Girls Recap - Paul Short Run
Brown Race
The conditions were perfect for a fast and competitive race and the girls' Brown Race certainly delivered.
The course record, which stood since 2005 by Aislinn Ryan of New York's Warwick Valley, went down after a huge run by another New Yorker, Cornwall's Karrie Baloga. The freshman showed her talent in her first 5K of the season, clocking an incredible 16:59 on Lehigh's course to run to the win.
Baloga battled it out for the first two miles with Friends' Central standout Lydia Russell, but the ninth grader found another gear and closed very well in the final mile to take the win and the meet and overall course record, which is the nation's seventh fastest 5K of the season.
Juliette Whittaker of Mount de Sales (MD) came home second in a quick 17:16. Russell finished third in 17:30, the top PA girl in the field.
Four other PA girls dipped under 18 minutes -- each for the first time in their careers. Germantown Academy's Isabelle Goldstein was fourth in 17:45, Cedar Crest's Gwyneth Young was fifth in 17:54, Neshaminy's Kaylee McCullough was sixth in 17:58, and Blue Mountain's Olivia Haas went 17:58 for seventh. A remarkable ten girls have know gone under 18 minutes this season in Pennsylvania.
Penn Charter's Emma Zwall ran a strong race to take eighth in 18:04 and Northeastern's Margaret Carroll was ninth in 18:06.
The team title went to the Baloga-led Cornwall (NY) girls, with 136 points while fellow New York squad Niskayuna was second just two points off with 138.
Friends' Central was the top PA team, scoring 213. Northeastern was fourth with 234 points. Bel Air (MD) took fifth with 237, followed closely by Perkiomen Valley, which took sixth with 238.
White Race
In the most thrilling finish of the day, Pottsgrove's Naomi Hillen kicked the win over Pennsbury's Tatum Lynch. Lynch led the most of the race, but Hillen made up some serious ground in the closing mile and half to move into a position to kick to the win. She did just that, passing Lynch in the closing meters to win by just .1 in a terrific finish.
Both were credited with 18:37 times. These two are a pair of District 1's strongest runners and will certainly be in the mix for high finishes at the district meet back at Lehigh in a few week's time.
Mohonasen's Kate Sherman was third in 18:45, Tatnell (DE) freshman Lydia Colasante took fourth in 18:50, and Lower Merion's Sarah Hurst took fifth in 18:54.
The team race went to Mohonasen (NY), which scored 137 to capture the team win. Manheim Township, with a 49-second gap, took second with 221 points and Lower Merion was third with 232 points.