Scott Huff highlights the CB East girls’ squad and Bensalem senior Kyle Francis.
By Scott Huff
Bensalem senior Kyle Francis knows where his destination is going to be after high school. Well, almost.
“Right now it is between either Duke or Georgetown,” said the gifted student-athlete. “I know that I want to major in history, and I might want to go into education and become a history teacher. I have some time to figure it out.”
The one destination that Francis is sure about is this Saturday (9/21/13) when he and his Owl teammates will run the challenging course at Hershey in the 7th Annual PIAA Foundation Cross County Invitational. Other SOL teams making the trek to Chocolate Town will be Central Bucks South, Neshaminy, Pennridge, Pennsbury, and Quakertown.
“There is no question that it is the toughest course that I will have to run all season,” said Francis, who hopes to return to the same venue for the PIAA state championships on November 2. “Last year I ran a 16:55 and my goal this year is to run anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds better this Saturday.”
“We are going there basically for Kyle, but the younger runners on the team will have a great opportunity to run an extremely difficult course,” said Bensalem head cross country coach Mary Ellen Malloy. “Kyle is a tremendously versatile runner with incredible speed at the end of the race. And he hates to lose.”
Francis has gone to the state cross country championships the last two years. He was also selected first team Suburban One National Conference along with fellow underclassmen Ross Wilson (senior - Council Rock North) and Sam Webb (junior – Pennsbury).
“I have been working hard at getting out faster in the first mile and getting past that initial pain,” said Francis who ran his season best 16:21.30 at the Bulldog Invitational. “I have always been able to finish strong, and now I want to be able to run a complete race.”
Central Bucks East girls took a giant step toward a team goal of a Suburban One League Continental championship as the Patriots defeated both district rival Central Bucks West and Pennridge in a tri-meet at Pennridge.
“The success of this group is going to be how we perform as a team,” said Central Bucks East head coach Sam Losorelli who is in his ninth year of coaching at East. “We don’t have a tremendous runner like a (Marissa) Sheva (Pennridge), I wish we did. But we do have a great ‘pack’ of girls, and we should be able to compete well as a team.”
That ‘pack’ includes sophomore Elizabeth Huuki, freshman Tate Dawson, junior Lizzy Morris, senior Megan Wilcoxen, and senior Louise Huuki.
“Lizzy Huuki has matured considerably, is focused, and is out to make a name for herself,” said Losorelli. “She has learned to pace herself, and runs a much smarter race.
“Tate Dawson and Hannah Morris are both freshmen and are really going to become excellent runners,” added Losorelli. “They might both be freshmen, but they are not novice runners. They have already faced good competition.
“Lizzie Morris is a very solid runner and has gotten much stronger this season,” continued Losorelli. “And both Megan Wilcoxen and Louise Huuki have provided senior leadership and depth.”
Central Bucks East 22 – Pennridge 39
Central Bucks West 21 – Pennridge 40
Central Bucks East 25 – Central Bucks West 30
Central Bucks East (2-0) * Central Bucks West (1-1) * Pennridge (0-2)
Top Eight Finishers
1. Marissa Sheva (Pennridge) 18:09
2. Lizzy Huuki (Central Bucks East) 18:41
3. Maddie Villalba (Central Bucks West) 19:08
4. Tate Dawson (Central Bucks East) 19:29
5. Lizzy Morris (Central Bucks East) 19:54
6. Lindsey Gerlach (Pennridge) 20:12
7. Meghan Iatorola (Central Bucks West) 20:16
8. Olivia Lafferty (Central Bucks West) 20:27
Top Performances @ Invitationals
2013
The following was posted on pa.milesplit.com
National Conference
Boys: (1) Ross Wilson (CR North) 15:40.9; (2) Kyle Francis (Bensalem) 16:21.3; (3) Brian Arita (CR North) 16:22.0 (4) Jeffrey Wiseman (CR South) 16:40.7 (5) Zack Halinsky (William Tennent) 16:44.4.
Girls: (1) Kaelyn Heincke (CR North) 18:58.0; (2) Olivia Sargent (Pennsbury) 19:04.8; (3) Erica Gray (Pennsbury) 19:20.6; Hannah Molloy (Pennsbury) 19:26.0; (5) Maddie Sauer (Pennsbury) 19:58.4.
Continental Conference
Boys: (1) Jake Brophy (Central Bucks East) 15:36.4; (2) Joey Logue (Pennridge) 16:19.7; (3) Connor Sands (Central Bucks East) 16:23.5; (4) Jeff Henderson (Pennridge) 16:44.0; (5) Casey Comber (Hatboro-Horsham) 16:46.8.
Girls: (1) Marissa Sheva (Pennridge) 18:02.3; (2) Elizabeth Huuki (Central Bucks East) 18:42.7; (3) Tate Dawson (Central Bucks East) 18:50.8; (4) Maddie Villalba (Central Bucks West) 18:53.7; (5) Elizabeth Morris (Central Bucks East) 18:57.4.
American Conference
Boys: (1) Austin Cooper (Upper Merion) 16:10.9; (2) Tristen Marcelis (Wissahickon) 16:18.0; (3) Lukas Marcelis (Wissahickon) 16:18.0; (4) Dan Shalala (Plymouth Whitemarsh) 16:22.3; (5) Sakaria Khattabi (Upper Merion) 16:36.9.
Girls: (1) Lohe Black (Wissahickon) 18:48.4; (2) Lucille Ionescu (Upper Dublin) 19:54.0; (3) Coleen Butler (Upper Merion) 20:15.4; (4) Natalie Martin (Plymouth Whitemarsh) 20:32.4; (5) Syndi Stovall (Springfield) 20.38.0.
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