Check out the individuals and teams that excelled at Friday’s SOL Cross Country Championships. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Tom Pfaff
BETHLEHEM -- Close team competitions and historic victories, especially for Pennsbury, were the theme Friday of the Suburban One League Cross Country Championships at Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus.
For most of the individual winners, this meet was about building momentum for the PIAA District One meet, scheduled for next Friday on the same campus.
The champions created a lot of buzz with their accomplishments.
In girls competition, Wissahickon junior Lotte Black won her third SOL American title in as many years with a time of 19:13, about 23 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, sophomore Sydni Stovall of Springfield (Montco).
“Running against (Black), she is a good runner,” Stovall said. “I’ve tried that a lot (in league play), and it’s not easy. I was just trying to set a new personal record, which I did by about 12 seconds. I just wanted to get a good time and to get a high place.”
Black said sometimes training with the boys’ team has been helpful to her development as a runner.
“That helps a lot to keep me focused rather than doing practices by myself at a slower pace probably, since I’m by myself,” Black said. “I practice with different people on the team, and trying to stay with them makes me go faster. But having others runners in a race, to run with, helps me to pace myself.”
As a team, the Trojans finished second to Upper Dublin, who enjoyed an undefeated regular season and won the team competition at this meet.
In the SOL National race, the Falcons built on their undefeated regular season by taking the first seven spots, a rare feat that helped them earn their third straight SOL National team title.
Pennsbury junior Olivia Sargent won her second straight individual title with a time of 18:06, a stunning 51 seconds ahead of teammate Meridith Twomey, also a junior. Sargent and Twomey were the only SOL National runners to finish in under 19 minutes.
The SOL Continental race marked the successful return of Pennridge senior Marissa Sheva, who had missed this race last year while battling mononucleosis. Sheva’s winning time of 18:19 came in 40 seconds faster than the runner-up, Central Bucks West junior Maddie Villalba, as they were the only two runners in this race to break the 19-minute mark.
Central Bucks East, highlighted by placing three runners among the top eight (senior Jackie Kinkead, third; senior Elizabeth Morris, fifth; and Hannah Morris, Elizabeth’s younger sister, eighth), also capped its undefeated regular season with a team victory in the meet and a second straight conference title.
In boys competition, Pennsbury senior Sam Webb won the SOL National individual title with a time of 15:49, finishing ahead of Council Rock North senior Brian Arita by 11 seconds.
Though the Indians won the meet with a best score of 44 points, compared with the Falcons’ 46.
After Pennsbury’s undefeated regular season, however, the Falcons clinched their first conference championship since 1977, head coach Tim Cass confirmed.
Because the Falcons had won head-to-head over the Indians, the Falcons’ team score remained at 46, and the Indians had three points added to their score for a final total of 47.
In the SOL Continental race, Central Bucks East junior Jake Brophy dethroned the defending champion, Hatboro-Horsham senior Casey Comber by a mere 4 seconds. Though Comber led through much of a fast-paced race, Brophy pulled ahead down the stretch to win in 15:08.
Comber’s time of 15:12 was still 56 seconds faster than the third-place finisher, Central Bucks West junior Rock Fortna.
As a consolation to Fortna, he was the Bucks’ top finisher, as they also completed their undefeated regular season by edging the Patriots in the meet, 43-48, and winning the SOL Continental team championship.
In the SOL American race, junior Lukas Marcelis won the individual title as the only runner to finish in under 17 minutes (16:39), 25 seconds faster than Cheltenham sophomore Will Griffen.
“I think I might have tied my best time for this course,” said Marcelis, who had run the previous year at Lehigh for districts. “That being said, I did run very relaxed on the first mile, because I wanted to keep our second and third runners with me, so they can get out fast enough. After that, I pulled ahead and had no (teammates) to run with for most of the race.”
The first-mile strategy worked well for the Trojans, who also captured the team title for the meet and the season by placing four runners in the top six: sophomore Cameron Christopher (17:08) third; senior Kyuande Johnson (17:15) fifth; and senior Walker Smith (17:17) sixth.
As much as everyone will remember the individual and team winners, sometimes other real victories occur by just finishing as well as possible after overcoming adversities or other circumstances.
In winning her second SOL Continental individual crown in three seasons, Pennridge’s Sheva won as a sophomore but never got an opportunity to three-peat, as she was ill last year and was unable to defend her title.
In the SOL American, as much as Stovall finished second and Springfield teammate Olivia Blackton, a senior, finished seventh (20:13), they were unable to place in the team scoring without the mandatory five members.
The same was true in the SOL American boys race, as Springfield senior Sean Stovall placed ninth individually (17:39).
The older Stovall enjoys working out with his younger sister, Sydni, who has been running longer than he has, as he began running competitively as a freshman.
“We like to switch things up a bit, where some days we’ll do sprints or work on our core, and on other days we’ll go on longer runs,” Stovall said. “I’m very impressed and proud of her, watching her grow, get strong, get better.”
While Central Bucks East senior tri-captain Caitlin Shewbrooks finished 20th in the SOL Continental individual competition and watched the other two tri-captains, Kinkead and Elizabeth Morris, finish in the Top 5, her finish was most inspirational.
Shewbrooks had missed much of the past two seasons with chronic pain up the side of her legs. She had missed out on contributing to the championship run last year.
“It’s like a jabbing pain that you really can’t run on it, you have to wait it out,” Shewbrooks said. “It affects a lot of runners who run a lot of miles. I’m ecstatic to be back—I’m feeling great and ready to go after a chance to get to states with my team.”
This time, Shewbrooks was in the middle of the action.
Girls
American Conference
Championship Meet Points: 1. Upper Dublin 25; 2. Wissahickon 60; 3. Upper Merion 80; 4. Plymouth Whitemarsh 82; 5. Cheltenham 104; Norristown, Did not score; Springfield (M), Did not score; Upper Moreland, Did not score.
•League Championship Points: 1. Upper Dublin 25; 2. Wissahickon 63; 3. Plymouth Whitemarsh 88; 4. Upper Merion 89; 5. Cheltenham 116; Norristown, Did not score; Springfield (M), Did not score; Upper Moreland, Did not score.
Individual Results
1. Lotte Black (W) 19:13; 2. Sydni Stovall (S) 19:36; 3. Sarah Richart (C) 19:42; 4. Lucile Ionescu (UD) 19:49; 5. Sarah Smith (UD) 19:55; 6. Sophie Gustafson (UD) 19:57; 7. Olivia Blackton (S) 20:13; 8. Marissa Holl (UD) 20:41; 9. Emily Stewart (UD) 20:48; 10. Hayley Ross (W) 20:55; 11. Kylie Shalala (PW) 20:56; 12. Caroline DiJiosia (PW) 21:08; 13. Catherine Kluchinski (C) 21:09; 14. Maria Antoni (UM) 21:09; 15. Kendall Quesenberry (W) 21:10.
Continental Conference
Championship Meet Points: 1. CB East 48; 2. CB West 61; 3. North Penn 67; 4. Pennridge 70; 5. CB South 136; 6. Hatboro-Horsham 166; 7. Souderton 174; 8. Quakertown 197.
League Championship Points: 1. CB East 48; 2. CB West 64; 3. North Penn 73; 4. Pennridge 79; 5. CB South 148; 6. Hatboro-Horsham 181; 7. Souderton 192; 8. Quakertown 218.
Individual Results
1. Marissa Sheva (P) 18:19; 2. Maddie Villalba (CBW) 18:59; 3. Jackie Kinkead (CBE) 19:11; 4. Phoebe Clowser (NP) 19:14; 5. Elizabeth Morris (CBE) 19:18; 6. Ali Valenti (NP) 19:26; 7. Olivia Berry (CBW) 19:39; 8. Hannah Morris (CBE) 18:40; 9. Julia Foster (P) 19:50; 10. Karina Bolton (Q) 19:51; 11. Lindsey Gerlach (CBW) 19:55; 12. Julia Heiges (CBE) 19:57; 13. Monika Brill (P) 19:59; 14. Laura Roth (CBW) 20:01; 15. Olivia Dyer (NP) 20:08.
National Conference
Championship Meet Points: 1. Pennsbury 15; 2. CR North 57; 3. CR South 74; 4. Neshaminy 116; 5. William Tennent 149; 6. Bensalem 171; Abington, Did not score.
• League Championship Points: 1. Pennsbury 15; 2. CR North 60; 3. CR South 80; 4. Neshaminy 116; 5. William Tennent 161; 6. Bensalem 171; Abington, Did not score.
Individual Results
1. Olivia Sargent (P) 18:06; 2. Meridith Twomey (P) 18:57; 3. Hannah Molloy (P) 19:27; 4. Bailey Balmer (P) 19:32; 5. Erin O’Connell (P) 19:32; 6. Rachel Estey (P) 19:40; 7. Maddie Sauer (P) 20:14; 8. Riley Engel (CRN) 20:24; 9. Elizabeth Sauers (CRS) 20:31; 10. Abbie Todd (CRN) 20:38; 11. Kelly Jawork (A) 20:42; 12. Katie Mullen 20:43; 13. Kabrina Weaver (N) 20:51; 14. Ariel Rabinowitz (CRN) 20:54; 15. Maura Reilly (CRS) 21:08.
Boys
American Conference
Championship Meet Points: 1.Wissahickon 25; 2. Cheltenham 53; 3. Upper Merion 80; 4. Upper Dublin 94; 5. Plymouth Whitemarsh 135; 6. Upper Moreland 136; Norristown, Did not score; Springfield (M), Did not score.
• League Championship Points: 1. Wissahickon 25; 2. Cheltenham 56; 3. Upper Merion 86; 4. Upper Dublin 103; 5. Plymouth Whitemarsh 147; 6. Upper Moreland 151; Norristown, Did not score; Springfield (M), Did not score.
Individual Results
1. Lukas Marcelis (W) 16:39; 2. Will Griffen (C) 17:04; 3. Cameron Christopher (W) 17:08; 4. Riley Hannon (UD) 17:11; 5. Kyuande Johnson (W) 17:15; 6. Walker Smith (W) 17:15; 7. Noah Falasco (UMe) 17:18; 8. Doug Luba (PW) 17:22; 9. Sean Stovall (S) 17:39; 10. Marley Marc (C) 17:42; 11. Matt Gilman (W) 17:42; 12. Ben Hoyer (W) 17:44; 13. C.J. Young (C) 17:52; 14. Wolfgang Schanbacher (C) 17:58; 15. Evan Cirafesi (UMe) 18:00.
Continental Conference
Championship Meet Points: 1. CB West 43; 2. CB East 48; 3. Hatboro-Horsham 85; 4. North Penn 86; 5. Pennridge 109; 6. Souderton 171; 7. Quakertown 208; 8. CB South 216.
• League Championship Points: 1. CB West 43; 2. CB East 51; 3. North Penn 92; 4. Hatboro-Horsham 94; 5. Pennridge 121; 6. Souderton 192; 7. Quakertown 226; 8. CB South 231.
Individual Results
1. Jake Brophy (CBE) 15:08; 2. Casey Comber (HH) 15:12; 3. Rock Fortna (CBW) 16:08; 4. Connor McMenamin (S) 16:15; 5. Connor Sands (CBE) 16:16; 6. Ian Davies (CBW) 16:22; 7. Ryan Tung (NP) 16:29; 8. Declan McDonald (CBW) 16:31; 9. Shaun Collins (NP) 16:36; 10. Joshua Goetz (CBE) 16:40; 11. Brian Iatarola (CBW) 16:44; 12. Phil Gunderson (P) 16:51; 13. Tucker Desko (P) 16:54; 14. Andrew Himes (NP) 16:55; 15. Teagan Fortna (CBW) 16:55.
National Conference
Championship Meet Points: 1. CR North 44; 2. Pennsbury 46; 3. Bensalem 90; 4. CR South 103; 5. Neshaminy 129; 6. William Tennent 140; 7. Abington 143.
• League Championship Points: 1. Pennsbury 46; 2. CR North 47; 3. Bensalem 96; 4. CR South 115; 5. Neshaminy 138; 6. William Tennent 155; 7. Abington 161.
Individual Results
1. Sam Webb (P) 15:49; 2. Brian Arita (CRN) 16:00; 3. Andrew Hanna (CRS) 16:03; 4. Alek Sauer (P) 16:14; 5. Joe Maguire (CRS) 16:19; 6. Sean Griswold (CRN) 16:27; 7. Tyji Mays (B) 16:29; 8. Rahi Shah (B) 16:31; 9. Jake Good (A) 16:33; 10. Ari Bortman (P) 16:33; 11. Jesse Laitman (CRN) 16:38; 12. Ben Heintz (CRN) 16:39; 13. Tim Haas (CRN) 16:39; 14. Thomas Wick (P) 16:40; 15. Alex Ramirez (B) 16:43.
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