Watch the highlights from the A Girls Championship
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Talk about an intense race. A Tie Breaker decided the 1A Girls State Championship in an unexpected turn of events.
On Saturday morning, Notre Dame Green Pond and Montrose tied with 78 points a piece. 78 points in a state championship race are impressive enough, but when you consider that two teams managed the score, it is pretty remarkable.
The score wasn't always that close. Through the first mile, Notre Dame Green Pond (NDGP) maintained a 37-point lead. But that's when the Montrose girls began to move up. They had gained the lead by the two-mile mark, led by Paige Brewer and Mary Pichette, who were positioned in the sixth and ninth point paying positions, respectively.
Although the score had swayed dramatically, NDGP only needed to make up one point. The tiebreaker, decided by each team's sixth runner, would automatically go to NDGP because Montrose only ran five runners.
That's precisely what happened. Olivia Schweitzer, Brenna Hammerstone, and Katherine Koons all made up positions for NDGP to match those gained by the Montrose squad.
Coach Corrigan discusses NDGP victory
In edging Montrose, Notre Dame Green Pond won their second consecutive title. They ultimately placed five runners within 1:15, with five in the Top-25 points-paying positions.
Montrose shared those stats nearly identically. They boasted a 1:12 1-5 compression.
In third, York Catholic battled with Winchester Thurston and Elk County Catholic but came out in third. A week after winning the District 3 Title, they earned another impressive finish and hoisted their banner into the Top 3. It is one of the best finishes in school history.
Winchester Thurston and Elk County Catholic finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Kraus details her championship winning performance
The Individual Race was pretty straightforward. Freshman phenom, Virginia Kraus, led wire-to-wire, dictating the race with authority and grit. She soared to the front early and never looked back as she capped her terrific freshman campaign. Kraus crossed the line at 18:54, the fifth fastest time of the day.
With that time, she would've finished third in the AAA race. It was also the fastest time by a non-freshman.
Kraus did admit that the run didn't come easy. Her legs slowed up the final hill, and she stumbled at one point. Her form began to fall apart, but she reminded herself that she just needed to cross the line. She re-focused and gritted her way to the finish.
Behind her, we did see a contentious battle for second. At mile one, Kate Moncavage (Southern Columbia), Willow Myers (Mercer), Grace Neubert (Elk County Catholic), AnnaSophia Viccari (West Middlesex), Chelsea Hartman (Shady Side), and others gave chase a short while back.
By mile two, the chase pack had shrunk to three. Just Moncavage, Hartman, and Neubert remained in eyeshot of Kraus. But the heat and the course got the better of the race's leaders over the last mile.
Hartman stayed steady, but Moncavage faded to fourth. Veteran Willow Myers meticulously moved up and grabbed third, outkicking Moncavage down the stretch.
Chelsea Hartman talks about her runner-up race
Freshman Vicarri survived the mayhem and managed a Top-5 finish, while Grace Neubert zombie strutted across the finish line. Neubert was utterly depleted. Exhaustion had set in, and she did everything she could to keep moving toward the finish line. She fought to the line and miraculously crossed in the sixth spot with a still impressive 20:11.
Madeline Murphy, Lexi Fluharty, Sophia Billie, and Lanee Berkhimer rounded out the Top-10. Billie is the only one of those girls to have medaled in the past, so they each endured impressive showings.