and the high school girls were not so lucky.

As for the actual racing, Bryce Descavish of Central Cambria was way ahead of the field in his season debut. The AA state title contender ran 17:30.7 to win his first meet of the season by 37 seconds over Canon-McMillan's Jonas Wudkwych. Wudkwych's teammates performed well behind him, going 3-6 with a 1-5 spread of 52.7 seconds to cruise to the team title with 16 points.

River Trail

Kyla Kelly of Highlands earned her first career invitational victory on Friday night, winning the varsity race in 22:09 to win by over two and a half minutes! Her performance also was enough to lead her team to a 42-50 victory over Baldwin. Rhiannon Heigert also secured a top ten finish for the winners.

The boys race was won by Zac Schrott of West Mifflin with a time of 18:19. Serra Catholic defeated Yough 68-86 with Noah Kinser leading the way with a 4th place finish.

Big Valley

Brooke Hutton of Coatesville did herself one better to start this season compared to last season. The sophomore finished 2nd at this meet a year ago, and today she made sure that didn't happen with a big win in 19:29, defeating Natasha Fedkina of State College by nearly a minute (20:25). Fedkina's team would still manage to win the team title, scoring 47 points to defeat Coatesville and Forest Hills with a 50 second 1-5 spread.


In the boys race, Class A state title contender Will Kachman of Bedford held off Alex Milligan of State College to win the race 16:35 to 16:43. Milligan's teammate Nick Feffer finished 3rd in 16:56, and that duo helped secure victory for their team with a score of 44 points to defeat rivals Altoona and Lewisburg.


Girls Highlights


Lock Haven

Tori Ross of Warrior Run dueled it out with Taeli Quanz until the final portion of the race to earn a win in 19:04.9 to win by 18 seconds. St Joseph's Catholic Academy kept their runners as close together as they could in different packs of the race, a strategy that led them to the team title over Warrior Run 41-98. The winners had four finishers in the top ten team places led by a 5th place finish by Lucia Person in 19:59.3.

In the boys race, Archbishop Curley (MD) traveled up north and took control of the race to win the meet with ease. Winner Nathan Jecelin (16:19.1) and bronze medalist Mac Columb (16:30.4) led the charge, as the team scored 41 points to defeat St Joseph's Catholic Academy by 43 points.


Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

Cliff Robbins

Just like Jake Brophy laid down a marker Friday night at John Sharp, Erin Feeney of Scranton Prep made a big impression on her season debut. The senior broke the 19 minute barrier for the very first time in her career, winning the race in a blazing time of 18:42, defeating the field by over a minute. Lexi Walsh of Holy Cross ran 19:49 for 2nd and Tara Johnson of Pittston ran 19:59 for 3rd. Scranton Prep also were victorious in the team standings, scoring 68 points despite a 3 minute spread to defeat Holy Cross and Lake-Lehman.

The boys race was business as usual for Dominic Hockenbury of Lake-Lehman. The reigning AA state champion made it look easy, cruising to a 16:11 win to defend his meet title and perhaps save some energy for next week's PTXC 7 race at Kutztown. Matt Murray of Dunmore finished 2nd in 16:49 and Jack Zardecki of Dallas ran 17:19 for 3rd. His teammates did a great job behind him, with the team placing four in the top 20 to win the team title over Montrose 79-104.

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights


Cal U of PA

Kelsey Potts did not compete to defend her title at this meet, leaving it for Riley Kwiatkowski of Greensburg Salem to race as the favorite and she secured victory with a 7 second win over Morgan Grudi of Canon-McMillan in 20:13. Potts' absence also opened the door for University (WV) to secure the team title with a score of 50 points to win by 46 over Mount Lebanon.

In the boys race, Mount Lebanon successful defended their team title once again, placing for of the top six runners led by a runner up finish by Ian Harris and a bronze medal finish by Bryce Brandenstein. The winners finished with 27 points and a 59 second spread to win by 45 points on the day.

Carroll Invite

Sewickley Academy went down to Texas to compete at the Carroll Invite and their 6A division race. Griffin Mackey ran 15:48 to finish 12th overall.

Northampton

Severna Park (MD) had a field day in the Lehigh Valley on Saturday, placing four of the top six runners to defeat Downingtown East 27-87. Downingtown East did have a 51 second spread with their top five runners led by Alex Ochsner's 11th place finish. Freedom's Will Alpaugh was PA's top finisher, running 16:08.7 to finish 3rd.

For the girls, Kassi Yocco of Bethlehem Catholic had to push all the way to the end to hold off Dieruff's Willow Childs for the individual title 19:38 to 19:42. Downingtown East had a solid race, using a 44 second spread led by an 8-9-10 finish from Audrey Fatone, Caroline Roumpz, and Kelly Mulcahy.

Boys Highlights


LVC Dutchman

Joe Pisacano of St Joe's Prep earned a 15 second victory in his first race of the season with a time of 16:22. Nate Frierson of Milton Hershey finished 2nd and led his team to a 10 point victory over Palmyra 68-78. Milton Hershey finished with four in the top 20 overall.

For the girls, Palmyra flew out of the blocks with an impressive win thanks to a strong top three effort from runner up Sarah Hollen, 6th place Kelsei Bixler, and 7th place Ellie Keck. They scored 56 points to secure victory. Jamie Zamrin of Cocalico was the individual winner with a time of 19:30.3.

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights


Hornet Harrier

Jordan Williams of Sharon came away victorious in a strong top three dual with Lexi Bible of Hickory and Alison Flier of Laurel. Williams ran 19:29.7 to win by over 30 seconds. Bible was 2nd and Flier was 3rd. Flier's team did come away with the team title over Hickory by 13 points, 63 to 76 with two top ten finishers.

For the boys, Shenango defeated host Hickory by a slim 7 point margin, 96-103 to take the team title home. Shenago were led by a 4-5 finish from Chase Waldschmidt and Matt Salem. Ryuji Mano of Greenville won the individual gold in 17:22.

Girls Highlights


Lions Invitational

We had our closest team title finish of the weekend at Moravian Academy, as AA title contenders Northwestern Lehigh defeated Abington Heights by one single point, 76-77, to win their first invite of the year. Abington Heights were strong in their 1-4 positions, led by a bronze medal finish by Katie Dammer. But Northwestern Lehigh's showed their depth, as their 5th runner finished 66 seconds ahead of the #5 for Abington Heights.

Individual honors went to 9th grader Kiele Riefenstahl of Saucon Valley, who won her first ever high school 5000 meter race in a PA#2 18:53. Her performance was two seconds better than the reigning Eastern PA Conference & AAA district champion Raisa Kochmaruk of Liberty, who ran a career best 18:55.

For the boys, Holy Ghost Prep earned the win on their quest to finally return to the state meet. Callahan Lennon and Patrick Donohue finished 2-4 overall to lead their team to a score of 63 points and that big first win. Individual honors went to Joseph Espinal of Wilson (11), who ran 16:17 to win by 6 seconds.

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights


Enos Yeager

The host school Chambersburg had their female sophomore duo of Abby Yourkavitch and Kaylee Mowery take the first two spots in this 2.3 mile race. Yourkavitch was victorious in 14:38 and Mowery ran 15:32 for 2nd. Carlisle took places 3-4-5-7-10 with a 63 second spread. Caitlyn Padgett led the way in 3rd.

For the boys, Matt Wisner of Carlisle and Dan Filler of Gettysburg ran identical 12:46 times to top the race. They finished 15 seconds ahead of Isaac Cole of Carlisle. Carlisle finished with five in the top 11 with a 49 second spread.



9/3 McAlpin Invitational Newtown Square, PA
9/4 Oakbourne Relays West Chester, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/4 John Sharp Viking Invitational Entries Closed Richboro, PA

RACE VIDEO

VIDEO INTERVIEWS

PHOTO GALLERY

RESULTS POSTED
9/4 Enos Yeager Invitational Chambersburg, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/4 Lions Invitational Bethlehem, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/4 River Trail Cup Cross Country Invite McKeesport, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 Bear Mountain River Run Entries Closed Lock Haven, PA

RACE VIDEO

PHOTO GALLERY

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 Gateway Invitational Monroeville, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 Cliff Robbins Invitational Dallas, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 McDowell Invitational Erie, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 California University of PA/Marty Uher Inv California, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 Big Valley Invitational Reedsville, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 Hornet Harrier Invitational Hermitage, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 LVC Dutchmen Invitational Annville, PA

RESULTS POSTED
9/5 Northampton Invitational Entries Closed Northampton, PA

RESULTS POSTED