Pictured Above - Mackenzie Skelly at the Cherokee Challenge - Photo by RunningWorksPics
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As the state is pushing its way into the regular season, standout youngsters are starting to make a name for themselves.
The Pennsylvania season will continue through November, with post-season competition extending to December. In that time, we'll be highlighting some of our "Future Stars".
These are athletes, typically underclassmen, who have the potential to be stars tomorrow. We will highlight a couple of athletes each week.
Mackenzie Skelly
Penn Charter • Class of 2029
Skelly makes headlines after winning the 70th Annual George School Invitational as an eighth grader.
She rolled her way to the individual win, running an impressive 17:44. Skelly finished 56 seconds ahead of second place Alli DeLisi (Penn Charter), one of the nation's standout middle-distance runners who's committed to the University of North Carolina.
Above - Watch Skelly dominate the George School Invitational
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Skelly's recent performance isn't the first time she's garnered attention. Last fall, she claimed a middle school title at the Cross Country Coaches National Youth Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. Skelly dominated the 4000m course in 14:01.28, beating the field by 25 seconds.
On the track, Skelly has also demonstrated elite performances. In June, she ran 4:51.58 to finish second behind Elin Latta (South Texas Heart Homeschool, TX) in the JV Girls Mile at Brooks PR, ranking her US No.1 for 7th graders.
Daniel Dunkleberger
Lower Dauphin • Class of 2028
Freshman Daniel Dunkleberger wastes no time in his debut varsity season, clocking an impressive 16:22.80 at the LVC Dutchmen XC Invite, contributing to the team's second-place finish at the meet.
Dunkleberger finished ninth overall and was Lower Dauphin's second-scoring runner. He was just a few seconds off his teammate, Nathan McKelvie. For context, McKelvie was a top 25 finisher at last year's District 3 Championship (3A) and rounded out the top 100 at the PIAA Championship, a strong indication of Dunkleberger's potential.
Dunkleberger's 5K time ranks him as the PA No.1 freshman, overtaking last week's PA Future Star feature, Noah Scholnick.