Pennsbury won the girls’ team title at Saturday’s PIAA Class AAA meet. Pennridge’s Marissa Sheva finished second and North Penn’s Jack Macauley was the top SOL finisher on the boys’ side with his sixth place finish.
By DENNY DYROFF
HERSHEY -- The hotly-contested battles for the Class AAA team titles at Saturday’s PIAA Class AAA Cross Country Championship went just as expected with West Chester Henderson surging past Cardinal O’Hara for first place in the boys’ meet while Pennsbury and Unionville finished one-two in the girls’ meet.
To say that Henderson won the team title with ease would be pure fallacy. The Warriors claimed the top spot with 68 points to squeak by Cardinal O’Hara, which was runner-up with 70.
It doesn’t get much closer than that -- but it did last year. In 2011, O’Hara and North Penn finished tied for first and the title went to North Penn because the Knights’ sixth runner finished ahead of the Lions’ sixth man.
As expected, Unionville and Pennsbury staged a battle royale again Saturday at the huge annual meet at Hersheypark’s tough, hilly Parkview Course.
A week ago at the District One Class AAA Girls Cross Country Championships, Unionville captured the championship trophy and Pennsbury was a close runner-up. After that race, Pennsbury coach Don Little said, “We’ll get them next week.”
The Falcons’ coach proved to have the right prediction. On Saturday, Pennsbury put four runners in the top 13 to win the championship. The Falcons scored 43 points while Unionville had 86 to claim the runner-up trophy.
The win, which was the Falcons’ third state title in a row, put them in a very elite category. Pennsbury is one of just three programs to log a “three-peat’’ in Class AAA competition. The Little Lions of State College did it from 1979-1981 and the Emmaus Hornets accomplished the feat from 2007-09.
“Our goal was to peak today,” said Little. “Last week was a progression. Today, everybody first met and then exceeded expectations. The girls stuck to our race plan as close as they possibly could.”
Sara Sargent led the Falcons with an eighth-place finish at 18:50. For the veteran senior, it was the fourth straight state championship. She won the individual title as a freshman and then has been the leader on squads that have three consecutive state titles.
“For cross country, I don’t come here thinking about individual results -- I save that for indoor and outdoor track,” said Sargent, whose father Greg Sargent won a number of state gold medals when he competed for North Penn a few years back.
“Unionville beating us last week got us angry. I’m not going to lie. We came here really angry. And, we did great on the hills. People don’t realize it, but we’re a really strong team on hills. The area around our school may be flat, but we train at Holly Hill and at Tyler State Park.”
The Falcons other finishers were Erica Gray (18:53), Maddie Sauer (18:54), Olivia Sargent (18:56), Hannah Molloy (19:17), Elizabeth Wedekind (19:23) and Erin O’Connell (19:53).
While Unionville had the second-place team and the number one individual -- Courtney Smith, who crossed at 18:16 -- the Suburban One League had the number one team and the second-place individual. Pennridge’s Marissa Sheva won the silver medal with a time of 18:36.
“I got cut off a bit at the beginning and then came through the mile at 5:30,” said Sheva, a sophomore. “I caught the lead pack a little after the first mile. By then, Courtney (Smith) had already started pulling away and I couldn’t catch her. At one point, I was battling another girl for second. Then, after the two-mile, I pulled away from her.”
When Sheva went to the stage at Hersheypark’s course to accept her medal, she was wearing her Pennridge soccer jacket. On Saturday night, the Rams’ versatile junior was on the field with Pennridge’s team in a District One Class AAA playoff game against Central Bucks East.
Three other Suburban One League girls won medals at Saturday’s state meet. Council Rock North’s Kate Scott placed 15that 19:01. Central Bucks West’s Emory Griffin was 21stat 19:12 and her teammate Maddie Villalba was one place back at 19:13.
“This is the third year I’ve run on this course at states but the first year that I medaled,” said Scott. “The best part of my race was coming in to the finish. I passed a lot of girls on the last straightaway.”
North Penn placed sixth in the team standings with 180 points. The Maidens’ finishers were Phoebe Clowser (41st), Melanie Vlasic (58th), Courtney Kern (59th), Ali Valenti (69th), Jenna Reimer (97th), Janki Patel (129th) and Brianna Mengini (150th).
Other Suburban One League runners to finish in the top third of the girls’ Class AAA race were Central Bucks West’s Meghan Iatorola (45th) and Gretchen Krause (66th) and Wissahickon’s Lotte Black (57th).
“It was a really hard race,” said Black, a freshman running in her first state meet. “The best part was the beginning. I got out well. After that, the hills were hard. They were really long.”
The SOL’s success in the Class AAA boys’ meet was more limited.
North Penn’s Jack Macauley became the league’s top finisher when he placed sixth with a time of 16:02. The race was won by West Chester Henderson’s Tony Russell at 15:45.
“I had a perfect start,” said Macauley. “I was in the block next to La Salle. Tom Coyle took it out pretty hard and I stayed with him. The first mile felt so easy and I was leading the pack heading into the second mile.
“The lead went back and forth. In the third mile, I took an aggressive surge up the hill and had the lead for a bit. Then, Two guys went ahead of me at around the 4,000 (meter) mark. I passed a few guys on the last downhill and then a few more on Poop-out Hill. My kick was great but the two kids in front of me kept the same pace.”
Henderson took the team title with 68 followed by Cardinal O’Hara (70), Council Rock North (137), North Allegheny (149) and La Salle (185).
Council Rock North’s competitors were Ross Wilson (seventh). James Zingarini (18th), Mac Emery (26th), Brian Arita (106th), Sean Griswold (113th), Doug Benton (129th) and Zack Keller (187th).
The league’s other top individual finishers at Saturday’s meet were Pennsbury’s Connor Harriman (eighth), Hatboro-Horsham’s Conner Quinn (13th), Pennsbury’s Sam Webb (14th), Upper Dublin’s Francis Ferruzzi (27th), Central Bucks East’s Jake Brophy (30th), Bensalem’s Kyle Francis (57th) and Central Bucks West’s Chris Berry (59th).
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