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closeHERSHEY — Violent thuds caused by hundreds of strong feet smacking packed mud make the beginning of the PIAA Cross Country Championships sound like a buffalo stampede.
CDT photo/Guy Cipriano
Penns Valley’s Will Lush, right, runs through the Parkview Course in Hershey at the PIAA Cross Cuntry Championships on Saturday. Lush finished 105th in the Class AA race in 18 minutes, 10 seconds.
Once the pack thins, the sound of heavy, often-painful, gasps replace the thuds.
One week removed from dominating performances within familiar District 6 surroundings, the gasping reached its peak for the State College girls and Penns Valley boys, a pair of teams toting different expectations into Saturday’s state meet on the challenging Parkview Course.
The Lady Little Lions, a team many considered among the state’s 10 best, finished 13th in the Class AAA girls’ race. In the Class AA boys’ race, Penns Valley finished 12th, one place better than its 2008 showing.
“I think anytime you finish in the top half that’s wonderful,” said Penns Valley coach Terry Glunt, whose team competed with 24 other squads. “Our guys see what the results are and say, ‘Hey, great. Let’s go have some ice cream.’ It’s like a Little League game. There isn’t much you can do about it.”
Across the course, the feeling was different among State College runners and coaches Rebecca Donaghue and GiGi Johnson. The combination of a perfect district meet score and swift athletes spanning all four grade levels had some thinking big.
But a slow start doomed the Lady Little Lions. State College found itself stuck in the middle of a massive pack during the first quarter- mile. As she chased her team to the course’s hillier sections, Donaghue knew something was amiss.
“Right from the start we weren’t in it,” she said. “I don’t think they were as aggressive as maybe they could have been or as light on their feet as maybe they could have been. I’m not sure, but the first 400 meters we were too far back.”
Perhaps in another meet the Lady Little Lions could have overcome the early gap. But the state meet is different, something evidenced by the fact that 33 runners broke 20 minutes. Senior Lucia Sofo, a two-time district champion, led State College by finishing 55th overall in 20:19.
“It’s always hard in these type of races,” Sofo said. “People are throwing elbows, people are falling down. You really have to get out there.”
Sofo said she ran alongside teammates Nora Adams and Chloe Schmidt during the first mile. State College’s spread increased during the final two miles, which includes multiple hills, including a steep, spectator-lined one with 400 meters remaining.
Sophomore Anne Balogh was second among State College runners, finishing 89th in 20:40. The Lady Little Lions top five also included Adams (118th, 20:49), Tatum Del Bosco (145th, 21:00) and Kathryn McNaughton (218th, 21:48). Schmidt finished 262nd in 22:48.
“We were really looking forward to getting out there and racing,” Sofo said. “This is one of the best teams our school has had for a while. We were ready to compete. I don’t really know what happened. We tried. We had a really good season.”
Penns Valley also started slow, a reality partially caused by receiving a spot along the compact right side of the starting line. But the Rams kept their pack tight. Their top four runners finished within 49 seconds of each other.
Senior Peter Kistler led Penns Valley by finishing 55th in 17:44. Kistler, like Sofo, didn’t start distance running until high school and the experience he obtained during multiple state-meet appearances calmed a young team. He also helped the Rams claim their third district title in the past four years.
“For me personally it wasn’t the best race,” Kistler said. “With this many guys the start is important and I had a slow first mile. I wasn’t where I thought I should be. But as far as this season goes, if I had to pick one good race for our team to run, I would have definitely picked districts. That’s what we did. This was kind of a bonus round.”
Penns Valley’s bonus round could reap significant rewards next year. The Rams’ other five runners are underclassmen. Ryan Brown (64th, 17:50), Will Lush (105th, 18:10), Matt Fuller (156th, 18:33) and Michael Decker (203rd, 19:03) completed the scoring.
“I have every confidence they will continue to do well,” Kistler said. “This is kind of how we have been set up for a while and we continue to do well.”
The county’s other two state qualifiers are also underclassmen.
State College junior Paul Crowe, the fifth member of a running family to compete in the PIAA meet, ran 18:09 to place 180th in the Class AAA boys. Philipsburg-Osceola’s Lauren Simcox finished 143rd in 21:57 during the Class AA girls’ race. Crowe and Simcox were making their second straight state meet appearances.
District 6 Central Cambria won its third straight Class AA girls’ title by placing two runners in the top 10 and recording a team score of 72. Altoona’s Chris Fischer and Wade Endress placed 10th and 20th, respectively, to help the Mountain Lions finish fourth in the Class AAA boys’ race won by District 1 West Chester Henderson.
District 11 Emmaus captured its third straight Class AAA girls’ title, while District 3 York Suburban won the Class AAA boys’ race. Emmaus is the first girls’ team since State College (1979-81) to capture three straight team titles.
North Penn’s Brad Miles, Kutztown’s Stephen Welsh, Pennsbury’s Sara Sargent and Northwestern Lehigh’s Lindsay Kerr won individual titles. The top 25 finishers in each race received medals.
In Print
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