HS roundup: Penns Valley boys’ & girls’ cross-country sweep individual, team Mountain League titles
The Penns Valley boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams both ran through the rain to first-place finishes in the Mountain League Championship Cross-County Race in Spring Mills on Wednesday. Both Rams teams also produced the individual champions.
But Bellefonte didn’t make it easy for either team, keeping their wins within 2-point margins. Penns Valley ultimately pulled out the win in both races, edging the Red Raiders 50-52 in the boys’ race and 45-47 in the girls’ race.
On the boys’ side, Penns Valley’s Colton Sands bested teammate Brendan Colwell by just two seconds to earn the title of Mountain League champ, with a time of 15:42. Kelsey Hull won on the girls’ side, finishing in 20:28.
Centre County runners swept the first four places in the boys’ race, with Bellefonte’s Austin Melius finishing third in 17:47 and Penns Valley’s Daniel Kelly fourth in 17:58. Bellefonte runners Chase Ebeling and Eric Bennett placed seventh and ninth with times of 18:22 and 18:36, respectively.
Centre County runners took half the top 10 places on the girls’ side. Penns Valley’s Alexis Durn was third in 21:14, Bellefonte’s Amaya Rothrock was fourth in 21:32, Bellefonte’s Mia Elmore sixth in 21:36, Philipsburg-Osceola’s Manna Potter eighth in 21:58 and Bellefonte’s Amber Shirey 10th in 22:05.
“Kelsey Hull had another great race to guarantee her position as the Mountain League MVP,” girls’ coach Lynda Federinko said in an email. “It was a remarkable day as seven out of 10 girls ran their lifetime best. The girls are all in a great place heading into next week’s district race and we cannot wait to see the final outcome.”
State College and BEA girls’ volleyball win conference titles
State College and Bald Eagle Area girls’ volleyball continued their dominant seasons last week, each wrapping up their respective conference titles.
State College earned the title of Mid Penn Commonwealth champs, and finished its regular season undefeated.
A sweep of Central Dauphin (25-19, 25-22, 25-19) in a game in which Vanessa McGhee dominated at the net with four blocks and nine kills gave the Little Lions the conference title. Two more wins, a sweep of Mifflin County on Wednesday (25-9, 25-12, 25-12) and a 3-1 win over Clarion (25-19, 23-25, 27-25, 25-16) on senior night Thursday helped State College finish the season with a perfect 16-0 record.
BEA’s fifth straight Mountain league title came after a sweep of Huntingdon (25- 15, 25-13, 25-10) on Tuesday. The Eagles were led by Katelyn Smitchco, Grace Hugar and Taylor Kilmer, who had seven kills apiece, as the team hit .366. They also earned sweeps of Clearfield (25-3, 25-12, 25-16) and West Branch (25-11, 25-13, 25-16) to improve to 15-0. They’ll play at P-O Tuesday for their final regular season game.
P-O is coming off a 3-1 wins over Central and Penns Valley last week.
State College field hockey is crowned District 6 champs
State College field hockey won a hard-fought battle over rival Mifflin County on Thursday for its fourth straight District 6 crown.
State College’s strong offensive attack got the Little Lions on the board early when Lizzie Paterno found the net off an assist by Rebecca Bonness with 24:57 remaining in the half. A Mifflin County goal the tied things up.
State College quickly retook the lead after a downfield passing sequence led to a Libby Fortin goal, from Sarah Shallenberger.
The Little Lions scored their final goal with 4:18 remaining in the game, when Leah Moyer found Bonness, who drove a hard shot into the left post. SC goalkeeper Bayla Furmanek added two saves in the effort. Furmanek had picked up 13 saves in Monday’s 4-0 loss to Cedar Cliff.
State College moves on to play Central Dauphin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
State College tennis falls in District 6 championship
State College fell short of the District 6 title Tuesday, losing 3-0 to Altoona.
Altoona’s doubles teams of Isabella Frank and Sophia Caputo and May Crownover and Emily Neil beat State College’s Emily Zhang and Rachel Buterbaugh and Sruthi Ramesh and Saoirse Hopp, respectively. Alese Rinker defeated State College’s Quiana Guo (6-3, 6-2) in singles plays, and the other matches were abandoned once the match was decided.
“This was a great match and we had our opportunities, but we failed to execute when we had our chances,” coach Jane Borden said. “We are young and we are hopeful that we learned a lot from this match.”
State College finished its season with a 15-2 record, while Caitlin Janac and Guo will go on to represent the Little Lions in Hershey at the PIAA Doubles Championship Nov. 1-2.
State College girls’ soccer raises more then $24,000 in #JackStrong effort
The State College girls’ soccer team raised $24,180.29 this season for 4-year-old cancer fighter Jack Sylves. The Goals for Good fundraising total was announced Tuesday evening during halftime of the team’s senior night game against Carlisle.
Jack was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018, and has been battling ever since. Since hearing his story, the Little Lions decided to make Jack and his family the benefactors of their Goals for Good campaign, through their Soccer Becomes Greater initiative.
In addition to raising money, the team also “adopted” Jack and his sister Marlowe this season, inviting them to take part in special practices and themed-spirit weeks, even hosting a special #JackStrong football game.
Jack and his family were honored at halftime of State College’s Tuesday game. Even though the regular season is over, State College soccer players are hoping to continue their support for the Sylves family.
“Everybody wants to keep it going, and there are just so many people involved that it’ll keep going,” senior captain Savannah Schoonmaker previously told the CDT.
The Mountain League champion Bald Eagle Area girls’ soccer team finished its perfect regular season Saturday with a 3-1 win over Penns Valley. Goals were scored by Georgia Cingle, Emily Shiels and a PV own goal.
The Lady Eagles head into the District 6 Class 2A playoffs as the No. 1 seed, and host Cambria Heights at home Thursday.
This story was originally published October 21, 2019 at 2:23 AM.