Haas, Kearney Run To Wins; Mount Saint Joseph Picks Up Another Win
Olivia Haas continued her winning ways in what was her first truly competitive race of the season. The Blue Mountain senior, who has three runaway wins already this season, saw a nice pack through two miles this time around in the Brown Race. But Haas turned on the jets in the last mile to propel herself to the win in 17:34. That's an XC 5K PR for Haas and her best win of the season so far.
Claire Zubey of Owen J. Roberts came home second in 17:57 -- a big PR for the junior. Zubey and Mechanicsburg's Olivia Walter hung with Haas through about two miles before Haas opened it up. It was another strong race for Zubey, who was third at Foundation last week. Walter placed third in 18:03 -- a 55-second PR for the breakthrough senior. Mount Saint Joseph's Ella Woehlcke was fourth in 18:18, Wilson's Katie Dallas was fifth in 18:20 and Penncrest freshman Ruby Schwelm was sixth in 18:23.
The team battle in the Brown was a close one as Mount Saint Joseph Academy (PA#4) edged out Mechanicsburg Area (PA#10) for the win. MSJA, which won at Briarwood two weeks ago and took second at Foundation last week, scored 172 points for a five point win over Mechanicsburg (177 points). Mechancisburg has three in the top 20, but MSJA had its 2-3-4 runners separated by just 5 seconds (MSJA fourth runner Maggie Murphy ran much of the race with one shoe).
Hershey was third with 199 points, Strath Haven was fourth with 251, and Owen J. Roberts rounded out the top five with 269 points, one ahead of sixth place Exeter Township.
In the White 5K, Bensalem's Shana Kearney picked up the win in a time of 18:00 for a big PR. The sophomore took the race out hard from the gun and stayed there the whole way for a seven second victory. Kearney's time ended up as the third fastest high school time of the meet. Hatboro Horsham's Lillian DiCola continued her strong freshman season, taking second in 18:07, which is over a minute PR.
Phoenixville Area continues to impress, taking the team title with 56 points. Penn Charter, led by Alli DeLisi's fourth place finish, was second in the team standings with 91 points.
Martin Dazzles, Hodge & Hempfield Make Big Statements
It was a big day at Paul Short for Aidan Hodge and the Hempfield boys. Up front Hodge, a junior, captured the individual title in the Brown Race. He out-dueled a strong field, making his move in the final mile and riding that to the win in 15:16 -- a big XC 5K PR. The Hempfield team (PA#3) performed well, too, taking the team title with 123 points for a 17-point victory over Maryland's Loyola-Blakefield (140 points).
After Hodge's one-stick, Hempfield had two other high finishers with Joseph Fahrney taking 16th and Dale Winand in 23rd.
It was a mad dash to the finish for the next few individual spots. North Pocono's Caleb Kenyon ran very well to take second in 15:23 in his first big invitational race of the season. Ringgold's Ryan Pajak came from out west to take third in 15:23. Andrew McGonigle of Owen J. Roberts was fourth in 15:24, Downingtown East's Caiden Leen was fifth in 15:25, and Tatnall's Nic Pizarro was sixth in 15:29.
Lower Merion (PA#5) took third in the team standings, reversing its fortune over Downingtown East (PA#4) from a week prior. D-East was 16 points ahead of LM last week at Foundation, but this week, LM scored 183 points to nip fourth place D-East (184) by a single point. Owen J. Roberts was fifth with 199 points, Methacton was sixth with 214 points, and Lewisburg was seventh with 240.
The White 5K belonged to Gary Martin of Archbishop Wood. The star senior ran to a meet record and the second fastest time in course history and the third fastest time in state history with a 14:49. Martin led from start to finish for another legendary performer. Read more about Martin's race here.
Hatboro Horsham's Brian DiCola ran well to take second in 15:26, a nice PR for the junior. DiCola moved up well throughout the race and ended up as a convincing second place to Martin. Schuylkill Valley's Luke Seymour was third in 15:38.
In the team race, Monroe-Woodbury (NY) won with 135 points. South Western was second with175 and Radnor was third with 205, followed by Germantown Friends in fourth.
