RIDGWAY, Pa. – The St. Marys’ boys and girls cross country teams swept District 9 Class 2A team cross country championships, while the Brookville boys took home the 1A title, as did the Elk County Catholic girls in Class 1A.
Individual champions were Elk County Catholic’s Grace Neubert (1A girls), St. Marys’ Gabby Pistner (Class 2A girls), Coudersport’s Kevin Sherry (Class 1A boys) and Bradford’s Manny Diaz (Class 2A boys).
This is the seventh consecutive title for the St. Marys girls.
CLASS 1A GIRLS
Neubert (19:10.2) and Sophia Billie (19:37.7), both juniors, went 1-2 for Elk County Catholic to help them to the team title, while junior Sami Straub was fifth (21:15.4) and sophomore Gianna Billie eighth (21:54.8).
The Elk County Catholic girls cross country team. Photo by John Sherry, D9 XC Chair.
The Crusaders finished with 40 points, outdistancing second-place Cranberry, which finished with 56. Cranberry had three runners in the top 13, all sophomores, led by Karleigh Shaffer (4th, 21:00.0), followed by Kelsey Hanna (8th, 21:29.4) and Kayla Hanna (13th, 21:58.8).
All seven runners for both teams qualified for the PIAA meet.
Brockway finished third in the team standings with 93 points, led by Zoe Puhala, who was 17th (22:16.3) in qualifying for the state meet.
Oswayo Valley’s Cheyenne Mehl was third (20:00.7), Brookville’s Erika Doolittle was fifth in 21:12.8.
Also qualifying for the state meet were Moniteau’s Jenna Zendron (7th, 21:16.1), Clarion-Limestone’s Adisen Jackson (9th, 21:38.4), Northern Potter’s Rebecca Martin (10th, 21:35.9), North Clarion’s Katie Bauer (11th, 21:39.4), Brookville’s Anna Fiscus (14th, 22:00.3), Kane’s Lily Wymer (15th, 22:03.9) and North Clarion’s Nicole Fair (16th, 22:11.7).
The D9 Class 1A girls’ medalists. Photo by Diane Lutz.
CLASS 2A GIRLS
St. Marys swept the top three stops, with Pistner (19:55.8) followed by teammates freshman Christinia Frontz (20:15.2) and sophomore Raechel Braun (20:45.0).
St. Marys finished with 24 points, outdistancing second-place Bradford (65), with all seven runners qualifying for the state meet.
Also qualifying for the state meet were Clearfield’s Scarlett Singleton (4th, 21:17.7), Bradford’s Korie Dixon (5th, 21:24.1) and Caitlyn Taylor (6th, 21:24.4), Punxsutawney’s Jordan Hicks (7th, 21:31.9) and Clearfield’s Danna Bender (9th, 21:31.9).
CLASS 1A BOYS
Brookville (73 points), finished ahead of Cranberry (91 points) for the title.
The Class 1A boys champions, the Brookville Raiders. Photo by John Sherry.
Coudersport’s Sherry (16:15.6), a junior, finished over one minute ahead of second-place finisher Eli Schreiber, a sophomore from Ridgway (17:18.0).
Brookville had a pair of top-ten finishers en route to the team title, led by Ty Fiscus (3rd, 17:25.9) and Cole Householder (8th, 17:55.2).
Cranberry also had a pair of top-ten finishers in Dalton Wenner (4th, 17:40.3) and Ben Seybert (6th, 17:48.3).
All seven runners for each team qualify for the state meet.
The D9 Class 1A boys’ medalists. Photo by Diane Lutz.
Also qualifying for states were Karns City’s Griffin Booher (5th, 17:40.8), Oswayo Valley’s Andrew Coriaty (6th, 17:44.9), Clarion-Limestone’s Logan Lutz (8th, 17:55.2), Ridgway’s Aaron Myers (10th, 17:57.2), Clarion-Limestone’s Ty Rankin (11th, 17:57.9), Keystone’s Jonathan Hansford (12th, 18:00.5), North Clarion’s Gabriel Fair (13th, 18:00.5) and ECC’s Julian Funaki (14th, 18:03.1).
CLASS 2A BOYS
St. Marys earned a narrow 41-43 win over Bradford, with all seven St. Marys runners qualifying for states as a result.
The St. Marys boys’ cross country team. Photo St. Marys Area Track/XC.
Bradford actually swept the top two spots courtesy of Diaz (16:51.8) and Brayden Friar (17:13.2).
St. Marys had four top 10 finishers- Wyatt Foster (5th, 17:35.9), Augustus Secco (6th, 17:51.9), Jacob Nedimyer (8th, 17:55.3), and Nicholas Hayes (9th, 18:13.8).
Also qualifying for states were Punxsutawney’s Evan Groce (3rd, 17:31.3), Bradford’s Leo Paterniti (4th, 17:33.4), and Punxsutawney’s Garrett Bartlebaugh (7th, 17:54.1).
