Madeleine Davison of Wexford, Pa. is elated crossing the line at Foot Locker Northeast at Van Cortlandt Park (Phot by Don Rich)
UPDATED (11/28/15 11:00pm)
What a day for Pennsylvania XC! Two individual regional titles. Two team regional titles. And a runner-up individual to boot. Here's a look at the races:
Girls' Foot Locker Northeast:
Madeleine Davison of Wexford, Pa. came from behind to win the Foot Locker Northeast Regional at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. The win qualifies Davison for Foot Locker Nationals in two weeks in San Diego. The senior was fourth at the meet a year ago, making this her second trip to nationals. Davison's time of 17:39 is faster than her 17:47 she ran at a meet at Van Cortlandt a few weeks ago. She is the lone PA girl to qualify.
Davison was in 28th at the mile and slowly picked off the field to move up. Down the stretch, she passed even more to grab the win.
Other notable PA performances were turned in by Cumberland Valley's Mady Clahane (12th), Wilson's Alison Willingmyre (18th), Germantown Academy's Abbe Goldstein (19th), Chambersburg's Abby Yourkavitch (24th), and Dallas's Ally Rome (27th).
Check out the results here.
Jake Brophy crosses the line second to make his second straight Foot Locker Nationals (Photo by Don Rich)
Boys' Foot Locker Northeast:
Central Bucks East senior Jake Brophy will also be making his second trip to San Diego. Brophy finished second to Noah Affolder of Ft. Drum, NY in a time of 15:27. He was fifth a year ago. Brophy is fresh off winning his second straight PIAA AAA state title in XC. Brophy exited the woods in eighth and gained major ground down the stretch to finish second in the region.
Lake Lehman's Dominic Hockenbury spent most of the race up front. He led through the mile in 4:40 and was right up front at the two mile. Exiting the woods, he was in about fifth, but faded to the dreaded 11th spot, just out of nationals qualifying.
PA had some other solid finishes at FLNE. Nick Wolk of Peters Township was 14th. Plum's Jake Susalla was 22nd. Seth Slavin of Pleasant valley was right behind him in 23rd. JP McCaskey's Nathan Henderson ended up 26th.
Check out the results here.
NXN Northeast:
PA had a BIG day at NXN Northeast. On the girls' side, Pennsylvania mopped up taking each of the top five spots! Pennsbury led by the low sticks of 2-4-5 were the overall winners. The Falcons scored just 59 points to dominate the field.
Olivia Sargent, the AAA state champ and reigning NXN Northeast champ was second overall in 18:06. Hannah Molloy and Mary Webb were fourth and fifth respectively. Meredith Twomey was 24th and Maddie Sauer was 38th completing a stellar day for the Pennsbury girls. Sargent went alone last year to Portland, but this year she'll have the company of some close friends at NXN Nationals.
Aislinn Devlin got revenge on Sargent after she beat her at states. Devlin broke the tape in 17:54 for the win to make her second straight trip to Portland for NXN Nationals. Devlin just keeps adding to her spectacular junior season with another big win.
Anna Juul kept it going for PA. The Unionville junior rose to the occasion with a third place finish in 18:23.She will be going Devlin and the Pennsbury girls in Portland. Unfortunately, Juul's teammate will not. Unionville's Kacie Breeding was eighth in 18:48, the sixth non-qualifying team spot, just missing out on nationals.
Another solid performances was turned in by Unionville freshman Madison McGovern, who was 12th in 18:58. Country Day of the Scared Heart sophomore and Class A runner-up Emma Seifried was 18th in 19:12.
On the boys' side at NXN Northeast, the Downingtown West boys took the win, sending the Whippet Footracing Team to Portland as well. The West boys didn't get their best day from state runner-up Jaxson Hoey, but the rest of the team stepped up big.
Josh Hoey led the way for the Whippets. He ended up seventh overall in 16:02. Henry Sappey ran well, finishing tenth in 16:09. Jaxson Hoey was 22nd for West. Ryan Barton, who didn't run at states, finished in 16:45 for 36th place. Ben Ryherd rounded out the top five for West, running 16:48 for 39th. This dominance displays the depth of this squad--one of the greatest this state has ever seen.
But it wasn't a Hoey that was the top PA finisher. In fact, a Hoey wasn't even the top Ches-Mont finisher. Unionville's Kent Hall had a huge race. Hall ran 16:01 to finish sixth overall, solidifying himself a place in Portland, going the Downingtown West boys.
Cardinal O'Hara's Ryan James also ran well, placing 15th. Germantown Friends School's Nick Dahl was right behind him in 16th.
Check out the boys results here and the girls results here.
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Saturday is Foot Locker and Nike Cross Northeast Regional day! The top XC runners in Pennsylvania will be competing in New York--some at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx and others at Bowdoin Park in Wappinger's Falls--for a few of the coveting spots at Nationals. We'll have coverage all day with live updates as the race is happening and afterwards with photos, race video, and interviews from qualifiers. Be sure to check back throughout the day for updates! Above we've embedded out Twitter feed to allow a one-stop shop for updates. Also follow us at @PennTrackXC on Twitter.
Madeleine Davison and Jake Brophy will be among those to watch tomorrow at Foot Locker Northeast.
Get primed for the day by reading our previews of both girls' and boys' races at both Foot Locker Northeast and NXN Northeast. As always thanks for your continued support as we root on PA's finest on Saturday.
Foot Locker Northeast Girls Preview (featuring Madeleine Davison, Mady Clahane, Marianne Abdalah, Ally Rome and more!)
Foot Locker Northeast Boys Preview (featuring Jake Brophy, Dominic Hockenbury, Nathan Henderson, Nick Wolk and more!)
NXN Northeast Girls Preview (featuring Olivia Sargent, Aislinn Devlin, Pennsbury, and Unionville!)
NXN Northeast Boys Preview (featuring Jaxson Hoey, Josh Hoey, Henry Sappey, Nick Dahl, Downingtown West, Cardinal O'Hara, and Germantown Friends School!)