Four teams and two individuals brought bragging rights back to Centre County after impressive performances at the PIAA cross country meet held Nov. 7 in Hershey.
Penns Valley’s Colton Sands had a repeat performance winning his second consecutive Class A individual title, topping a field of 268 runners in 16:42. His time was 12 second faster than the second-place finisher in Holy Cross’ Kevin Jumper.
In Class AAA, State High’s Brady Bigger captured a first-place overall finish leading the Little Lions to a fifth-place result in the team competition. Bigger bested a field of 115 runners with a time of 16:07, three seconds ahead of second-place finisher Devon Comber of Hatboro Horsham.
State High’s other runners included Trent Dinant (20th place), Sean Adams (22nd), Bennett Norton (25th), Nick Sloff (27th), Charles Endres (29th) and Jacob Messner (58th).
The Penns Valley girls’ squad scored 37 points to capture the team title in Class A. The team was led by Kelsey Hull’s second-place overall finish in 20:46, Anna Stitzer’s fourth-place time of 21:39 and Alexis Durn’s sixth place finish in 21:44. Other Lady Rams participating included Danielle Fetterolf (11th place), Abigail Stitzer (14th), Ann-Marie LaPean (52nd) and Grace Navigilia (58th).
The State High girls team placed second in Class AAA for the second consecutive year scoring 73 points, just 14 points behind defending champions, North Allegheny. The Little Lady Lions finished three points better than third place West Chester Henderson.
Senior Jordan Reed raced to a ninthplace overall finish in 19:42, followed by teammates Karsyn Kane (10th, 20:36), Marlee Kwasnica (11th, 20:37), Vivian Scott (20th, 21:21), Amy Devan (28th, 21:40), Grace Morningstar (32nd, 21:54) and Maggie Leahey (38th, 23:08)
“Jordan Reed ran aggressively from the start and finished her high school cross country campaign with an impressive statement by placing 9th overall and earning a top 25 medal and a spot on the podium,” said head coach Rebecca Donaghue.
“Jordan has had such an incredible season so it’s no surprise to see her finish in the top 10. She’s been getting stronger and stronger all season long.”
The State High girls’ cross country team took second place in the 2020 PIAA cross country meet in Hershey on Nov. 7. Pictured, in front from left, are coach Susan Marshall, Grace Morningstar, Karsyn Kane, Jordan Reed, Molly Solo, Vivian Scott and coach Rebecca Donaghue. Row 2: Amy Devan, Marlee Kwasnica, Maggie Leahey, Ava Langelaan and coach Artie Gilkes. Submitted photo
