RIDGWAY, Pa. – The Cranberry boys’ and girls’ cross country teams swept the Class 1A championships, while the St. Marys girls and the DuBois boys won the Class 2A titles Saturday in Ridgway.
Individual champions included Smethport’s Jenna Gregory (Class 1A girls), Couderspot’s Kevin Sherry (Class 1A boys), St. Marys’ Gabby Pistner (Class 2A girls), and Bradford’s Manny Diaz (Class 2A boys).
It was the second straight individual title for Gregory, while the Cranberry boys, St. Marys girls, and DuBois girls all defended titles from a year ago.
It was the sixth straight title for St. Marys, the third straight title for Cranberry, and the second in a row for DuBois. The Cranberry girls are on top of D9 for the first time since 2018.
CLASS 1A GIRLS
Cranberry placed two runners in the Top 10 to secure the team title in a tiebreaker over Elk County Catholic. Both squads scored 70 points but the Berries earned the title thanks to its sixth-place finisher being higher than the sixth-place finisher for ECC.
Karleigh Shaffer was the top runner for Cranberry finishing seventh in a time of 21:26 followed by Kelsey Hanna, who was eight in a time of 21:42. Kayla Hanna was 13th in a time of 22:40, Jordan Montgomery was 14th in a time of 22:44 and Gabi Vogan was 28th in a time of 25:05. Shaffer and both Hannas are freshmen while Montgomery and Vogan are sophomores.
ECC had three finishers in the top six with Grace Neubert taking second in a time of 20:47, Sami Straub fifth in a time of 21:01, and Sophia Bille sixth in a time of 21:16. Rounding out the Top 5 for the Lady Crusaders were Gianna Bille in 15th place in a time of 22:58 and Caitlyn Vollmer in 42nd place in a time of 28:52. Neubert, Straub, and Sophia Bille are all sophomores, Gianna Bille is a freshman, and Vollmer a junior.
With both teams tied at 70 points, it then came down to the sixth-place finishers with Cranberry taking the title thanks to a 33rd place finish by senior Alex Boley in a time of 26:05. ECC’s sixth-place finisher was sophomore Isabella Macer, who was 52nd in a time of 31:29.
Rounding out both teams were Ellabay Perry for Cranberry (38th place, 26:58) and Mara Lacker for ECC (54th, 35:47).
All seven runners on both squads qualify for the state meet.
Brookville took third in the team race with a score of 99.
Gregory, meanwhile, captured her second consecutive D9 title running a time of 20:25, a pace of 6:35 for the senior.
Joining her as individual qualifiers were Moniteau senior Hannah Burgoon (3rd, 20:57), Clarion-Limestone senior Morgan McNaughton (4th, 20:58), Northern Potter junior Courtney Martin (5th (21:00), North Clarion sophomore Brynn Siegel (10th, 22:07), Brookville freshman Erika Doolittle (11th, 22:19), Clarion senior Bella Scott (12th, 22:23), Oswayo Valley junior Cheyenne Mehl (13th, 22:29), Brockway junior Madelyn Schmader (14th, 22:33), and North Clarion senior Jordyn Hendrickson (15th, 22:34).
The D9 individual qualifiers for the PIAA state meet in girls’ Class 1A. Photo by Diane Lutz
Full Class 1A girls’ results can be found here
CLASS 1A BOYS
Putting all seven of its runners in the Top 20, including its top five in the Top 14, Cranberry beat second-place ECC, 52-60, to capture the Class 1A boys’ title. Clarion-Limestone finished third with a score of 113.
Second-place finisher Matt Woolcock, a senior, paced Cranberry in a time of 17:57, while junior Ben Seybert was 11th (18:47), senior Christian Miller was 12th (18:54), senior Avery Keenan was 13th (19:04), and junior Colin Zerbe was 14th (19:09). Rounding out the Berries were senior Sylas Fox in 15th (19:12) and freshman Dane Wenner in 20th (19:22). All seven runners qualify for the PIAA meet.
ECC put three runners in the top six paced by sophomore Adam Straub in third (18:21), senior Alex Miller in fourth (18:29), and junior Julian Funaki in sixth (18;44). Senior Tom Dippold was 23rd (19;39), and junior Lucas Polaski was 24th (19:40) to round out the scoring for the Crusaders. Joining those five in qualifying for the state meet as a team were sophomore Bobby Urmann in 27th (19:52) and freshman Aaron Lanzei in 35th (20:14).
Sherry, a sophomore, was 21 seconds ahead of Woolcock in capturing the title in a time of 17:36.
Additional individual qualifiers for the PIAA meet include Ridgway sophomore Eli Schrieber (5th, 18:34), North Clarion junior Kaine McFarland (6th, 18:41), Brockway senior Micah Williams (8th, 18:45), North Clarion sophomore Aiden Thomas (9th, 18:45), Clarion-Limestone freshman Logan Lutz (10th, 18:45), Brookville senior Calvin Doolittle (11th, 18:47), Brockway senior Landon Schmader (17th, 19:17), C-L sophomore Ty Rankin (18th, 19:18), and Coudersport sophomore Noah Gabreski (19th, 19:19).
The District 9 boys’ individual qualifiers for the PIAA meet. Photo by Diane Lutz
Full Class 1A boys’ results can be found here.
CLASS 2A GIRLS
In a tight 2A race, St. Marys continued its dominance by edging out second-place Punxsutawney, 41-43. Bradford was third with 49 points.
Pistner, only a freshman, captured the title in a time of 20:30 and was one of three Lady Dutch in the top six.
Senior Madison Blythe was fifth in a time of 22:31 and freshman Lucia Hayes was eighth in a time of 23:00. Rounding out the scoring for St. Marys were sophomores Kelsie Bellotti (11th, 23:20) and Maura Caskey (16th, 24:21). The additional two runners on the Lady Dutch squad, who will all go to the PIAA meet, were sophomore Jayssa Snelick (19th, 25:20) and freshman Paige Bauer (26th, 27:34).
Also qualifying for the PIAA meet were last year’s D9 champion Korie Dixon, a sophomore from Bradford, who was second in a time of 20:46, Punxsutawney senior Amy Poole (3rd, 21:19), Bradford sophomore Caitlyn Taylor (4th, 21:58), Clearfield junior Scarlett Singleton (6th, 22:40), and Punxsutawney junior Jordann Hicks (7th, 22:50).
Full Class 2A girls’ results can be found here.
CLASS 2A BOYS
Thanks to all five scoring runners finishing in the Top 16, DuBois topped second-place Punxsutawney, 46-52, for the crown. Bradford was third with 67 points.
Leading the way for the Beavers was third-place finisher Astacio Deemer, a senior, who ran a time of 18:10 four seconds ahead of teammate Joseph Foradora, who was fourth. The senior ran 18:14. Senior Ryan White finished 11th in a time of 19:31, sophomore Rudy Williams was 12th in a time of 19:46, and junior Jaedon Yarus was 16th in a time of 20:06. Rounding out the DuBois squad, who will all be headed to the PIAA meet, were senior Christian Roemer (17th, 20:22) and senior Luike Sturrock (24th, 22:28).
Bradford’s Diaz, a junior, was an easy winner over Punxsutawney’s Eric Surkla, a senior, running 17:19 to Surkala’s 18:00.
Joining those two as individual PIAA qualifiers were Punxsutawney senior Andrew Barnoff (5th, 18:22), Bradford freshman Brayden Friar (6th, 19:29), and St. Marys junior Wyatt Foster (7th, 18:29).
Full Class 2A boys’ results can be found here.
The PIAA meet will be Nov. 6 in Hershey.
