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District 11 AA By Don Rich Date: 10/26/2000 |
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Lee Straus has coached the Nativity B.V.M. boys and girls cross country teams for 27 years. During that time, has had two boys teams make the AA state meet. Today, his girls' team made it for the first time, winning the District 11 Cross Country Championships at Lehigh University. "The girls are close in and outside of school. They have worked for this. And when we won our Leagues, we started to think we could do this." Adding to the ranks of his squad are members of the school's basketball team, who were encouraged by their coach to run. They will be joined at States by Saucon Valley and Notre Dame.
Jim Thorpe's Chelsea Mullins, a senior, extended her lead at the mile to win in 19:38. "I lost 15 pounds, and that made all the difference this year." Senior Matt Oertner, Northern Lehigh, did well as a soph, but dropped back in the pack last year after putting on a few pounds. But a summer of increased running and reduced eating put him in shape to take the District 11 AA crown. He's hoping for a top ten finish next week at Bucknell. His plan for today was to push the last uphill and use his 1:57 800 speed to his advantage. His time of 16:07 was a PR by six seconds. Notre Dame took the team title, and will be joined at States by Bethlehem Catholic and Saucon Valley.
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