States
Pennsylvania

Weekly Roundup - Oct 26
Districts

by Don Rich,
PennTrackXC

| Highlights | Summaries | Lehigh | Scranton | Bloomsburg | Slippery Rock | Schenley |
| Clarion County | DeSales | Hershey | Sharon | Independent Schools |


Highlights

Council Rock-North boys pull off mild upset at District 1, over US#11 Henderson, by just five points. But Henderson's Ian Gottesfeld wins 15:25 saying "we're confident for States." Hatboro-Horsham senior Janine Ricci goes 18:15 to lead team to dominant win. 2000 and 2001 AAA State Champs Parkland and Allentown Central Catholic go one-two at District 11, as Parkland guts out one-point win. Sam Bair returns to form with 16:10 win on hilly Slippery Rock course at District 7.

In District 3, US#14 Wyomissing girls place five in top eight behind 1-2 Amy and Debbie Huss for just 20 points and a 1:13 spread. Ryan Blood cruises alone to best time of day on a muddy, slow course in 16:22. Craig and Brad Miller, the freshmen twins from Manheim Township, go 2-4 in their first Districts Race. CV's Brian Fuller win in 16:32.

In District 10, Jesi Christiansen upset by Eisenhower's Heather Milmoth by 33 seconds. Jed Christiansen beats both Brian and Eric Soder, and Eisenhower's Grant Allen.

Frances Koons

Allentown Central Catholic's Frances Koons took District 11 in 18:38.
Janine Ricci

Hatboro Horsham senior Janine Ricci has had a breakthrough season, winning the District 1 meet in 18:15, faster than Paige Miller ran the course.
Ryan Blood

Ryan Blood, East Pennsboro, wins in best time of day, 16:22 on the new, revised, but very muddy States course at Hersheypark.
Kate Papenberg

Just after the mile, Kate Papenberg, Red Lion, stays with early pacesetter Emily Kruger.

 

Summaries

Friday, October 25: PIAA District 1 Championships @ Lehigh University -
A mild upset as Council Rock-North takes US#11 West Chester Henderson by
five points, 88-93. Henderson started with four points, as Ian
Gottesfeld took the title in a very fast 15:25.9, and Greg Williams took
3rd in 15:34.1. Quakertown's Adam Breisch was 2nd in 15:29.2, while XC
novice Eric Fleming, Bishop Shanahan, was 4th in 15:42. Also qualifying
were Coatesville, Hatboro-Horsham, and Upper Moreland. In girls' AAA.
Janine Ricci, Hatboro-Horsham, continued her breakthrough senior season,
going 18:15.9 to win comfortably over Ashley Kelly of Bensalem, seven
seconds back. Ricci's Hatboro-Horsham team took first with just 76
points in the deep D1 competition, and have to be considered a favorite
along with District 11 powers Parkland and Allentown Central Cathoic.
North Penn, with a strong, if not front-running pack, placed 2nd.
Pennridge, Council Rock-North (behind a resurging Jessica Cickay, 6th in
18:50.1), and Haverford HS, rounded out the qualifying teams. In girls'
AA, Gwynedd Mercy tallied just 36 points behind the 18:40.3 of Meghan
Bishop. Teammate Kahki Mealey was 2nd in 19:08.1. Devon Prep went
2-3-9-10-12 for just 36 points to take the boys' AA. Springfield
(Montco's) Mark Korich ran alone for most the the race, finishing in
16:03.1.

Wednesday, October 23: PIAA District 2 Championships @ Scranton
Municipal Golf Course - Jonathan Pastore, Scranton Prep, wins in 16:05
to claim District AA title for 3rd straight year, a feat equalled by his
team. Wallenpaupack places five in top 21 to gain AAA crown with 70
points. Junior Marcus Magyar, Wyoming Area, win in 16:20. Dallas girls
dethrone Scranton Prep in AA, placing four in top 12 for 66 points, 32
up on Prep. Western Wayne junior Meghan Robbins wins AA in 19:06. In AAA
girls, Abington Heights wins tiebreaker over Hazleton Area.
Wallenpaupack's Meghan Rozema wins AAA race in 19:29.

Thursday, October 24: PIAA District 4 Championships @ Bloomsburg
University - Ashleigh Wetzel of Lewisburg improved 33 seconds over last
year and, more importantly, by one place to capture the District 4
individual championship in 19:30. She was followed across the line by
Wyalusing's Jenny Stevens in 19:47 and Middleburg's Amber Hackenberg in
19:59 on the very challenging Bloomsburg University course. Wellsboro
freshman Dailyn Cooney finished 5th overall and led her team to the
championship as they beat runner-up Danville 90-108. Lewisburg also had
the boy's champion in repeat winner Chris Spooner. Spooner crossed the
finish line in 16:23 posting a 23 second win over Chris Cummings of
Mansfield, with Wyalusing's Matt Roehrig another 5 seconds back. Spooner
also led the Green Dragon's to a convincing 55 point victory over
Northeast Bradford 65-120. Sammy Colvin of Williamsport literally ran
away from the AAA field with a 1 minute 28 second victory. Her 19:57 on
this rugged course was all the more impressive in that she was all alone
after the first 600 meters. The team competition was close with Jersey
Shore taking the championship with 46 points, two better than
Williampsort and four better than Milton. In the AAA Boys Race, Chip
Carnes took the individual crown in 17:15, but Steve Thompson's third
place in 17:27 led the Shikellamy Braves to a tight 37 to 39 victory
over Williamsport.

Thursday, October 24: PIAA District 7 (WPIAL) Championships @ Slippery
Rock University
- It's crunch time, and the boys and girls teams from
Mount Lebanon and Quaker Valley took care of business, winning both AAA
and both AA championships, respectively. The boys used a 42 second
spread behind the 5th place finish of Jim O'Toole in 16:39. Their 100
points were nine better than North Hills. Sam Bair, Shaler, recovered
from a tough race last week to outsprint North Hills Junior Ian
Fitzgerald by two seconds, winning in 16:10. Mount Lebanon's girls
tallied 181 points behind the 10th place finish of Lauren Wood, in
20:08. North Allegheny, always there when it counts, was second with 198
points. Christine Taranto, West Allegheny, went 19:06 to hold off Penn
Hills freshman Kaitlin Grimm by 13 seconds. Three-time defending WPIAL
champ Lauren Bricker was 13th in 20:13. The Quaker Valley guys were 20
better than Ellwood City, getting 63 points, paced by the 3rd place
finish of Zach Thomas in 16:59. Brentwood senior Dan Erny went 16:41 for
the AA win. The girls placed five in the top 14 and all seven in the top
19 to tally just 40 points. Senior Maxinne Marckfield ran 19:49 to win
the race for the championship team.

Saturday, October 19: PIAA District 8 (Pgh City League) Championships @
Schenley Oval
- The Allderdice girls and boys teams became the first
teams to qualify for the PIAA Championships by winning the District 8
(Pittsburgh City League) Championships. Three days of rain had turned
much of the course to mud, forcing runners to slog through large puddles
and causing some harriers to fall on the sharper turns. Times were
significantly slower than at the last league meet held October 10, and
the rain and wind literally tore bibs right off the runners, so scoring
the race was difficult. In the boys' race, Tom Jech (Allderdice) won in
17:24, and teammate Ron Warnock second in 18:05. Khafre Wade (Langley),
Rich Hanlon (Carrick), and Micah Chaney (Schenley) all finished in the
top six, and qualified for States as individuals. Allderdice finished
its seven runners in the top ten places for 22 points. Allderdice's
Molly Ainsman, who was also the City League winner last year, defended
her title in 20:29. Mara Horwitz (Schenley) qualified for States,
finishing second in 20:49. Allderdice then swept the next six places to
tally just 19 points. Anne Stadler (Langley) and Madeline Seltman
(Schenley) rounded out the top ten. Josh Delouis (Langley) and Lili
Knezevich (Allderdice) won the junior varsity boys' and girls' races,
respectively. Results courtesy of Matthew Meisel, Allderdice HS.

Thursday, October 26: PIAA District 9 Championships @ Clarion County
Park- Fortunately for Oswayo Valley (70 points), two AA teams make
States in District 9. They were a single point behind Karns City, which
was led by meet champion Aaron Benson in 16:42. In AA, the Elk County
Catholic girls, behind the winning 20:32 of Erica Hoffman, posted just
31 points, using a 50-second spread. Bradford took both boys and girls
AAA crowns (and berths), the boys by just two points over Clearfield.
Mike Wheeler led Bradford with an 8th place 18:40. St. Mary's Robbie
Meyer won the race in 16:53. Jenna Daggett led the Bradford girls to a
comfortable win with just 25 points, going 20:50 to finish 2nd. Renea
Shaffer, Punxsutawney, was the District 9 AAA champ, going 20:09.
Results courtesy of RunHigh.com.

Thursday, October 24: PIAA District 11 Championships @ DeSales
University
- The last two AAA Girls State Champions come from District
11. That may very well be the case again in 2002, as both those teams,
Parkland (2000 champ) and Allentown Central Catholic (2001 champ), were
separated by a mere point as they went one-two in the District 11
showdown - Parkland (2-3-9-12-17) with 43 points, and ACC (1-5-10-13-15)
with 44 points. The race came down to the 5th runners, with Katie Stepp,
just returning in the past two weeks from an injury, gutted out a tough
20:24.3 to finish two places behind ACC #5. But it was the 2-3 finish of
recent injury-returnee Paula Giguere, with teammate Erin Roberts that
gave the upfront points to counter the win by ACC's Frances Koons in
18:38.4. In the Girls AA Race, Nativity B.V.M. dominated the field with
41 points, going 4-5-6-9-17. Saucon Valley was 2nd with 69 points.
Palisades' C. Plummer captured the individual title with her 19:13.7.
The Parkland boys duplicated the effort of their girls' team, placing
five in the top 21 behind Greg Macri's 16:49.2 and Steven Finley's
16:50.0. Easton tallied 94 points to qualify as the other D11 team.
Pottsville's Shane Clauser posted a strong 16:23.6 to win the individual
title. In boys' AA, Saucon Valley went 3-4-5-7-15 for just 34 points.
Notre Dame, behind the 1-2 finishes of J. Casciole (17:02.0) and R.
Panella (17:06.9), propelled their team to take the other States berth.

Saturday, October 26: PIAA District 3 Championships @ Hersheypark -
Wyomissing won. The girls, for an incredible 4th straight time. They are
the Harrier #14 team in the US, and they showed it, placing five in the
top eight, and all seven in the top 13. The spread, a mere 1:13. The
boys' squad from Wyo also won, by a comfortable 67 points. This is a
program that is on top and in position to stay there. Amy Huss took the
individual title in 19:20. Debbie was just five seconds back. Lancaster
Mennonite soph Kristen Groff broke up a clean sweep of the Wyo top four
by getting 3rd in 19:30.

Debbie and Amy Huss, with teammate Ashley Iwanowski, and Lancaster Mennonite's Kristen Groff early in the race.

Ryan Blood, the East Pennsboro senior, is in
the shape of his life, and ran the fastest time of the day in 16:22 on a
very muddy, very slow course. More impressively, he led from 300 meters
on and basically coasted the last mile. Little sister Kari did one-up
him though, getting 6th in the AAA race, better than her big bro did as
a frosh. Red Lion's Kate Papenberg "had a lot of fun" in the mud and ran
a powerful 19:04 to win the girls' AAA race, pulling away from
Lampeter-Strasburg senior Emily Kruger nearing the two mile. Governor
Mifflin took the district title behind the 14th place finish of Demetria
Koutsaurais. Cumberland Valley junior Brian Fuller pulled away over the
final half mile to win AAA boys in 16:32, five seconds up on super frosh
Craig Miller. Cedar Cliff defended their District title behind the
come-from-behind 3rd place finish of senior Patrick Phibin in 16:39. Red
Lion was the 5th and final team to qualify for AAA boys after a timing
snafu temporarily gave the last slot to Cumberland Valley. CV coach
Steve Koons accepted the change with anticipated class. And Reading
junior Ramon Lopez was added to the qualifier list after most had left
the meet.

Saturday, October 26: PIAA District 10 Championships @ Buhl Park, Sharon
- In AA, Jed Christiansen, Greenville, ran a solid race (as did the
others in the lead pack) to beat both the Soders and Eisenhower's Grant
Allen. Harbor Creek, led by the 2-4-5 finish of their front-runners
(Brian Soder 15:54.2, Eric Soder 15:58.3, Craig Davis 15:58.8) held off
West Middlesex's solid pack to win 78-85. Union City picked up the last
team spot with 115 points. Eisenhower's Heather Wilmoth beat Jesi
Christiansen by 33 seconds. Jesi still beat the rest of the field by
about 50 seconds. Seneca, behind the 3rd place finish of Leah Coveleski,
held off Eisenhower 113-117. Youngsville got the last berth in States by
just eight points over Fairview. In AAA, Maris Reutzel led her Meadville
team to the win with just 39 points, going 19:59.5. General McLane's
Hudson Harrison (16:26.7) and Hayden Harrison (16:40) led their squad to
the title with 36 points.

Saturday, October 26: PA Independent Schools Championships @ Mercersburg
Academy - LaSalle used its depth to win another Independent Schools
Division I championships behind the 16:29 effort of Joe Fedororwicz with
38 points. St. Joseph's Prep was 27 points back as Tim O'Neill captured
2nd in 16:42. In Division II, Sean Morgan led Germantown Academy to the
title with his winning 17:08 effort. And in Division III, Westtown's Sam
Cooper got 4th to lead his team to a ten-point win over Germantown
Friends. Ian Ramsey-North, Friends' Central, was the Division III Champ
with his 16:38. In the Girls's Championship, Germantown Academy got by
The Hill School by five points with their 63 tally, while Episcopal
Academy was 3rd, 16 points back. Westtown's Katie McKinstry, went 19:43
for the win.

 

 

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