HERSHEY, Pa. – It was a historic day for District 10 at the PIAA cross country championships, as the Cathedral Prep girls won the Class 2A state title, while the Grove City boys did the same on the Class 2A boys’ side.
Prep won a tight four-team race for the title on the girls’ side with 111 points, edging Danville (115), Montour (119), and Beaver Area (120) for the title.
The Grove City boys had no such issues, rolling to the crown with 67 team points, well ahead of second-place Danville and Lewisburg Area (128).
The 2022 PIAA Class 2A boys state champions, the Grove City Eagles.
The Grove City boys were led by a pair of top 10 finishes, as MJ Pottinger finished fourth in 16:33.9 and Josh Jones 10th in 16:50.2.
Justice Brown (17:27.4) finished in 27th and Quinn McKnight (17:38.2) 35th for the Eagles, followed by Colsen Frank (17:59.7), Isaiah Stauff (18:00.8) and Wyatt Shepson Jr. (19:07.8).
For the Prep girls, Anne-Catherine Brown led the way with a fifth-place finish at 20:09.1, followed by Allison Bender (20:39.8, 12th), Sarah Clark (21:14.5, 19th), Helen Ann McCormick (21:53.3, 35th), Lauren Raimy (22:00.1, 40th), Sarah Teed (22:15.1, 44th) and Rue Burkett (30:43.6, 135th).
While Grove City and Prep were the headliners, there were also some other notable performances among District 9 and District 10 runners.
CLASS 1A BOYS
West Middlesex finished seventh in the team standings with 202 points (Central Cambria won with 95, while Brookville (301) was ninth.
In addition, Coudersport’s Kevin Sherry had a brilliant run, coming in fourth overall with a time of 17:00.4. Thomas Smigo of Palisades won with a time of 16:33.4.
Other runners earning top 50 finishes were D10 champion Sam Hetrick of Saegertown (16th, 17:54.3), Cochranton’s Chase Miller (23rd, 17:59.8), Lakeview’s Colson Jenkins (30th, 18:12.6), West Middlesex’s Luke Schneider (31st, 18:14.1), Ridgway’s Eli Schreiber (45th, 18:26.0), Brookville’s Ty Fiscus (46th, 18:28.5) and West Middlesex’s Nick Varga (47th, 18:29.3).
CLASS 1A GIRLS
The Elk County Catholic girls finished in fifth place in the team standings with 164 points (Notre Dame-Green Pond and Montrose both had (78).
Cranberry was sixth in the team standings with 245, while West Middlesex was ninth at 270 and Seneca 10th at 274.
There were a total of five District 9 and District 10 runners that finished in the top 11. Mercer’s Willow Myers was third in 20:01.7 (Virginia Kraus of Moravian Academy won in 18:53.8), while West Middlesex’s Annasophia Viccari was fifth (20:05.3), Elk County Catholic’s Grace Neubert sixth (20:11.0), ECC’s Sophia Billie ninth (20:25.5) and Oswayo Valley’s Cheyenne Mehl 11th (20:42.6).
West Middlesex’s Lia Bartholomew was 21st (21:09.3), Jamestown’s Karis McElhaney 22nd (21:10.4), and Girard’s Devyn Agnello 24th (21:20.9), also earning medals.
CLASS 2A BOYS
In addition to Grove City, Harbor Creek was ninth in the team standings with 247 points.
Bradford’s Manny Diaz had a great run, finishing just behind Pottinger at 16:36.0.
Meadville’s Max Dillaman, meanwhile, was 30th in 17:35.2, while Hickory’s Caden Riethmiller was 33rd (17:36.6), Prep’s Lance Brown 34th (17:37.4) and Fort LeBoeuf’s Ben Schrumpf 37th (17:39.7).
CLASS 2A GIRLS
St. Marys finished seventh in the team standings with 189 points, led by Gabby Pistner’s 12th-place finish in 20:15.8.
Pistner’s teammate, Raechel Braun, was 37th in 21:03.5, while Warren’s Shyann Rulander was 50th in 21:26.7, Franklin’s Nadalie Latchaw 55th in 21:30.9, and General McLane’s Baylie Sydney 60th in 21:39.9.
CLASS 3A BOYS/GIRLS
DuBois’ Morgan Roemer was the top D9/10 finisher on the girls’ side, coming in 37th with a time of 20:22.6
For the boys, McDowell’s Kamden Kramer was seventh in 16:34.6, while teammate Christian Mattern was 41st in 17:12.0.
The Trojans finished in 14th place in the team standings.
