| 09/20 |
2nd Hershey Cross Country Invitational By Aaron Rich
Preview by Aaron Rich For the second straight year Pennsylvania high school harriers will be afforded the opportunity to preview the course that will host the State Championship meet, and for the second straight year they will get a look at a new and improved course. (for description and photo gallery click here) The additions will make this weekend’s meet a great one to watch, and it should give the runners and coaches a great idea of how to prepare for states. The competition will be fierce with many of the state’s best making the trip to Hershey for the weekend. The four top girls' AAA schools that will be competing this weekend are Liberty, Council Rock North, Hatboro-Horsham, and Cardinal O’Hara. Jessica Cygan, Liberty, will be at the front of this pack, but on her heels will be Elizabeth Simpson, Boyertown, Chloe Schmidt, State College, and Kaylee Irwin, Hatboro-Horsham. The top boys' AA schools competing in the meet will be North East, Elk Lake, Holy Redeemer, and Union City. Dylan Klein, North East, should lead the way in the AA individual race. In the boys' AAA race it will be a battle between Holy Ghost Prep and Upper Dublin in the second match-up of the year for these two teams. Penncrest, Conrad Weiser, and Hatboro-Horsham round out the ranked teams competing in this race. Michael Pierce leads the charge for Holy Ghost Prep, and will do battle with Upper Dublin’s Mike Palmisano as their respective teams vie for the win. Other runners who will be in the thick of the fight include TJ Hobart, Seth Hibbs, Neal Berman, Ben Furcht, Nick Bonaventure, and Cam Stauffer. |
Hershey, PA ONSITE COVERAGE RESULTS POSTED VIDEO OF ALL FOUR VARSITY RACES @ 800m and Poop-Out Hill Photo Gallery by Don Rich and Megan Clugh of the 2008 PIAA Foundation XC Invitational |
| 09/20 | A.J. Everhart Invitational
Uniontown Area
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Uniontown, PA RESULTS NOT YET AVAILABLE
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| 09/20 | Altoona XC Invitational
Altoona Area
By Aaron Rich
BIshop McCort's Jim Spisak continues to win, this time in dominating fashion with a fast time of 15:32.4. Bebiyu Osman, Mercersburg, finished 2nd with a time of 16:14.2. Rounding out the top-3 was Bud Plaszenski, Dubois, with a time of 16:15.1. Altoona dominated the field by placing 3 in the top-6 and 5 in the top-20. Their 47 points bested Dover's 146 by 99 points. Katrina Jueng, Shadyside Academy, won a close race over Natalie Young, George Mason(VA), 19:04.2 to 19:07.2. Marissa Polk, Oakland Catholic, finished 3rd with a time of 19:13.8. Altoona Area lost a close race to George Mason(VA), 85 points to 91 points. Oakland Catholic finished in 3rd place with 100 points. |
Altoona, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/20 |
By Michael Carpenter Some of PA's top teams traveled to the Bowdoin Park Classic in New York this weekend, just to send a friendly reminder to our competition to the north that PA doesn't mess around when it comes to Cross. (and to preview the course to be used for NXN Regionals in November). |
Wappingers Falls, NY ONSITE COVERAGE RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/20 | Bradford 5th Annual XC Invitational
Bradford HS
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Bradford, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/20 | Briarwood Invitational
By Kim Jaick Soden
Neither a Pennsylvania school nor runner may have won this fall’s Briarwood Invitational at Belmont Plateau, but that didn’t keep North Penn from leaving its footsteps on the Philadelphia soil. Both the boys’ and girls’ squads finished second, with the boys’ team missing out by a mere point to West Windsor Plainsboro North of New Jersey (68-69). Juniors Brad Miles and Christy Cohick led the way, each placing 5th for the Knights and Maidens. The girls finished with 89 points to Haddonfield’s (New Jersey) 62 points. Meghan Smith of Padua (Delaware) and West Windsor’s Joe Rosa were the champions, running 18:52.4 and 15:33.1, respectively. “I’m really proud,” Cohick said of North Penn’s day. “I really surprised myself.” Cohick moved up from 7th on the 2007 squad to the No. 1 spot this year after taking up cross country as a sophomore. She credits her instant love of the sport and her summer mileage increase as reasons for her huge improvement. Miles was not quite as chipper with his effort. “I’m pleased, but I think we wanted to come out here and do a little better,” he said. “It’s a little upsetting because we don’t know that team, but we do know that they are better than us and that we need to beat them next time.” What Miles and North Penn didn’t know at the time is that West Windsor is ranked 3rd in the Nike Team Nationals Northeast Poll. The squad may see West Windsor again later this season as the squad has plans to run in the Manhattan Invitational. “It gives us an idea of the area and to see what’s around (the Northeast),” said head coach Ron Jares. One note of interest regarding the boys’ score was that individual runner-up Phil Wood of Pennington (New Jersey) was calculated in the team scores, but his squad only had two runners finish the race, despite starting with a team of five. Had he not been scored West Windsor and North Penn would’ve have tied with 64 points. North Penn’s No. 6 would’ve broken the tie. While North Penn stole the show for Pennsylvania in the team events, Henderson’s Janie Augustyn and Friends Central’s Pat DeSabato took top honors for the Keystone state, finishing 4th and 3rd, respectively. Upon hearing of her performance, Augustyn, who is a freshman gasped, eyes bulging out of her head. “I’m just happy to be on varsity,” she said. “We were in the middle for awhile and the first hill was pretty easy. On the parachute hill I passed about five girls” and took off from there, finishing in 19:32.4. DeSabato clocked 15:47.4. Overall winner Smith, a senior, remembers running at Briarwood from her freshman year, and was happy to see her improvement. “I knew the Pennsylvania competition was very good, so I’m excited to have the privilege to race them,” she said. “This week we practiced the downhills and that’s key here.” Smith ran with a tight pack of about five girls, which also included runner-up Marielle Hall, a junior, through the first mile before charging up the final hill to then break away from Hall on the long, final downhill. “It’s my first time here,” Hall said. “It’s a hilly course. We out here to get better competition and now we can relate to better teams.” Hall’s team is ranked as a “bubble team” by Nike Team Nationals. Rose, whose twin brother, Jim, also contributed to their team’s win, executed a similar plan to Smith’s. He was slightly sniffing at the lead through the mile mark with about 10-15 runners right with him. “I wanted to take it right off the parachute hill because I’m not a good kicker,” he said. “Another spot was that last hill because I had no idea how much of a lead I had, so I wanted to make sure because Phil Wood is in my county.” Rose reported that West Windor’s No. 3 guy, senior Tyler Corkedale, was out with an injury and that Rose’s brother ran injured. Girls Championship Division 1. Meghan Smith (Padua) 18:52.4; 2. Marielle Hall (Haddonfield) 19:20.8; 3. Morgan Morrow (Padua) 19:24.4; 4. Janie Augustyn (Henderson) 19:32.4; 5. Christy Cohick (North Penn) 19:33.3 1. Haddonfield (NJ) 62; 2. North Penn 89; 3. Padua (Del) 98; 4. Strath Haven 104; 5. Hunterdon Central (NJ) 134; 6. W.C. Henderson 145; 7. C.B. East 180; 8. Germantown Friends School 190; 9. Central 215; 10. Notre Dame 223 Boys Championship Division 1. Joe Rosa (West Windsor/NJ) 15:33.1, 2. Phil Wood (Pennington/NJ) 15:43.1, 3. Pat DeSabato (Friends Central) 15:47.4, 4. Sean Keefe (Central Rock South) 15:57.7, 5. Brad Miles (North Penn) 16:08.3. 1. West Windsor (NJ) 68; 2. North Penn 69; 3. LaSalle 106; 4. St. Joe's Prep 137; 5. Friends Central 159; 6. Chaminade 166; 7. Salesianum 185; 8. Council Rock North 190; 9. Council Rock South 191; 10. Cardinal O'Hara 227; 11. C.B. East 236; 12. Germantown Friends 343. By Aaron Rich
North Penn lost a close one to West Windsor-Plainsboro North(NJ), 68 to 69, but finished well ahead of LaSalle, who were 3rd with 106 points. Joe Rosa(NJ), won the race with a new course record of 15:33, beating the 15:41 set back in 2001 by Hallahan, Cardinal O'Hara.
Haddonfield(NJ) girls won the championship race over North Penn, 62 to 89. Padua finished 3rd with 98 points. Meghan Smith, Padua, won the race with a time of 18:52. Marielle Hall, Haddonfield, finished 2nd in 19:20. Morgan Morrow, Padua, was 3rd in 19:24. |
Philadelphia, PA ONSITE COVERAGE RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/20 | Bulldog Invitational-Northern Lehigh
Northern Lehigh
By Michael Carpenter Exeter wins boys team title at the 2008 Bulldog Invitational - Northern Lehigh. Their impressive 37 points came after all 5 scorers finished in the top 15 behind Zack Greth's top finishing time of 16:27. Amr Aldeen of East Stroudsburg South finished 16:55 to take second.
The girls of Northwestern Lehigh (75 pts) won a close battle between over Saucon Valley (86 pts) and Tamaqua girls squad (88 pts). Northwestern's Lindsay Kerr won the race alone in 18:51 to help her team to victory, while Amber Carroll of Tamaqua was 2nd in 19:26, and Lainie Smith of Saucon Valley rounded out the top 3 posting a 19:42. |
Slatington, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/20 | Bulldog Invitational-Rose Tree
Interboro
By Michael Carpenter
Great Valley and Downingtown West was the most exciting team battle of the day in Media, PA at the Bulldog Invitational - Rose Tree. The teams tied the race with 51pts, but Great Valley's 6th man was able to break the tie and help the GV boys to victory. Kevin Borillo of Great Valley won the race in 16:14.1 and teammate Ned Willig was 3rd in 16:17. Tom Mallon of Central Bucks South was 2nd in 16:16.7.
In the smaller schools race, Strath Haven defeated Springfield Delco 39-64. Haven's Dan Tyler posted the fastest time of the day, winning in 16:13.2 over Landsdale Catholic's Dan Day who was 2nd in 16:16.4, and Springfield's Dave Smith, 3rd in 16:20.9 On the girl's side, the Large school race came down to the Central Bucks schools, and West was able to squeek by their rivals from the south, 57-65. Katie Gorman of Plymouth Whitemarsh won the individual race in 18:40.6, way ahead of her competition, but CB West was led by 2nd place finisher Alex Geravis in 19:17.7. Archbishop Carroll's Katie Rodden rounded out the top three with a 19:26.2 In the smaller schools race, the ladies from Radnor defeated Great Valley, posting only 35 pts, to GV's 56. Radnor's Kelyn Freedman and Meaghan Gsell went 3-4 in 19:46 and 19:52.5 respectively. Adnes Irwin's Courtenay Devlin won the race in 19:16, followed closely by Katie Filemyr of Bishop McDevitt who was 2nd in 19:22.2. |
Media, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/20 | Chris Fretz Invitational
Perkiomen Valley
By Michael Carpenter
The Vikings of Perkiomen Valley set out to defend their home course this weekend in their annual Chris Fretz Invitational. In what has become a meet tradition, the PV girls battled it out with Downingtown East girls for the team title. In similar fashion for more than 5 years straight, the Viking girls took the title, beating Downingtown 25-43. The Vikings were led by SR Krystina Bauman who was 2nd overall in 19:50, but Upper Perkiomen's Audrey Malloy took the individual win in 19:40.
On the boy's side, the PA Honorable Mention Perk Valley Viking Boys also picked up a team title, after a close loss last year to Boyertown. The Viking boys dominated their competition, posting only 21 points, 4 in the top 5 with a spread :31. The boys were led by SR standout Jimmy Tarsnane who took the race in an impressive 16:09. |
Collegeville, PA PARTIAL RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/20 |  Oatlands Invitational
Loudoun County
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Leesburg, VA RESULTS POSTED - NO PA TEAMS |
| 09/20 |  Sharpsville Blue Devil Invite
Sharpsville Area
By Aaron Rich
Sam Havko, Fairview, won a very close and very fast race over Adam Shrawder, West Middlesex. Sam ran 15:40.3 and Adam ran 15:40.9. Jacob Kildoo, Grove City, ran to a strong 3rd place finish in 15:47.7. Fairview shook up the AA standings by logging a convincing win over West Middlesex. Fairview scored 62 points to top the 130 by West Middlesex.
A pair of Norwin girls made it look easy up front with Leslie Kovach taking the win with a time of 18:02.8. Jenna Gigliotti finishe 2nd with a time of 18:35.8. Brittany Kaltenbaugh, Fort Leboeuf, placed 3rd with a sub-19 time of 19:49.2. Norwin girls placed 3 runners in the top-6 to take the victory with 63 points. McDowell finished 2nd with a score of 112 points. |
Sharon, PA RESULTS POSTED
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| 09/20 |
Photo by Timothy O'Dowd |
Williamsburg, VA RESULTS POSTED PHOTO GALLERY COMING OF GETTYSBURG RUNNERS |
Lewisburg won the girl's varsity blue race behind the dominating performance of their top-3. Sophia Ziemian won the race with the fastest time of the day, Kiah Hardcastle finished 3rd, and Shannon Wright was 6th in. Union City put together an impressive run to finish 20 points behind Lewisburg in 2nd place with 93 points. Central Cambria rounded out the top 3 with 152 points. 
Liberty put in a dominating performance in the girl's varsity gold race behind a strong frontrunner and a solid top-5. Jess Cygan won the race and Liberty placed the other 4 runner's in the top-25 overall. Council Rock North finished 2nd with 103 points and Boyertown ran to a 3rd place finish with 181 points. 
In the boy's varsity blue race North East used a gutsy strategy to win the meet with 74 points, and in the process showed their AA dominance. North East got out to an early advantage with 4 runners in the lead at 800 meters, with the 5-6 runners only 20 meters back. By the end of the race that spread grew to 1:09, but with 5 runners in the top-26 North East came away with a 74 to 98 win over Holy Redeemer. Elk Lake finished a close 3rd with 109 points and an impressive 38 second spread. 
Upper Dublin won a closely contested race against Holy Ghost Prep with a score of 86 points to 98 points. It was a closely contested race until the last 800 meters where the Upper Dublin runners began to pull slightly ahead of the Prep runners. These teams are 1 and 1 against each other this year, so it should be an exciting fall. Conrad Weiser finished 3rd with 112 points. 
Among the top girls AA schools competing will be Central Cambria, Lewisburg, and Union City. What's more, the AA girl’s race will be a battle for the individual title with Lauren Zarger, Harbor Creek 
Gettysburg's Michael Beegle was 3rd in the Varsity B race, running 16:06. His team took 16th, with the Gettysburg girls finishing 9th in the A race.
A new course in Hershey (for description and photo gallery click here) will be unveiled at the 2nd PIAA Foundation meet (Pre-States, as we like to call it). The PIAA Hershey preview is on and there are some great match-ups. Plus a nice one in Philly as Germantown Friends and Council Rock North race. Emmaus is in New York at the Pre-NXN Northeast meet.