Denny Dyroff recaps the golden performance of the Pennsbury girls’ team at the PIAA Class AAA Championships as well as the SOL’s top finishers.
By DENNY DYROFF
When rivalries develop between high school sports teams, it’s usually between neighborhood rivals -- schools whose districts border each other. Occasionally, the distance between rival schools is a little longer if the teams are perennial powerhouses in the same league.
Then, there is the rivalry between the girls’ cross country teams from Pennsbury High School and Unionville High School which matches none of the usual criteria.
They are not neighborhood rivals nor are they league rivals. The Falcons compete in the Suburban One League’s National Conference while the UHS Indians are in the Ches-Mont League’s American Division.
Forget geographical proximity.
Pennsbury is located in Fairless Hills in the heart of Lower Bucks County while Unionville is located in the southern part of Chester County. The schools’ campuses are 65 miles apart.
So, what then fuels the rivalry -- which has been one of the best in the state this decade in any sport?
The two programs are not only the best in District One, they are the premier programs in the entire state. And, both have been among the top teams in both the Northeast Region and in national rankings over the last five years.
“It’s a fun rivalry,” said Pennsbury coach Greg Sargent. “We certainly enjoy running against them. (Unionville coach) Mark (Lacianca) has a great program. This rivalry is built around two teams that want to do well at districts and states -- and at the national level.”
Fortunately for the Falcons, they have fared better than their foes from the other end of District One. This year, Pennsbury won the District One Class AAA race at Lehigh University with 64 points while Unionville was runner-up at 95.
On November 1 in Hershey, Pennsbury and Unionville clashed again in the PIAA Class AAA Championships. All of the Falcons’ runners ran well and did what they had to do to reclaim the state crown that Unionville had captured in 2013.
Pennsbury’s Number One runner Olivia Sargent was second at 17:48 while Unionville’s Number One runner Olivia Young was sixth at 18:32. The Falcons’ second runner Hannah Molloy took eighth at 18:36 while her UHS counterpart Kacie Breeding was 15that 19:03.
Pennsbury also had the advantage at third runner with Meridith Twomey 17that 19:07 compared to the Indians’ Gretchen Mills, who was 19that 19:09. Unionville had the advantage at number four with Anna Juul at 24thwith a 19:14 and Pennsbury’s Rachel Estey 35that 19:27.
The battle for the fifth scorers went to the Falcons’ Maddie Sauer, who placed 60that 19:49 to edge UHS’ Elizabeth Edwards at 19:51. Pennsbury’s other two finishers were Erin O’Connell, who placed 71stat 19:56, and Bailey Balmer, who was 104that 20:16.
“States was awesome,” said Olivia Sargent, “I went out hard in the first mile. It was mostly downhill, but 5:28 was still pretty quick. Then, the race spread out in the second mile going through Aloha Hill.
“That was the best part of my race -- going through Aloha Hill. I really worked through it and started making some moves to get into second place. I passed (Shaler’s gold medalist) Brianna (Schwartz) coming down the last hill from Aloha with about 1000 meters to go.
“I wasn’t in the lead very long -- maybe 100-150 meters. On the last little uphill, she passed me again. Going to the finish, our adrenalin was kicking in and she made a move. My time last year was 19:01 and this year was 17:48 so it was a pretty big drop. I was very startled with my time -- especially on that course. It was the best 5K I’ve ever run.”
Molloy, said, “We had confidence that we were going to win. They beat us earlier this year at an invitational meet at Cherokee (N.J.), but we came back to beat them at districts.
“I had a really good race at states. I got out a lot faster. I stayed with Olivia (Sargent) in the beginning. I was in the top 10 pretty much the whole race. I didn’t have much left at the end. I was cold and my arms were frozen.
“My time this year was a lot faster than the first two years I ran on this course here at Hershey. Last year, my time was 18:52. When I ran here as a freshman, it was 19-something.”
Twomey, who is also a junior along with Sargent, Molloy and Sauer, said, “My race was good. I just tried to stay with the second pack. The hills were the best part of my race. We really like the hills at Hershey. This course is really fun for us.
“As the race progressed, it was good to always have someone to push me. There were a lot of very good runners in this race. I made sure I stayed with Unionville’s second runner. I didn’t even know their third runner was close behind me.
“It was really exciting when we heard we won -- especially after going a year without winning. It was good knowing we accomplished our goal.”
The state title was Pennsbury’s fourth in the last five years. For the last four, it has been a war with Unionville -- both at states and districts.
Last year, Unionville ruled. The Indians took first at districts with 39 points and Pennsbury was runner-up with 56. At the PIAA meet eight days later, it was the same result with Unionville scoring 51 and Pennsbury 57.
In 2012, the teams split the one-two finishes at the big post-season races. Unionville won the district meet with 54 to Pennsbury’s 69. The Falcons got revenge at states when they posted a winning score of 43 while Unionville was a distant second with 129.
Pennsbury also prevailed by a large margin at the 2011 District One meet, finishing first with 69 while Unionville was one place back at 130. At the state championship race that year, the Falcons handily defeated the Indians 45-129.
In 2010, Pennsbury battled another team from the Ches-Mont League -- West Chester Henderson. The result was the same as the Warriors had to settle for second place in both races. At districts, the Falcons prevailed 102-176 and then scored 81 to Henderson’s 119 at the PIAA meet.
Guess what -- the rivalry should be just as heated next season.
Pennsbury’s contingent to states included one senior, five juniors and one freshman. Unionville’s seven-runner state crew featured one junior, three sophomores and just three seniors -- two of whom were scorers at Hershey.
“Our girls are serious about running, but they also have fun,” said Greg Sargent, who was on North Penn’s 4x800 that set a state record in 1980. “It’s about building a balance. We’re using the week after states to decompress.
“Now, we’re looking at a new beginning. We didn’t want to peak too early. We’ll be running at the Nike Regionals in Wappinger Falls, New York, on Thanksgiving weekend and then hopefully in the Nike Nationals in Portland, Oregon.”
The individual champion at this year’s Class AAA state meet was Shaler’s Brianna Schwartz, who crossed first at 17:39. The top five included Sargent, North Allegheny’s Madeleine Davison (third, 17:57), Pennridge’s Marissa Sheva (fourth, 18:05) and Mount Lebanon’s Kelsey Potts (fifth, 18:08).
“I was definitely disappointed,” said Sheva, a senior who was sixth at the state meet as a sophomore. “I didn’t really care about time because it’s a tough course. I was expecting rain or snow so I was a little concerned. But, it was good weather -- no rain and not too cold. And, the course was fine.
“I definitely wanted to win. The first mile went out and I was leading with Maddie (Davison). We came through the first mile at 5:25. Brianna (Schwartz) took over after the first mile and started pushing it. I knew the first mile was quick so I didn’t go right with her.
“I kept about 10 yards off her so that I’d be in good position to reel her in later in the meet. I was running by myself behind her. Then, Olivia (Sargent) and Madison (Davison) went by me at the mile-and-a-half. I had a bad reaction to them passing me. I wasn’t able to put a surge in and go after them.
“On a good day for me, I would have been with the top three. Brianna and Olivia opened it up but I could see Maddie for the rest of the race. I felt good for the first mile. But, after that, I just didn’t have a good race.”
Sheva, who was also a top-flight club and high school soccer player before giving it up to concentrate on running, has two more chances to have good races this season. She will run at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals in New York’s Van Cortland Park on Thanksgiving Weekend and hopefully in the Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego a few weeks later.
“It is a consolation that I still have more racing this season,” said Sheva. “And, I’ll get to compete against Brianna and Maddie again. I’m looking forward to it.”
Other Suburban One League finishers at this year’s state championship meet were Central Bucks East’s Maddie Villalba (16th, 19:07), Elizabeth Morris (21st, 19:11) and Jackie Kinkead (87th, 20:06), North Penn’s Phoebe Clowser (56th, 19:46) and Ali Valenti (120th, 20:45), Wisahickon’s Lotte Black (83rd, 20:05) and Upper Dublin’s Lucile Ionescu (84th, 20:05).
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