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Lewisburg swept the team titles at Saturday's PHAC Invitational at Shikellamy High School in Sunbury. THe boys and girls races were broken up into two races apiece, with the No. 1, 2, and 3 runners from each team competing in the first race and the No. 4, 5, 6, and 7 runners racing in the second. The results were merged at the end.
On the boys' side, the Lewisburg boys were dominant, scoring just 25 points to take the win. The defending AA state champions were led by Jacob Hess, who went 15:34 on the course, the fastest 5K of his career. Hess took the lead early and just extended his lead throughout. Williamsport's J. Henry Lyon was second in 16:12 and Danville's Rory Lieberman was third in 16:18.
The Lewisburg boys put three in the top five and six in the top ten to runaway with the title. After Hess' win, Calvin Bailey was fourth in 16:36 and Thomas Hess was fifth in 16:53. In the second race, Lewisburg's next runners took the top four spots, led by Gianluca Perrone (seventh in 17:02).
Williamsport was second in the team race with 59 points and Danville was third with 97 points.
Danville's Coyla Bartholomew won the girls race in a big PR of 19:29. It was a good battle throughout with Bartholomew taking control of the race just after the mile and holding on for the victory. Selinsgrove freshman Shaela Kruskie ran well to take 19:37. Shikellamy's Alyssa Keeley was third in 19:55 on her home course, and Zoe Tomko of Selinsgrove was fourth in 20:10.
The team race was very close on the girls side. In the end, the Lewisburg girls took a win in a race where the top three teams were only separated by 3 points. Lewisburg scored 51 points, getting a big boost from its runners in the second race, taking first, third, and fourth. Delaney Humphrey's eighth place finish led the way for Lewisburg, which posted a 27-second gap among its top five.
Danville was second with 52 points and Selinsgrove was third with 54 points. Between Lewisburg, Danville, Selinsgrove and Warrior Run (not at Saturday's PHAC Invite), the AA classification in PIAA District 4 is shaping up to be one of the top district battles of the week with just one spot for teams up for grabs this year.