Week 2 Recap
Heat and humidity from last year's PTXC meet were replaced by clouds and rain and cooler temperatures this time around.
But the rain did not ruin the day of Mady Clahane. The Cumberland Valley senior made up ground on a strong leading pack of three that included runner up Brooke Hutton of Coatesville (18:27), Abby Yourkavich of Chambersburg (18:36) and Ally Rome of Dallas to become victorious in the gold race on her final PTXC appearance in a PA#2 18:23! She medaled at this meet all four years! Team honors went to Easton area, who scored 105 points to pull off a big win!
The boys gold race saw a strong display from Dominic Hockenbury of Lake Lehman, who made up for his runner up finish last season with a victory in 15:53, good for PA#4 on the season. Zach Seiger of Red Land put up a good fight against the AA champion, but managed to get a 2nd place finish in his best race in this invitational of his career. Stone Bridge (VA) came away with the team title with 113 points ahead of Hershey and Dallas.
The girls gold race saw the Class A state champions Central Cambria run rampant on their competition, placing six in the top twenty and eight runners under 22 minutes. They finished the meet with 54 to defeat Conestoga and Council Rock South with a 55 minute 1-5 spread and a 60 second 1-6 spread! Individual honors went to two time PTXC Middle School champion Kiele Riefenstahl of Saucon Valley. The freshman has won her first two invitational meets, winning this one in 19:20 to win by 14 seconds.
The boys gold race saw Central Cambria win more gold! Bryce Descavish took home the individual title with a solid time of 16:32 to win by 15 seconds. It was his 2nd win of the season after winning the Father Bede meet last week. Team title honors went to Elizabethtown Area, who scored 87 points to defeat Trinity (3) by almost 50.
Cherokee
Kacie Breeding of Unionville (11:31.41) defeated the Pennsbury duo of Hannah Molly (11:33.74) and Olivia Sargent (11:40.09) to win the girls senior 2 mile race! Anna Juul made it two golds for Unionville with a junior race victory in 11:16, finishing ahead of 3rd place Aislinn Devlin (11:30.15). Both Pennsbury and Unionville finished 1-2 in the merged team standings, with Pennsbury earning an 82-95 victory over Unionville!
Henry Sappey of Downingtown West was victorious in the boys senior 2 mile race with a time of 9:44.69 to hold off the opposition by a second and a half. The team would finish 2nd in the combined team standings with 200, with only Voorhees (NJ) scoring better.
Abington
Jake Good of Abington defended his home course with a one second victory over James Abrahams of Haverford Township, 16:28 to 16:29. West Chester East put on a good team performance, placing four in the top 20 with a 58 second 1-5 spread to win the boys title over Avon Grove 69-108.
For the girls, North Penn's Ariana Gardizy (19:26) and Phoebe Clowser (19:48) finished 1-3, but were unable to overcome Strath Haven's deeper top five. The Central League squad had five in the top 25 to hold off North Penn 60-74. Maia Mesyngier led the way with a runner up finish of 19:33.
Bulldog @ Rose Tree
After finishing 2nd to Jake Brophy last week, Jeff Kirshenbaum of Methacton was victorious in the boys large school race with a new state leading time of 15:45! Lukas Marcelis of Wissahickon was 2nd in a solid 15:57! Methacton also won the team title over Wissahickon 37-51 to make it a clean sweep.
In the boys small school race, Joe Previdi of Masterman ran 16:02 to win the gold medal by 2 seconds over Liam Galligam of Springfield Delco. Bishop Shanahan repeated as team champions with a score of 40 points with a strong 35 second spread!
In the girls large school race, the new Penn Wood duo of Agnes Mansaray (19:20.5) and Terri Turner (19:36.1) took the first two places ahead of John Sharp winner Lotte Black (19:36.8). Methacton took home the team title 29-48 over Wissahickon with five finishers in the top ten.
In the girls small school race, Emily Bracken of Bishop Shanahan ran 19:10 to win the individual gold over Emma Seifried of Country Day School of the Sacred Heart by 16 seconds. Bracken's win was enough to hold off Harriton by two points, 42-44 for the team crown!
Spiked Shoe
Madeleine Davison made her season debut against the college runners in the 6000 meter run at Penn State. She finished an impressive 8th place with a time of 22:00, making up four places in the final 1000 meters of the race!
As for the high school competition, Maggie Toczko of Tunkhannock was the winner of the girls race with a time of 18:38, which was the top time in the state last night. State College won the team title with Natasha Fedkina finishing 6th for the team winners. It was their 2nd team win in a row. State College boys also won the team title by defeating Hempfield 60-76 led by a runner up performance from Alex Milligan. Milligan ran 16:06 to finish as the top PA runner.
Red White and Blue
The two defending team state champions came out on top, but one of them shined so brightly that they sent a message to their competition that will echo through the rest of the season.
AA girls champions Villa Maria Academy stepped up to the AAA race on Saturday and were absolutely sensational! Led by a 3-4-5 finish from Claire Brown, Hannah Ricci, and Grace Brown, Villa Maria placed five in the top 13 and six in the top 15 to score an amazing 32 points. Their nearest competitor was Seneca Valley with 125 points. The 1-5 spread from Villa Maria was 30 seconds, and their 1-6 spread was 31 seconds!
Girls AA saw a minor upset as Mica Hanish of Ambridge Area edged out Lucie Kubinski by less than half a second to take home the AA crown in 19:52. Kubinski's team did get the last laugh, as her team placed five in the top 15 to score 38 points with a 67 second spread.
In girls A, Marianne Abdalah started off her 2nd state title defense with a victory in 18:50, holding off Lauren Gronbeck of Eden Christian Academy by 10 seconds. Abdalah's team performed well behind her, earning the team title in a big meet with a score of 26 points with five in the top ten of the race!
For the boys, AAA champions North Allegheny showed there will be a lot of fight in the team as they look to put up a good state title defense. On Saturday, they used a 60 second spread led by a 4-5 finish from Marc Migliozzi and Jacob Stupak to score 52 points to defeat rivals Mount Lebanon by 39. Individually, Nick Wolk of Peters Township had his coming out party, defeating Domenic Peretta of Beaver Falls and Mike Kolor of Seneca Valley to win the gold in 15:48.4!
In boys AA, title contender Zach Skolnekovich was victorious in dominating fashion with a winning time of 16:01 to win by 44 seconds. His team finished 3rd to a team on a mission, Grove City, who scored 50 points with a state best 21 second spread and seven placers in the top 20!
In boys A, Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy took his title charge back to local ground and his return resulted in a 20 second victory with a time of 16:05 over teammate Ben Clouse. Their efforts up front were enough to secure the team title over Saegertown 78-94.
Lackawanna County
Matt Kravitz of North Pocono ran the 2nd fastest time in the state in the early stages of the season, cruising to the gold medal in 15:44. His team finished 2nd to Wallenpaupack and their 75 second spread. Wallenpaupack scored 49 points to win by 29.
In the girls race, Abigail Haines of North Pocono completed the individual title sweep with a winning time of 19:39 to win by 25 seconds! Her performance helped her team towards a team title with 38 points to defeat Wallenpaupack by 31.
Forest Hills
Through all the chaos and results coming through today, the boys PA#1 time came from William Kachman of Bedford, who recorded a winning time of 15:42 to sit atop the mountain. Somerset won a tightly contested meet over St Joseph's Catholic Academy 138-152 to win the team title.
The St Joseph's Catholic Academy girls had better success, recording their 2nd win in a row thanks to the individual victory of Lucia Person (19:18). Her win plus four in the top 20 to secure a 63-79 win over host Forest Hills.
Week 2 has arrived, with the annual PTXC meet and the Red White and Blue Invite scheduled for Saturday! Follow this page for all the updates throughout the weekend! You can also follow us and send your updates and pictures on:
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