Pennsylvania had itself a day at the 2021 Manhattan College Cross Country Invitational. Particularly on the boys side, Pennsylvania athletes and teams thrived on the storied hills of Van Cortlandt Park.
This year the PA #1 La Salle College High School boys, the PA #13 North Penn boys will challenge the field in the Eastern States race at the Manhattan College Invitational presented by HOKA on Saturday October 14th. Full previews of Pennsylvania athletes and teams competing at Manhattan will come soon, but for now we wanted to take a look back at the 2021 event - that saw incredible finishes for La Salle College High School and Gary Martin.
La Salle Captures Eastern States Title
Below - a 2021 excerpt from a recap by Dan Beck:
"La Salle College bested a loaded field, and continues to make its claim for Pennsylvania's No. 1 team spot with a major victory at the Manhattan College Invitational on Saturday. LaSalle became the first Pennsylvania team in six years to win the annual meet at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City.
The Explorers put three boys in the top 25 and five in the top 40 of the Easterns field and scored 104 points to claim an eight-point win over top-ranked New York squad Corning (112 points). Vermont power U-32 was third, followed by Rhode Island's Bishop Hendricken (fourth) and La Salle Academy (fifth).
LaSalle College becomes the first PA team to win Easterns at Manhattan since Downingtown West in 2015. That Downingtown West team went on to win the PIAA Class AAA state title and the NXN-Northeast Regional that year."
Another Big Day for Gary Martin
Below - a 2021 excerpt from a recap by Dan Beck:
"Martin, an Archbishop Wood senior and University of Virginia commit, took home the win in the Varsity "A" race at the Manhattan College Invitational at historic Van Cortlandt Park in New York on Saturday. Martin covered the 2.5 mile course in 12:34. He outlasted a strong field that included Centennial's (MD) Antonio Camacho-Bucks (second in 12:48) and Tatnall's Nicolas Pizarro (third in 12:50).
Martin's time was fifth fastest time of the meet, with most of the faster times coming from the Eastern States race. It's the third invitational win of the season for Martin, who claimed victories at the Northampton Invitational and most recently prior to Manhattan at the Paul Short Run. Martin's run was part of a big day for the Philadelphia Catholic League at Manhattan, as the LaSalle College boys won the team title in the Eastern States race."