The Pennsbury girls’ team finished second at the 2013 PIAA Class AAA Cross Country Championships and the Council Rock North boys’ team finished fifth. Rock North’s Ross Wilson, who finished third, was the top SOL finisher.
By DENNY DYROFF
HERSHEY -- When Pennsbury arrived at the 2013 PIAA Girls Class AAA Cross Country Championships in Hershey, the Falcons were in position to set an unbeatable precedent.
If they were the ones to hoist the championship trophy at the end of the meet, they would be the first team to ever win four consecutive Class AAA state championships. If not, they would remain as one of three teams to have won back-to-back-to-back titles along with State College (1979-1981) and Emmaus (2007-2009).
Unfortunately for the Falcons, they came up just a few points shy of making it four-for-four.
Unionville, Pennsbury’s respected rival from Chester County, captured the state championship with 51 points while Pennsbury was a close runner-up with 57 points. Last year, the roles were reversed with the Falcons in first and the Indians as bridesmaids.
Abington Heights’ Tessa Barrett won the race with a super-fast time of 17:30 and Unionville’s Courtney Smith, the defending state champion, Smith was next across the line at 18:06.
Pennsbury had all five scorers in the top 25 -- Erica Gray, who was eighth at 18:49; Hannah Molloy, who placed 10that 18:52; Olivia Sargent, who was 13that 19:03; Meridith Twomey, who took 16thplace at 19:12 and Bailey Balmer, who was 25that 19:27.
“I was really happy with my race,” said Gray, a senior. “Each year has improved. Between the Foundation Meet and the state championships, I’ve run this course eight times and today was my fastest time ever. The second mile was all hills. Even though I was in pain, I pushed through. I really focused on the hills.”
Molloy, a Falcon sophomore, said, “I did a lot better today than I did last year. In last year’s race, I fell and didn’t do well at all. Today’s race felt really good. I got my PR (personal record) for this course today. So, I’m happy about that.”
Sargent, another one of Pennsbury’s fast sophomores, said, “We all ran close to each other the whole race. At certain points on the hills, we’d separate. But, we always found a way to get back together. Even though I didn’t feel 100 percent today, I just kept pushing.”
Central Bucks East finished fifth in the team standings with 156 points. East’s scorers were Tate Dawson (19th, 19:18), Elizabeth Morris (22nd, 19:24), Meghan Wilcoxon (36th, 19:49), Jackie Kinkead (92nd, 20:30) and Hannah Morris (93rd, 20:30).
Other top finishers from the Suburban One League were Central Bucks West’s Maddie Villalba (23rd, 19:25), Wissahickon’s Lotte Black (32nd, 19:41), Council Rock North’s Kaelyn Heinicke (33rd, 19:42), Central Bucks South’s Brynne Mulloy (38th, 19:49), North Penn’s Brianna Mengini (54th, 20:06), Central Bucks West’s Lindsey Gerlach (80th, 20:22) and North Penn’s Melanie Vlasic (89th, 20:28).
“I was really happy with my race today because I improved my time from last year,” said Black, a Wissahickon sophomore. “And, I improved my place by a lot.
“The first mile was really fast. I worked the hills pretty good and used the downhills today. I passed one girl in the final stretch (Council Rock North’s Kaelyn Heinicke). I almost got the girl in front of me (Cardinal O’Hara’s Amy Kelly) but she had a good kick.”
In the Boys’ Class AAA meet, West Chester Henderson won its second straight state title. The Warriors took first with 60 points. North Allegheny was second at 97 followed by Cardinal O’Hara at 101, State College at 170 and Council Rock North at 172.
Henderson’s Tony Russell successfully defended his state crown with a time of 15:49. Easton’s Colin Abert was runner-up at 15:54, and the bronze medalist was Council Rock North’s standout distance runner Ross Wilson at 16:01.
“I’m O.K. with my race because I left it all out there,” said Wilson, who finished second to Russell in the 2012 and 2013 District 1 Class AAA Championships. “I raced to win today. I was tired of second-place medals.
“I ran as hard as I could. They had good races and so did I. Tony Russell pulled away a little earlier than he did last week. At 1.5 miles, he put two seconds on. By the two-mile, it was four seconds. Then, he put it away in the third mile.
“At the two-mile, I was at 9:52. Then, my third mile was pretty slow. But, I was still able to make my way back. I caught (Cardinal O’Hara’s) Kevin James with 50 meters to go.”
Council Rock North’s other scorers were Brian Arita (38th), Sean Griswold (72nd), Robert Simmons (73rd) and Tim Haas (151st).
Pennsbury placed 10that 265 with the following scorers -- Sam Webb (19th), Alek Sauer (86th), Liam O’Connell (105th), Dan Tokar (141st) and Thomas Wick (163rd).
Other SOL runners who placed high at the state meet were Central Bucks East’s Jake Brophy (eighth), Hatboro-Horsham’s Casey Comber (13th), Upper Merion’s Austin Cooper (47th), Bensalem’s Kyle Francis (51st), Council Rock South’s Andrew Hanna (49th), Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Dan Shalala (54th), North Penn’s Ryan Tung (58th) and Ryan Grace (85th) and William Tennent’s Jesse Coleman (101st).
“I had a really good race,” said Cooper, an Upper Merion senior. “I got caught up a lot at the start and was back in the 100s. I tried to work my way up through the woods. I was 70that the mile. My time was 5:02 which was right where I wanted it to be. In the second mile, I worked the hills pretty well.
“I was at 10:36 at the two-mile and had moved up to around 50th. The pace was O.K. I tried to work the third mile hard. I caught a lot of people on the last downhill and then had a pretty good kick.”
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