| 09/25 |
Ellwood City
Laurel put four in the top five led by a winning performance from Ethan Wilson (17:02) to win the boys race with 20 points. For the girls, Laurel scored a pefect 15 points by taking the first 8 spots led by Emily Maxwell's winning performance of 20:01.
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Monongahela, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/27 |
Big South Conference Championship
Ringgold
Meet summary by Jennifer Lejeune McMichael
The Big South Cross Country Championships (formerly Big 8) hosted by Ringgold High School at Mingo Park were won by the Ringgold Girls with a score of 37 points, the runner up was South Park with 65 points.
The individual winner was sophomore Kirsten McMichael from Ringgold. McMichael led the race from the start over the hilly course. Her time of 19:59 dominated the field by 1:29 over runner up, Janika Hutton, also from Ringgold, in very wet and muddy conditions. The boys meet was won by Chartiers Valley with a score of 40 points, the runner up was West Mifflin with 81 total points. South Park senior Tyler Rigby led the field with a time of 17:13 and a 46 victory over Cory Gulakowski from West Mifflin. |
Monongahela, PA RESULTS POSTED |
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09/28 - 09/29 |
NSSF
Photo by Joseph Bond
 PA#1 Cardinal O'Hara boys returned to North Carolina looking to defend their team title they won last season with a huge performance. Dan Savage led the way this season with a 13th place finish in 15:23.9, which was good enough to lead the team to a 3rd place finish 161 points. They had a 1-5 spread of 40 seconds and had all five runners inside the top 60 team places. Christian Brothers Academy (NJ) showed why they are US#1 scoring 60 points with a meet record average of 15:24! Brendan Shearn of North Schuylkill finished 15th in the race with a time of 15:25.7. |
Cary, NC RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/28 |
Lehigh University
Summary by Lex Mercado
 West Chester East earned a big team victory in a 40 team field! After dominating some smaller invitationals, West Chester East improved their title credentials with a big invitational performance. A spread of 33 seconds was key to their victory as it was enough to hold off 27 second spread from the squad from James Robinson VA 152-173. Leading the way was sophomore Eric Diestelow, who ran a solid 16:23. The top five all finished under 17 minutes and inside the top fifty overall.
Individually, Rico Galassi of Holy Cross came away as the winner through the muddy course, running 15:44 to hold off Ben Ritz of Germantown Academy (15:52). Galassi's performance came as no surprise to the champion, as he has been running well all season long and this performance will improve his chances of becoming the first ever class A champion. As for runner-up Ritz, he and his brother Sam (5th) looked at this race as one of the two biggest of the season. "We want to peak for nationals, so this race was a great way to see where we were," said Ben Ritz.
 The girls Brown race provided the fans with an introduction to one of the bright young freshmen of the season. For those who attended PTXC 4, Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley should be no surprise to them. Her 4th place finish at that meet was an impressive performance. What she did today, however, topped that. Entering the final mile, Clahane was able to make her move and surge on the downhill to take home the gold in a time of 18:10. Kara Steinke of Methacton finished 4th in 18:28, marking her 5th top ten finish of the season. Stephanie Aldrich of West Chester Henderson ran an equal 18:28 to Steinke to crack the top five. In the team standings, Clahane's performance was good enough to lead her team to a 3rd place finish and top PA honors with a score of 250 points, 25 points better than district rivals Governor Mifflin. US#10 Voorhees (NJ) dominated the 43 team field with a strong score of 104 points with a 47 second spread and six in the top 40 overall. The boys white race had Central Dauphin earn the team title with ease, scoring 77 points with five in the top 31 led by a 3rd place finish from senior James Wood. Class A #3 Penn Charter finished a distant second with 182 points, with sophomore Ben Szuhaj finishing 5th in 16:32. Ryan Hertzog of South Western was the top PA finisher, earning 2nd place in 16:20, six seconds behind Bethesda's (MD) Peter Horton.  In the girls white race, Veronica Wheeler of Nazareth Academy came away as the individual champion, leading for the entire 2nd half of the race to finish in 19:41, nine seconds better than Meridith Twomey of Villa Joseph Marie. Even though she had to settle for 2nd, Twomey's performance was enough to lead her team to a narrow team championship win over North Stafford VA 167-195. Villa Joseph Marie was powered to the title with three inside of the top eleven overall.
PAUL SHORT GIRLS BROWN PREVIEW
by Bill Coren(STRATH HAVEN) TEAMS!!!! 43 teams will be running at Lehigh in the top-seeded “BROWN” race! Only TWO of the PA TOP 10 teams are entered in this meet leaving the door open for a number of other quality teams. 11 of these teams are likely to be in the mix. Teams who will have to fight really hard to be in the TOP 5 are BOYERTOWN(10th PIAA FOUND. GOLD), OHARA(14th PIAA FOUND. GOLD--2nd Large BRIARWOOD)--GREAT VALLEY(3rd Large BRIARWOOD, 3rd ABINGTON)--STRATH HAVEN(2nd Large BULL RUN, 4th Large BRIARWOOD, 5th ABINGTON)--HAVERFORD(Lost close dual meet to SH on Weds)--and WEST CHESTER RUSTIN(13th PIAA FOUND.GOLD). There are 5 teams who have a legitimate shot of claiming the PAUL SHORT team title. BETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE(MD)(2nd at OATLANDS) expects to compete with all of the entered PA teams. MOUNT ST JOSEPH(1st Large BRIARWOOD, 2nd ABINGTON) has 2 very strong (likely TOP 15) runners and the amount of runners on their team make even practices very competitive. HOLY REDEEMER(2nd Blue PIAA(would have been 6th Gold)) is a small school, but will challenge the larger schools here. They also have 2 strong runners(likely TOP 15). CUMBERLAND VALLEY(2nd PTXC4--beat HOLY REDEEMER by 22) is always a strong program and have a VERY good chance of winning the team title. The favorite is GOVERNOR MIFFLIN(1st SPIKED SHOE). They were/are ranked #6 in PA and appear ready to take home a number of LEHIGH shirts!! INDIVIDUALS!!!! There will be around 400+ runners at the starting line on Friday(Teams are allowed to enter 10 girls(usually only 7 are allowed in Big Meets)) so that’s the reason for the larger field than in most meets. Only 6 of these girls have a real shot at being #1. It’s great to see that 5 of them are SENIORS!!! The only underclassman with a chance is also likely the favorite. Steinke(METH 11)(2nd Gold PIAA FOUND., 1st Large BRIARWOOD, 1st ABINGTON, 2nd SHARP) is running awesome! Only Sheva(PENNR 10) and Smith(UNV 11) have beaten her. Aldrich(WCH 12)(3rd HS Champ ADIDAS in NC) has only run one week-end 5K so far, but her time and her 800M speed show she will be ready for the flat Lehigh course. She may end up winning the entire race. 4 other girls should battle it out for the next spots---Mundell(GOV M 12)(3rd SPIKED SHOE)--Skinner(PENNCH 12)(1st GEORGE, 2nd Small BRIARWOOD)--RUDAWSKY(GAR V 12)(1st Large BRIARWOOD, 2nd ABINGTON)--and MEEHAN(HAV 12)(3rd Large BRIARWOOD). |
Bethlehem, PA
RESULTS POSTED
PHOTO GALLERIES COMPLETE
VIDEO INTERVIEWS
Ben and Sam Ritz go 2 and 5 in the seeded race for Germantown Academy
Mady Clahane, a Cumberland Valley freshman, wins her first big invitational |
| 09/29 |
Carlisle
Race Summaries by Cory Mull
Varsity Boys Puma Challenge
Vinny Todaro has had good races for Big Spring this fall, like that dominant win at the Bulldog Invitational two weeks ago, but this one was undoubtedly his best yet.  The senior, capping off a thrilling finish in the boy’s PUMA Challenge race at the 20th Annual Carlisle Invitational, charged past the finish line in 15 minutes, 31.11 seconds, setting a personal record by over 30 seconds.He was paced by Kiski Area’s Brent Kennedy, who finished second in 15:33.15 and went stride for stride in the race’s final meters along with Todaro. Everything seemed to come together at once for the Big Spring runner, who seemed to also make a big statement with the winning time, his first crack under 16 minutes. “I didn’t know if I could break 15:30,” Todaro said. “In my mind, I would have been happy in the 15:50s.” After going through the first mile in 4:51, which presented the race’s only significant hill, Todaro was in line for a good showing. He powered through the flat terrain and used the course’s quick layout to his advantage. At the two-mile mark, he controlled the lead. He finished with an average 4:59 mile. “My strategy was to hang on as long as I could and keep up,” he said. “But honestly, nobody knew who I was coming into this race. Brent [Kennedy] asked if I was in AAA, and I said I was in AA. I didn’t let anyone get ahead.” Overall, six runners dipped below the 16-minute barrier. West Chester Henderson junior Reiny Barchet was third in 15:50.32, Don Bosco Prep junior Kyle Levermore was fourth in 15:51.96, Upper Dublin senior Francis Ferruzzi was fifth in 15:52.42 and Toms S. Wo senior Joshua Trzeciak was sixth in 15:59.85. In the team standings, West Chester Henderson put together an impressive showing, finishing its first five point-scorers in the top 21 positions to score 60 points. The team featured a spread of just 45 seconds between Barchet and fifth-place finisher Seamus Collins, who secured a time of 16:35.13. Don Bosco Prep was second in the team standings, placing its first four runners in the top 20 spots and its fifth in the 28th position to score 73 points. Saint Anthony’s was third with 97 points. Don Bosco Prep junior Michael Higgins was the second runner within the top 10, finishing seventh in 16:01.49. Todaro’s impressive performance highlighted a strong field at Carlisle, with 169 runners featured in the PUMA Challenge. The senior, who secured a win at his home course’s Bulldog Invitational on September 15 with a time of 16:09.58 -- which was a full minute ahead of the second-place finisher -- thought a good race was in store. But perhaps not like this, he admitted. After finishing fifth at the District 3 meet a year ago and 26th in states; one spot from a medal;, both less than stellar outcomes, he said, Todaro hopes to take one more crack at the top postseason races. “I want to be at the top,” Todaro said. “The more I work, the more it’ll pay off.” Varsity Girls Puma Challenge
The strategy was to pick a moment, a decisive point in the race, to make a move.
 For Penn Manor junior Greta Lindsley, that came a half-mile into the race in Carlisle, just moments before tackling the course’s most significant hill.Using the incline to her advantage, Lindsley powered up the ascent, took the lead and never let it go as she went on to win the girls’ PUMA Challenge race at the 20th annual Carlisle Invitational in a time of 18:13.92, a personal record by 21 seconds, and second only to Shippensburg star Neely Spence in the last 11 years. “I’m extremely happy with the time,” Lindsley said. “My former best was 18:44, so this was definitely a great showing compared to that. I’m definitely getting better as a junior, and I can see it now.” This marked her biggest win of the season after a second-place showing at PTXC4. Lindsley, the District 3 Champion in 2011, contributes her progressive form to speed workouts she said she performs with the boy’s team over the week in training. “After I get done with my runs with the girls’ team, I start to train with the boys,” Lindsley said. “We work on 400s on the track and sometimes we do striders after workouts. It has helped my speed.” Lindsley was followed by University High (W.V.) junior Amelia Paladino, who finished in 18:24.72. Paladino was fourth a year ago at the same meet.  “I came out here and my goal was to run strong enough to win,” she said. “If it was there, I was going to go for it.”From there, it was a dominating performance by PA#2 Pennsbury, who packed a comprehensive group toward the finish and secured the race’s next six places to earn the team title with an incredible 20 points. Pennsbury, which moved down in the state rankings recently, made a statement on Saturday. The Falcons secured a 42 second compression between its first and fifth-point scorers. Freshman Maddie Sauer was third (18:40.77) (Pictured at finish), senior Sara Sargent was fourth (18:50.68), freshman Hannah Molloy was fifth (19:03.21), freshman Olivia Sargent was sixth (19:11.52) and senior Elizabeth Wedekind was seventh in 19:22.90. For good measure, the team’s seventh runner, Bailey Balmer, was 14th in 19:41.47. It was an absolute dominating performance from the two-time defending PIAA AAA champions, and to head coach Don Little, it showed just how strong his team was running at this point in the season. "From top to bottom, one through ten, we are better and deeper than we have ever been,” Little said. “This is the best team I have had at Pennsbury." He added, "The girls executed the strategy today, and it showed. I am very pleased with where we are at this point." Palmrya, PA#3, was second in the team standings with 83 points. Leading the way was sophomore Maria Tukis, who was 10th in 19:28.64
Varsity Boys Champions Race
He had heard that someone of the same name from Pennsylvania was an accomplished runner, just like him.
 But this Connor Quinn made sure to state that he is from New York, not from Pennsylvania, and that should have been enough.All mis-identifications aside, Quinn, a Washingtonville (N.Y.) senior, won the Champions Race at the 20th annual Carlisle Invitational in a time of 16:24.2. It was the second time in three years that a Washingtonville runner had secured a win at Carlisle, with Martin Hehir taking the challenge title in 2010 with a time of 15:40.4. “This was a good race for me because I took a different approach,” Quinn said. “I have taken a lot of races too seriously this year and I haven’t had the kinds of finishes I would have liked.” “Today, I let out some laughs and just ran relaxed. It seemed to work.” Quinn certainly had a good race, out-kicking Garden Spot senior James Martin by seconds in the end. Martin was second overall in a time of 16:25.3, while Bonner-Prendie senior Will McDermott was third in 16:31.5. “Our league in New York, Section 9, has some pretty fast teams we compete against,” Quinn said. “So it’s been tough this season, but this was a good race against some good competition.” “I heard people talking about how this was a fast course, so I just tried to go out from the start.” Quinn ran off to a 4:59 first mile, gaining the lead. He maintained it most of the way before he was challenged by Martin. “This course is a little longer and not as many downhills, but it made it fast,” Quinn said. In the final team standings, Radnor secured the first place prize, piecing together three finishers within the top 10 and its fourth and fifth within the top 50 to earn 102 points. Sophomore Connor Holm and junior Watson Hanson finished back-to-back in fifth and sixth, scoring times of 16:45.52 and 16:46.54 to pace Radnor. They were followed by senior Declan Evans, who was 10th in 16:50.99. The placements proved to be significant, since Bonner-Prendie, which placed only one runner in the top ten, scored its next three in the top 25, with its fifth coming in 56th. Bonner-Prendke scored 122 points for second-place, while Garden Spot rounded out the top three with 142 points. Calvin Conrad-Kline was fourth overall for Palmyra, securing a time of 16:32.6, while Biglerville sophomore Brady Wilt scored a seventh-place finish and a time of 16:47.5. Rounding out the top 10 were Caravel Academy senior Connor Szwetkowski (16:48.9), Washingtonville senior Jeremy White (16:51) and Evans of Radnor.
Varsity Girls Champions Race
Woodgrove (Va.) freshman Emma Gillies is relatively new to the sport of cross country, but she’s learning the ropes quickly. She won the Champions Race at the 20th annual Carlisle Invitational on Saturday, hitting a final time of 18:57.  “I’m very happy with the race today,” said Gillies, who moved to her Virginia-based school from Michigan a year ago. “It was a very fast time and it’s my best so far.”Almost from the gun, it was a race between Gillies and Radnor senior Ariane Abadi, who separated by the first mile and were in a tandem by the two-mile mark. Abadi finished second overall, securing a time of 19:02. “We were together in the last straightaway and she really helped me push toward the finish,” Gillies said. Boiling Springs senior Lillie Brown, the District 3 champion in AA a year ago, said she had her best race of the season with a third-place finish in 19:30.8. “I think it’s coming together,” said Brown, who chipped off vital seconds of her season’s personal record. “I think I’ll be ready by the postseason.” York Suburban captured the team title with 58 points, scoring three runners in the top 10 placements, and five in the top 30. The freshmen duo of Emma Leik (19:32.82) and Olivia Gettle (19:34.82) led the way for the Trojans, who compiled a 69 second spread between its first and fifth finishers. Led by sixth-place finisher Katie Ross, who finished in 19:37.78, Garden Spot finished second in the team standings with 94 points. Ephrata, led by sophomore Andrea Castillo with a time of 20:16.4, which was good for 15th place, was third in the team standings with 153 points In a deep field that included 260 runners, Gillies stood out like a veteran, even though she was just a few months into his first cross country season. Featured in shorter mid-distance races in middle school like the 400 and 800, Gillies made the jump to the 5,000-meter race and has started to make her mark. Her finish Saturday, four seconds below 19 minutes, was her best of the season. “I do like running,” she said. “I would consider this my top sport now. I am a very competitive person.” |
Carlisle, PA RESULTS POSTED
VIDEO INTERVIEWS
Greta Lindsley: Girls PUMA Champion
Vinny Todaro: Boys PUMA Champion
Connor Quinn: Boys Varsity Champion
RACE VIDEO
Girls PUMA Challenge
Boys Champions Race
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| 09/29 |
Council Rock North
Council Rock North defended their home course with ease, placing five in the top 21 overall to score 50 points and win by almost 70. The team was led by a 1-2 finish from individual winner Mac Emery (15:46.3) and Ross Wilson (16:07.3). Penncrest won the AAA crown and Phil Mont Christian won the AA crown. For the girls, Kate Scott of the host school Council Rock North ran 18:40.9 to win the individual title by nearly 20 seconds. Her performance was also good enough to lead the team to victory over Central Bucks South 51-73 with five in the top twenty overall. Wissahickon won the AAA title and Villa Maria Academy won the AA crown.
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Newtown, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
Columbiana
The Highlands girls were 6th in the team competition behind the 12th place finish of Kelly Jenniches in 22:03.6. Dan Grove was 31st for Highlands in the boys varsity race, going 19:22.9.
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Columbiana, OH RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
Cochranton
Austin Pondel of Corry earned another victory with another impressive performance, taking the win in 15:47, 23 seconds better than Hunter Johnson of Saegertown. Johnson did earn gold of his own on this day, leading his team to the team title over West Middlesex 74-11. Saegertown also had a 4th place finish from Morgan Schenberg and a 10th place finish from Brendon Barclay to seal the win. For the girls, Sarah Kupniewski of Mercyhurst Prep ran 19:23 to win the individual title by 21 seconds over Reilly Walsh of Cambridge Springs. The West Middlesex girls team continued their solid team running, going 4-5-7-14-15 to score 45 points and cruise to the team title, led by the 4th place finish from Kristen White.
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Cochranton, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
Dickinson Long/Short Invitational
Dickinson College
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Carlisle, PA COLLEGIATE |
| 09/29 |
Salisbury University
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Salisbury, MD COLLEGIATE
RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
Boonsboro High School
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Boonsboro, MD NO PA TEAMS |
| 09/29 |
Richmond Sports Backers
Downingtown West boys finished 3rd in the Invitational race with a score of 184 points and were led by a 9th place finish from Joey Steadman in 16:11. The Downingtown West girls also finished 3rd in the invitational race with a score of 120 points and they were led by a 9th place finish from Michelle Myland in 19:40. The Baldwin boys finished 2nd in the Silver race with a score of 83 points led by a 7th place finish from Christian Labash in 17:29 and the Greater Latrobe girls finished 3rd in the Silver/Bronze race with 122 points led by a championship winning performance from Hanna Green in 19:06.
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Richmond, VA RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
McQuaid Jesuit
PHOTOS BY KYLE BRAZEIL
COURSE RECORD FOR WEISNER IN NY
Kennedy Weisner of Elk County Catholic continued her undefeated 2012 cross country season with an impressive course record winning performance of 16:46 for 3 miles, winning the race by over 50 seconds over Villa Maria Academy freshman Bernadette Prichard. Prichard's team would finish 3rd in the team race with a score of 146 points. The team title went to Canton who edged out Maple Grove 94-101. Canton was led by a 5th place finish from Laura Pierce (18:09). Other girls highlights include a gold medal performance from Casey Norton of Troy in the Unseeded 2A race, running 18:04 to win by 51 seconds. North East finished 9th in the team race with 303 points with an 11-12 finish from Anne Lewis and Alex Artise. Freshman Lydia Werner of Northeast Bradford won the Unseeded A3 race with a narrow 1 second victory in 18:50. Smethport Area finished 4th in the team standings with 171 points. Mars Area finished 5th in the unseeded AA2 race with 209 points led by a 20th place finish from Maggie McChesney. |
Rochester, NY RESULTS POSTED
VIDEO INTERVIEW
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For the boys, Ryan Smathers of North East came away with the individual gold medal in the seeded A race with a 3 mile time of 14:51, winning the race by 5 seconds. Sam Williams (4th) and Curt Jewett (5th) of Northeast Bradford also cracked the top five, which was good enough to tie for the top spot with 100 points with Pawling, but had to settle for 2nd place due to the 6th man tiebreaker. Oswayo Valley finished 3rd with 200 points and North East was 4th with 204 points. Other PA highlights include a 3rd place team finish in the unseeded A2 race from Troy with 272 points led by a 27th place finish from Robin Vanhoutte. Coudersport's Gabe Trimbur (15:46) held off Elk County Catholic's Ryan Detsch (15:55) to win the gold medal in the unseeded A3 race. Northern Potter finished 3rd with 177 points to tie Onondaga, but lost 2nd due to the 6th runner tiebreaker. Northern Potter were led by an 8th place finish from Ethan Kibbe. Mars Area won the unseeded AA2 race with 109 points to win by nearly 40 points over Greece Athena.
| 09/29 |
Hilliard Bradley
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Hilliard, OH NO PA TEAMS |
| 09/29 |
Bloomsburg University
Photos by David Beyerle
 Hazleton Area girls earned a narrow victory over Wallenpaupack 77-79 to win the girls team title. Hazleton were led by a 3 -4 finish from Nicole Buehrle and Angie Marchetti. Summer Hill of Honesdale came away with the individual title, running 19:14 to win by 16 seconds of Erika Huffman of Wyalusing.  For the boys, State College came away as team champions with a score of 76 points to win by nearly 100. Will Cather led the way for the team winners with a gold medal winning performance of 16:22 to win by 11 seconds. |
Bloomsburg, PA RESULTS POSTED
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| 09/29 |
The Archbishop Wood girls won their 3rd consecutive invitational race and for the 3rd straight time, they have earned the victory by 10 points or less. On this occassion, five inside the top 28 team places led by a 15th place finish from Casey Ortiz (19:39) and 1-5 spread of 37 seconds was good to earn the win over Glastonbury 97-108. The Archbishop Wood boys finished 8th in the division 1 race with 275 points, led by a 3rd place finish from Jonathan Schmidt in 16:24.
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Warwick, RI RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
Colts Neck HS
Kane Area boys finished 4th in the division E race with 143 points and were led by an 8th place finish from Avery Colson in 16:36.
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Jackson, NJ RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
Colts Neck HS
A 12th place finish from Ali Valenti in 19:09 led her North Penn team to a 3rd place finish in the varsity A race with a score of 91 points, only five points behind Lenape Regional for the team title. North Penn had a 1-5 spread of 37 seconds to put them in the mix for the team crown. Hatboro Horsham finished 8th in the varsity B race with 238 points led by a 17th place finish from Megan Schneider in 20:02.
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Jackson, NJ RESULTS POSTED |
| 09/29 |
The Saint Francis Father Bede XC Invitational
Saint Francis University
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Loretto, PA COLLEGIATE RESULTS POSTED
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