3rd times the charm for Finn at Brooks PR! Check out all the great Brooks PR and State Meet action from the weekend!!
Probably the best way to capture the career of Pennsbury senior Sara Sargent is to point out that she has won at least one state championship in her first three years of high school. Got that? Freshman. Sophomore. Junior. Check them off. In 2009, she won the state AAA cross country title. Later that month, she was 8th in the Northeast at the Foot Locker Regional, and then was 21st in nationals, just 10 seconds out of all-American. As a sophomore, she was diagnosed with mono just two weeks after the state XC championships. She bounced back and captured the PTFCA Indoor 3000 meter title. Oh, we missed the 3200 meter PIAA AAA title as a freshman. Then, as a junior, she was the PIAA AAA 1600 meter champ in a PR of 4:51.04. Throw in some all-states, Millrose Games and US Open Miles, and appearances in the Penn Relays Mile and 3000, and other state medals, and you have an awesome career. And just this past November 3rd, she led her team to their 3rd consecutive AAA State XC Title. Sit back and enjoy her senior campaign.
Photos by Patty Morgan and Marleen Van den Neste
Unionville senior Courtney Smith enters her third year of XC with a resume that has been growing season-to-season. As a sophomore, she was 4th in AAA at Hershey. Then last year, she won her first state title, setting a meet and course record. In the winter, she broke the state record in the 3000 meter run, but had to settle for 2nd place. She more than made up for it by twice outsprinting the same competitor, first for 3rd place in the Girls 3000 Invitational at the Penn Relays, and then in the finals of the AAA 3200 meter run at the PIAA State Championships. Despite an injury, Smith captured 3rd in an incredible 3000 at PTFCA Indoor States, and anchored her DMR to a state title. Then two weeks later, she anchored that DMR to a 6th place finish in the New Balance Nationals Indoor champs in a time ten seconds better than their state title... and anchored the 4xmile the next day to a 3rd place finish - both earning all-American recognition.