HERSHEY — Just 10 seconds and 10 places separated the Little Lions’ five scoring runners, and the State College boys won their first team championship at the 17th running of the PIAA Foundation Invitational cross country meet on Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Hershey Parkview 5K course.
“In less than ideal conditions with steady rain and a very muddy course, the boys team made a massive statement,” State College coach Rebecca Donaghue said.
The meet attracted four of Centre County’s six PIAA schools. Also running were Bellefonte, Penns Valley and St. Joseph’s.
State College finished with 75 points, 65 fewer than second-place Manheim Township, to capture the team title in the Gold Division for Class 3A schools.
Sam Endres led the Little Lions with a time of 17 minutes, 8 seconds, a hair faster than teammate Isaac Opperman, who had the same time. Endres wound up 11th, Opperman 12th.
Owen Coughlin and Stephen Fowler were 9 seconds behind them in 19th and 20th places, while Theo Opperman capped State College’s scoring when he crossed the line 21st with a time of 17:18.
Neil Maguire and Henry Adams completed the Little Lion lineup; Maguire was 42nd and Adams 75th.
The Lady Little Lions scored 279 points to place sixth in the Gold Division. Chloe Poindexter was State College’s lone girls medalist, clocking in at 20:19 to take 22nd place. Deyvani Wadhia finished just outside the medals with a 20:36, good for 29th place.
Julia Bigger, Kristen Schellberg and Alexa Peterson completed the State girls scoring list, crossing the finish line at 61, 85 and 89. Abigail Bigger was 96th and Sophie Baylis 113th.
Alex Crist topped Bellefonte’s runners, placing 46th in the Blue Division (Class 2A) by running 18:06. The Red Raiders’ Keith Eicholtz was 114th, followed by teammates Caleb Vinnedge in 115th, Alex Mansfield in 197th and Jacob Showers in 227th. Maverick Muchmore missed the scoring cut in 236th place.
As a team, Bellefonte was 30th, finishing with 663 points.
The Lady Raiders ran 24th with 582 points. Natalie Jolley paced Bellefonte girls’ runners by placing 95s. Victoria Schellenberg was 121st. Emma Raish 122nd, Emma Burger 134th and Anna Tyson 161st. Ashley Aukerman, taking 162nd, missed scoring for the Lady Raiders by a fraction of a second.
The St. Joseph’s girls ran sixth as a team in the White Division (Class 1A), finishing with 188 points, while Penns Valley was 14th with 364. The WolfPack’s Abby Ridenour posted the best time in the class for a Centre County girl and ran 38th, 2 seconds and three places ahead of Penns Valley’s Lilly Smith. St. Joseph’s Evelyn Reynolds ran 42nd.
Ayva Fetterolf of Penns Valley was 49th and Amber Fisher of St. Joseph’s was 54th.
Brynn Wright took 59th and Seki Chappel 62nd to round out St. Joseph’s scoring. The WolfPack’s Leah Wright was 85th and Lizzie Eby 147th.
For Penns Valley, Elizabeth Dean took 102nd, Marinn Peters 122nd, Chloe Showers 184th and Anneliese Racette 183rd.
In the boys White Division, Penns Valley was 19th with 511 points and St. Joseph’s was 25th with 608. St. Joseph’s Colin Simander boasted the best individual time of 18:18 to take 30th place. Penns Valley’s Dilon Reilly and Taven Price crossed 46th and 64th, respectively.
St. Joseph’s Nick Dible was 121st, Penns Valley’s Vince Smith and Matthew Wheeland were 140th and 155th, St. Joseph’s Anthony Woomer was 158th, Penns Valley’s Ethan Roland was 164th, St. Joseph’s Sean DePlato was 182nd, Penns Valley’s Garrett Banyay was 185th, and the St. Joseph’s trio of Abel Reynolds, Matt Rogan and Cade Behrer were 197th, 214th and 215th.
Bellefonte
SCHELLSBURG — Crist led from start to finish and posted a time of 17:49 to power Bellefonte to wins over Bishop Carroll and Chestnut Ridge in a Laurel Highlands Conference meet at Shawnee State Park on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
The Raiders downed Carroll, 21-36, while besting Ridge, 20-37.
Vinnedge took second, Eicholtz fourth, Mansfield ninth and Davis 10th.
The Lady Raiders edged Bishop Carroll, 26-31, while topping Chestnut Ridge, 21-39. Emma Raish was Bellefonte’s top runner, finishing second to Bishop Carroll’s Ava Pablic by 48 seconds with a time of 21:53. Emma Liadis placed third, with Burger eighth, Schellenberg ninth and Tyson 10th.
Penns Valley
MARTINSBURG — Smith finished second to Central standout Lanee Berkhimer and led six Penns Valley girls runners in the top 10 as the Lady Rams beat Central and Bishop Carroll by identical 15-50 counts on Sept. 20.
Fetterolf was third, Peters fourth, Dean sixth, Showers seventh and Racette eighth.
In the boys race, Reilly was second and Price third, with Banyay and Roland sixth and seventh. Central’s Braden Allison was the medalist.
State College
HARRISBURG — Holding out many of its top runners in preparation for the PIAA Foundation meet later in the week, State College girls still swept Central Dauphin and Mifflin County on Tuesday, Sept. 19, while the Little Lions split.
The Lady Little Lions boasted five runners in the top 10, with Aaliyah Kidd third, Erin Ruth fifth, Natalie Branstetter eighth, Kaitlyn Ruffing ninths and Taylor Kirkwood 10th.
Both team scores were close, with State College edging Mifflin County, 26-40, and squeaking by Central Dauphin, 24-34.
The Little Lions also bettered Central Dauphin, 20-41, but fell to Mifflin County, 18-40.
Vincent LaFrazza-Schwartz led the Little Lions by finishing fourth behind three Mifflin County runners. State’s Caleb Eveleth was seventh and Schaffer Sohn ninth.
Mifflin County’s Caden Bell and Amilla Coffey were the medalists.
