HERSHEY — Temperatures were running high and so were the finishers of Centre County runners at the PIAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 5, at Hershey’s Parkview Course.
State College senior Nick Sloff registered the best time of the day for a county athlete, navigating the course in 16 minutes, 39.2 seconds to place 16th in Class 3A boys in leading the Little Lions to a sixth-place team showing. The State College girls were second in Class 3A as a team with Amy Devan capturing an individual medal via her 25th-place finish.
The highest placement for an area runner was turned in by Philipsburg-Osceola’s Chad Muckey, who took eighth place in Class 2A boys. Meanwhile, Penns Valley’s Alexis Durn took 13th in Class 1A girls.
The top 25 individuals in each race medaled. St. Joseph’s Colin Simander, Bellefonte’s Chase Ebeling, Penns Valley’s Lillyanna Smith and State College’s Chloe Poindexter just missed out on the top 25 in their respective events.
“We are very excited to be the runner-up,” State College girls coach Rebecca Donaghue said.
“Times were quite slow throughout the whole day because of (the heat). Our girls competed really well out there despite the conditions and really stepped up where needed.”
The Lady Little Lions ended up with 118 points. North Allegheny won the team title for the second year in a row with 60. Donaghue was especially pleased that only 55 seconds spread State College’s scoring runners, the best of any team.
“This team continued to wow us this season, and today was no exception. They really went after things out there, running tough and stepping up where needed and holding on where needed,” Donaghue said.
Devan, a senior, crossed the finish line with a time of 19:52.0. She was in 39th place at the 1-mile mark and moved up, getting as far as 23rd before ending 25th.
“I had a rough start and did not get out fast enough, so the first mile I got really boxed in. I tried to focus on the competitive aspect of racing instead of the numbers on the clocks, just always drawing in the girl ahead of me. Eventually I worked my way up and, when it really started to hurt, I knew I was racing right,” Devan said.
“It was an amazing way to end the season and my last cross country race with the team. I’m so proud.”
Poindexter was 34th in 20:19.8, followed by Natalie Koncoski in 44th at 20:33.1, Devon Jackson in 53rd at 20:42.2 and District 6 champion Marlee Kwasnica in 60th at 20:47.6.
Devyani Wadhia and Grace Morningstar completed the Lady Little Lions’ lineup, running 21:27.o and 22:05.9, respectively.
Sloff also made his move late. He passed the mile marker in 24th, dropped to 30th at the halfway point and then steadily climbed the standings.
“Nick Sloff ran a great race and we knew he had a chance to make it to the medal stand,” State College boys coach Dave Felice said.
“Nick has worked very hard this year, and his finishing places at Mid-Penns, districts and states were a result of how he was ready to go to that next level. Nick was one of our captains this year and has grown into a great leader on our team.”
As a team, the Little Lions scored 204 points, 119 behind champion North Allegheny and six out of fifth place.
Sam Endres was State’s second-fastest runner, clocking 17:14.1 to get 44th place. Next was ninth-place Isaac Opperman at 17:50.2, 106th-place Henry Adams at 17:54.4 and 122nd-place Sam Viglione at 18:00.8.
“We really did believe that a top-10 finish was possible and that we were peaking at the right time,” Felice said.
“We were not far off of a top-three placing.”
Griffin Selber ran 18:35.7 and Owen Vaira 18:39.4 to complete the roll call of Little Lion runners.
Muckey made his move in the second mile, jumping from 40th place to 11th. He wound up timing 16:41.1. Rory Lieberman of Danville won with a time of 15:53.6.
Ebeling took 28th place, his time 17:33.1, which was a little less than 10 seconds off what he needed to medal. Ebeling was one of three Raiders to compete: Alex Crist posted a 19:23.5 and Alex Mansfield a 20:30.1.
A senior, Durn was consistently around 12th place and completed her run in 20:57.7, after which she was understandably thrilled.
“I can’t believe it. The race went by so quickly that I wish I could go back and watch from the sidelines,” said Durn, who just wanted to make the top 25.
“In order to place the way I did, I tried my hardest to start close to the front so I could stay with people that would push me closer to my goals. Medaling makes me feel accomplished in my season and gives me the strength to persevere through the pain, and I am thankful for all the people who supported me.”
Dern’s teammate, Smith, was 32nd, recording a time of 21:53.3.
St. Joseph’s competed as a team in 1A girls, scoring 341 team points to place 15th. Amber Fisher led the way for the WolfPack, running 22:09.2 to take 44th place. Brandi Carmack (24:07.8) and Abby Ridenour (24:19.3) were 142nd and 144th individually, while Kita Chappell (24:36.6) was 154th. Brynn Wright rounded out the scorers for St. Joseph’s with a time of 26:28.7 for 210th place, and Abby Schneider ran 31:15.6.
Simander was just 1.5 seconds from making the podium, placing 26th with a time of 18:05.9; he’s still a junior so he’ll get another shot at it next season. Penns Valley’s McClain Reamer and Bald Eagle Area’s Colton Wagner also were in the field; Reamer was 68th with an 18:49.0 and Wagner 133rd with a 19:37.7.
Two girls from Bellefonte were in the Class 2A race. Emma Liadis ran 24:10.6 to place 180th, while Kate Rarrick ran 25:10.8 to place 210th.
