Photo Gallery of 10/30 District 3 Championships @ Hersheypark
Quote of the meet:
"Even this morning, I was thinking about States. This wasn't our best race. We're going to have to have our best race at States to win."
- Pat Caulfield, senior leader of US#7 Cedar Cliff, talking about their 49-point D3 win.
Pat Caulfield at the finish in 3rd behind the Miller twins. 
This team has been focused on winning every meet they enter, big and small, with the goal of winning States. They won at Great American. And now they've won the District 3 title with an incredible display of team depth. That depth easily overcame the one-two punch of Craig and Brad Miller of Manheim Township, who ran 15:58 and 16:14. But Caulfield was in at 16:20, followed by Tim Johnson in 8th, Justin Keller in 9th, Mike Fulton in 15th and Corey Creek in 16th. Their 41-second spread on the soggy, slow, hilly course with a 16:48 scoring average set the stage for what they hope will be their best race of the season. Cedar Cliff didn't back off this week. They ran a 3xmile workout on Tuesday with the top group nailing 4:49 pace, followed by a hill workout on Thursday. It was all designed to help them stay focused on running their best race at States. Coach Ken Roseberry said that in 2003 their effort at Districts cost them a week later. "Last year we had a battle plan for Districts, and we built up to it and they just exploded. The kids wanted us to work them hard last week because they didn't want to run fast today. I wanted it fast, personally, I don't like to go into a race and know their minds were on next week. But it worked." Individually, Caulfield had high praise for fellow competitor Curtis Bixler, the Cumberland Valley junior who finished 4th. "He really pulled me along. He was talking to me and saying 'let's go.' I didn't expect him to give me that kind of support. It's just really good competition around here." Caulfield also believes that 5th man Cory Creek has been a big reason for the team's success this season. "He finally races like he trains, which is really hard. He has really stepped it up."
The Cedar Cliff girls, while not quite as dominant, were 29-point winners over 2nd place Cumberland Valley. Senior Janelle Young led the Colts with a 2nd place 19:29. Sophomore Sarah Morrison led Chambersburg, pulling away over the final half mile to win in the fastest time of the day, 19:08. "I wanted to stay with the lead pack, and once I was with Janelle, to stay with her. When I thought I could go for it, I tried pushing it a bit more and used all that I had left." She'll have her team with her at States thanks to their 3rd place finish. Cumberland Valley was led by a 8-9-10 barrage of sophomores, Samantha Fickel, Abby Huber and Paige Anderson, all within four seconds of each other.
The AA girls race was a battle of the freshman, as three newcomers took the top three spots. Kara Millhouse, Boiling Springs, battled it out over the entire race with Eastern York's Elicia Anderson and Lancaster Mennonite's Katie Ruth, pulling out the win on a final furious sprint over the final 100 meters, after closing a 15 meter gap with a half mile to go. Her 19:22 was the 2nd fastest of the day. "I just really wanted to win. I wasn't going to let anything stop me." Millhouse is the younger sister of former Boiling Springs star Kyleigh Millhouse, now a freshman at the Naval Academy. "My sister tells me not to start out too hard. That's her strategy, but I don't listen." She took it out hard "but those girls were really fast, so I just wanted to hang on. I wasn't going to let them get out of my sight." She didn't. She won her first district title. "Now I just want to medal at States." In the team race, York Suburban was 29 point winners over perennial power Wyomissing. Placing three in the top eight behind the 4th place run by Christina Antonopoulos in 19:39, this team could challenge for the state title.
In AA boys, Wyomissing overcame the 2-3 punch of James Buchanan by placing four in the top 19 behind the 7th place finish of Tony Skiles in 17:15. Kutztown senior Andrew Stutzman ran 16:50 for the win.
Katie Ruth, Lancaster Mennonite, and fellow frosh Kara Millhouse, Boiling Springs, battle it out just after the mile in AA girls.
Eastern York's Elicia Anderson, also a freshman, takes the lead with Ruth approaching 2.5 miles.
Millhouse maintains contact.
Millhouse uses a furious kick to catch and pass both Anderson and Ruth on the final straight.
Christina Antonopoulos leads York Suburban to the team title with her 4th place finish.
The start of the AAA girls' race.
Sarah Morrison leads at 2.5 miles, but Cedar Cliff senior Janelle Young in right there.
Morrison pulls away to win in the day's best time, 19:08.
The boys AA race had a big chace pack at the front just past the mile.
But Kutztown's Andrew Stutzman wasn't to be denied, winning in 16:50.
Tony Skiles led Wyomissing to the team title with his 7th place finish.
When we said Craig Miller led from the gun, we were accurate. This is about 600 meters into the race.
Conestoga Valley had two runners up front after the mile. Cedar Cliff's 2-3-4 are right there.
Pat Caulfield was the Colt's top runner once again, finishing third behind team Miller.
Craig Miller was the only runner to break 16, going 15:58 for his title.
Tim Johnson and Justin Keller went two-three for Cedar CLiff in 8th and 9th.
Mike Fulton was 15th for the Colts.
And 5th man Corey Creek was just behind in 16th.