HERSHEY — Despite a two-year age difference, State College Area High School distance runners Chloe Poindexter and Devon Jackson are very close.
On Saturday, Nov. 4, the Lady Little Lion duo decided to make a run to the PIAA cross country medal stand a casual walk through the park together.
“Devon and I worked together for almost all of the race and that worked to our advantage,” Poindexter said. “We are very competitive and we have good running chemistry. Without having to say any words we know how to work together, push each other, and accomplish a mutual goal.”
“Going into the race, we wanted to leave with two medals and that’s what Devon and I did.”
Poindexter and Jackson’s individual medals were part of a banner day for State College performers at states on the Parkview 5K course. Poindexter turned in the best individual placement from Centre County by taking ninth in Class 3A girls, four spots ahead of her friend and teammate, Jackson.
Meanwhile, on the boys side, the Little Lions had their best team showing since 1992, taking third place in Class 3A. State’s Isaac Opperman also medaled individually by crossing the finish line 24th.
“The boys had a great season and it was a big breakthrough,” State College coach Rebecca Donoghue said. “The boys’ team ran great all year and most of them had never been to the state meet before and none of them had really experienced the whole state meet experience. Everyone that competed improved on their performance from last year.
“The season had a lot of twists and turns this year and we all went through a lot of changes but in the end it ended with a great season for both teams.”
Poindexter, a Howard recruit, and Jackson essentially ran together for the first four kilometers of their race until finally kicking for their best individual finish about the last three-quarters of a mile.
Poindexter reached the line in 18 minutes, 46 seconds. Jackson’s time was 19:02.
“Medaling on Saturday meant so much to me. This has been a dream of mine since I was freshman and being able to accomplish being a state medalist my senior year was a reflection of the work that I put in to attaining this goal,” Poindexter said. “Going into this race and this season I wasn’t in any of the top 10 rankings or anything like that but I just kept my head down and kept working. I think I shocked a lot of people by placing in the top 10 but I knew all along that I had this in me.”
Having Jackson along to encourage her and push her probably helped, too, as did Poindexter’s impact on Jackson’s performance.
“Chloe and I run together almost every single day on runs and in workouts, so, when it comes to racing, we run very well together because we are familiar with the way each other runs,” Jackson said. “I was very excited and happy with my performance. Medaling at states was one of my goals since the beginning of the season. I felt very proud and accomplished.”
Poindexter’s finish was the best showing for a State College girl since Jordan Reed in 2020, while Jackson’s 13th place was the best by a non-senior Lady Little Lion since 2017.
Poindexter and Jackson’s Lady Little Lions missed finishing in the top five as a team for the first time in nine years, finishing seventh with 221 points. However, entering the meet, they were picked 14th, so they outperformed their projection.
Julia Bigger was the State girls’ third finisher at 20:56 (117), while Kristen Schellberg ran 21:04 (130) and Molly Dell 21:54 (176) to round out the Lady Little Lions’ scorers. Devyani Wadhia was 180 with a time of 22:00, and Abigail Bigger took 184th with a time of 22:11.
On the 3A boys side, six State College runners finished in the top 77 as the Little Lions scored 142 points.
Not only was State College third, the Little Lions were just 8 points out of first. Council Rock North was the team champion with 134 points.
A junior, Opperman completed the course in 16:33, 7 seconds ahead of his freshman brother, Theo, who was 31st. Sam Endres was 42nd with a 16:48, Stephen Fowler 62nd with a 17:02, Griffin Selber 76th with a 17:09 and Owen Coughlin 77th, also at 17:09. The top five finishers count toward the team score.
Neil Maguire rounded out Donoghue’s lineup and ran 17:53, good for 156th place.
Bellefonte’s Alex Crist, running in Class 2A boys, posted the best finish of a non-State College runner. He was 38th with a time of 17:14.
Three other Red Raiders were running as individuals at the meet. Alex Mansfield was 155 with a time of 18:42, Kaiden Williams 167 with an 18:49 and Caleb Vinnedge 176 with an 18:54.
In Class 1A boys, St. Joseph’s Colin Simander turned in a time of 18:04 to cross the line 58th. Meanwhile, Bald Eagle Area’s Colton Wagner timed 18:41 and was 111th.
The Penns Valley boys qualified for states as a team as the District 6 Class 1A runner-up. The Rams finished 17th in the team rankings with 403 points.
Dilon Reilly topped the Rams with a time of 18:44 for 117th place, while Taven Price ran 19:02 for 145th and McClain Reamer 19:23 for 177th. Matthew Wheeland and Vince Smith rounded out Penns Valley’s scorers, running 19:33 for 186th place and 19:41 for 195th place, respectively.
Ethan Roland, who was 224th in 21:03, and Garrett Banyay, who was 225th in 21:03, comprised the rest of Penns Valley’s lineup.
Of the Centre County Class 2A and 1A individual girls, St. Joseph’s Evelyn Reynolds scored the best place, taking 81st in 1A with a time of 22:22, while Bellefonte’s Natalie Jolley notched the fastest time of 21:58, good for 131 in 2A.
Jolley was running with a pair of Lady Raider teammates. Emma Raish clocked 22:24 for 154th, while Emma Liadis registered a 22:33 for 160th place.
Elsewhere in 1A girls, Penns Valley’s Lillyanna Smith posted a time of 22:27 for 89th place and fellow Lady Ram Ayva Fetterolf turned in a 23:04 for 126th place.
