Denny Dyroff highlights some of the SOL’s top performances at the District One Championships as well as several that went under the radar.
By DENNY DYROFF
When the official results at last Friday’s District One Boys Class AAA Cross Country Championships were posted, the runner who finished 36th was ‘smiley’ -- and the runner who finished one place ahead of him was also in a smiley mood.
The district meet at Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus annually serves a dual purpose. It decides the district champion and serves as a qualifying meet for this weekend’s PIAA Class AAA Championships.
The top runners and teams from the district meet will advance to the PIAA Championships, which are scheduled for November 1 at Hersheypark’s very challenging Parkview Course. The top five team finishers at the District One meet earn berths at the state championships along with the top 25 finishers not on qualifying teams.
This year, 36th place marked the cutoff point for state-meet qualification and the runner placing 36th was Phoenixville’s Dylan Smiley. William Tennent’s Evan Hutton was also “smiley” because he placed 35th and secured a berth in the big season-ending meet in the town with streetlights shaped like Hershey’s Kisses.
It was a close finish with Hutton taking 35th place at 16:16. Smiley and Spring-Ford’s John Conner both posted times of 16:17 with Smiley crossing first. Council Rock North’s Ryan Campbell and Tim Haas were 38th and 39th respectively -- each with a time of 16:18. Central Bucks West’s Brian Mass (40th) and Downingtown West’s Shaun Bullock (41st) each clocked a 16:19.
It was a very close finish for the runners on the bubble.
“I don’t think very many people expected Evan to be going through to states,” said William Tennent coach Dave Fries. “Sean Rahill was our number one runner all season but unfortunately, he didn’t make it through. Evan ran a great race. He put himself in the mix.”
Hutton, now a junior, is not an athlete that grew up with running.
“Two years ago, he was sitting in my freshman honors history class by my desk,” said Fries. “He as a skinny lanky kid and I told him he should come out for the cross country team. He came out for the team and I think it was one of the best things he’s done in his life.
“I got him to come out in his sophomore year. He came along slowly. He wasn’t even under 17:00 last season. So, he’s improved by more than a minute since last year. He’s cool, calm and collected. He doesn’t let emotions get to him. He doesn’t look like he’s running that fast but he wears you down.”
For Hutton, success was expected this season. However, an individual berth at the state championship meet wasn’t.
“Honestly, we never thought of Evan as a kid with the speed to do what he did and he’s been proving people wrong all year,” said Fries. “Heading into districts, I thought he and Sean had a shot at making states. I expected top 50. Evan ran a tough race. He deserves to go to states.”
The results at this year’s boys’ and girls’ district meets -- individual and team -- were predictable but, in many instances, closer than expected.
The National Conference fared well in the boys’ meet with Council Rock North placing fourth in the team standings and advancing as a team to states. In addition to Hutton, the National Conference’s other individual qualifiers were Bensalem’s Rahi Shah, Neshaminy Rusty Kujdych and Council Rock South’s Joe Maguire.
Pennsbury’s girls and their number one runner Olivia Sargent were pre-race favorites. Sargent finished runner-up to Downingtown West’s Aislinn Devlin to lead the Falcons to yet another district title but Unionville placed second a little closer than many expected. Pennsbury was first with 55 a while Unionville was runner-up with 64.
The Continental Conference girls almost placed two teams at states. North Penn had a good shot at taking a team berth but the team standings were closer than expected -- especially in the Maidens’ battle with Strath Haven for the fifth and final state berth.
With the first three runners in from each team, the Maidens had 65 points while the Panthers were at 112. But, Strath Haven had a solid group from 3-to-5 (55th, 58th, 68th) and that proved to be the difference. The team from the Central League placed fifth with 238 and North Penn was sixth -- and left out in the cold -- with 254.
“That’s the worst spot you could be in -- sixth,” said North Penn’s highly-respected veteran coach Jim Crawford. “Our first three girls qualified (for states). But, we had a big gap from third to fourth while Strath Haven had a good pack.”
North Penn’s individual qualifiers were Ariana Gardizy (12th), Phoebe Clowser (16th) and Olivia Dyer (37th). Like Hutton in the boys’ race, Dyer entered the race on the bubble and made it through just before the door slammed closed. The final individual qualifier was Downingtown East’s Maddie Van Blunk, who placed 40th.
“Olivia had a good race,” said Crawford. “Our first three were all faster at Lehigh than last week at the conference meet and than last year at districts. I thought Olivia would be hanging in there pretty well. In the latter part of the season, she’s gotten in the habit of staying up in the race early. With the competition in postseason, it’s important to get out strong.”
Dyer arrived for the race last Friday knowing that both she and her team had a shot at state berths.
“We weren’t positive that we were going to states as a team,” said Dyer, a sophomore. “We thought we might make it and that it would be a close call. It put pressure on me as an individual. I knew it (making states) would be close and that I couldn’t rely on making it with the team. I knew that if I helped myself, I’d also be helping the team. I was aiming for top 40.
“I got out really bad so I was always playing catch-up. As I’d go by, I heard people calling out to other runners -- places anywhere from 27th to 40th. A little past the halfway mark, I knew I had to pick it up or it wasn’t going to happen.
“I passed about five or six girls in the last 50 meters and a few passed me. It wasn’t my strongest finish. But, it was enough to get me through. It gives me a lot of motivation and confidence for states knowing that I made it through on my own.”
Dyer was 37th at 19:18 followed by Spring-Ford’s Emily Smith, Ridley’s Jamie Green and VanBlunk -- all at 19:19. Wissahickon’s Lotte Black was left on shore when the ship pulled out when she finished 41st at 19:20.
The Continental Conference’s other individual qualifiers for this Saturday’s big meet are C.B. West’s Maddie Villalba, who was 10th at districts, her teammate Jillian Keyte (34th), C.B. East’s Hannah Morris (28th) and Tate Dawson (35th) and Souderton’s Emily Bonaventure (31st).
On the boys’ side, the Continental Conference had a great day at districts. Central Bucks West finished second to Downingtown West and Central Bucks East earned a state berth with a fifth-place finish.
And, East’s Jake Brophy won his second straight district race -- but it was closer than expected. Brophy, who is also defending Class AAA state champion, took first with a time of 15:09. Downingtown West’s Jaxson Hoey was second with a clocking of 15:13 and his brother Josh was third at 15:21.
“It was a good race -- and we qualified for state as a team,” said Brophy. “It was two or three seconds faster than I ran at districts last year and two or three seconds slower than leagues last week.
“Friday’s race was more tactical in the beginning. It was my first time to race the Hoey brothers. I knew they would be my main competition. It just worked out that I happened to lead most of the race. My favorite part was the last 200 meters. Jaxson and I were stride-for-stride until 300 to go. In the last 150, I gapped him -- but not by much.”
Central Bucks West coach Greg Wetzel was obviously pleased with the performance by his boys at Lehigh last Friday.
“They did great,” said Wetzel. “We only had one p.r. (personal record) but all the teams’ times across the board were slower than expected. The ground wasn’t hard like it was at leagues. Our top five were consistent with what they’ve been doing all season. We thought we could make it closer and it was reasonably close. Downingtown West is an outstanding team.
“I think our performances were pretty solid. Brian Iatarola finished 10th and had a great race. He was projected to be a round 19th. He went hard. He had a goal to be in the top 10 and he went after it.”
Iatarola, a senior, said, “I had a three-second p.r. -- and my fastest time on the course. I went out with the front pack -- Jake, the Hoeys and my teammate Rock (Fortna). We were all together through the first two miles. I just tried to stay focused on getting top 10. I just hung in there for the last mile. Top 10 at districts was my goal all season.
“We went in planning on trying to win against Downingtown West -- and we knew it would be really hard. But, we also knew that, if we went after them, we’d get to states. Across the board, our team ran well.
“Last year, we got third at districts and it was the first time in the school’s history that we had a team go to states. Six of our seven scorers were back from last year and the experience definitely carried over. We’re all really motivated.”
There were several individual qualifiers from the Continental Conference -- Souderton’s Connor McMenamin (seventh), Hatboro Horsham’s Matthew Allen (24th) and Pennridge’s Tucker Desko (26th).
Wissahickon’s Lukas Marcelis was another SOL runner who narrowly qualified for states. The American Conference champion finished 31st with a time of 16:12 -- just five places and five seconds away from being relegated to spectator status at the state meet.
“It wasn’t really a good race for Lukas,” said Wissahickon coach Bill Gallagher. “He missed school one day last week and wasn’t really feeling well all week. We were both disappointed.”
The Trojans’ coach and his ace runner expected to comfortably avoid a non-qualifying finish but it turned out closer than expected.
“We were hoping for a time in the 15s and a top 10 finish,” said Gallagher. “But, it just didn’t happen. He told me that he just didn’t have anything in the third mile. He was up in there at the two-mile mark but he said his legs had nothing left in the final mile.”
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