The AAA girls race was highlighted by Hazleton Area's amazing trio going 1-2-3 for the second year in a row as the Lady Cougars punched their second straight trip to states by outdistancing league rival Wyoming Valley West 49-61. Junior Maria Monks had the fastest girls time of the day, winning in 19:21. Sophomore teammate Brenae Edwards (last years champ) clocked a 19:49 and Amanda Radishofski (also a soph.) completed the sweep with a 19:56.
In AA girls, Dallas junior Lisa Giacometti defended her title with awinning time of 19:34 as the Lady Mounts (defending AA State Champs) had 4 of the first 6 finishers to tally just 36 points for the easy win. Montrose's Tara Chiarella was runner-up in 19:38. In the team standings, Blue Ridge was second with 89 points and Scranton Prep third with 126. All three teams qualified for states.
The story never changes (just the names and faces) in the D2 AA boys race as Scranton Prep dominated to take home a fifth consecutive team title. Prep scored an eye-opening 28 points going 2-3-4-7-13 with their sixth and seventh runners placing 14-15. Mark Bucklaw of Lakeland, just a sophomore, took individual honors with a time of 16:41, nine seconds better than Prep junior Jack Doherty. Dunmore (93 pts) and Lakeland (119 pts) finished second and third.
And in AAA boys action, Honesdale kept with the meet trend of unusually low scores, recording 33 points for another team championship. The Hornets were led by the 2-3 finish of sophomore Sean Craig (16:57) and junior Ayden Fiorelli (17:04). Wallenpaupack junior Kevin Sives blew away the field with a 16:26. Abington Heights placed second in the team standings with 88 points.
Interesting fact about the 2004 District 2 Meet: A total of only 5 seniors finished in the top 5 in all four races combined and none of them placed first or second...looks like District 2 cross country followers may be feeling a sense of deja vu for years to come.