Boys Race Highlights:
Race Video (for best quality, ensure your YouTube video setting is set to HD) – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m_qFfGpPIVo&t=16s
Gage Krall (sr, Northern Lebanon) led from the gun and claimed the individual title in 16:17. He will battle for an individual District III (AA) title in a week and a half against the likes of Ben Kuhn (sr, Wyomissing), Cole Adams (so, York Suburban), and Weber Long (so, Greencastle-Antrim).
It was a very close finish for runner-up, as Cedar Crest junior Tommy Bildheiser out-kicked Penn Manor junior Graham Thomas at the end of the race. We could see these two competing against each other for a District III AAA title. They are the top 2 returners form the 2018 District III Championships.
Hempfield’s Evan Eshleman (jr) and Jack Mieszkalski (sr) would cross next finishing 4th and 5th overall.
Mitchell Gray (sr, Elco) finished 6th. It was a memorable performance as it was the best individual finish in ELCO school history.
The story of the day though was the dominant performance put forth by the Cedar Crest Falcons. They put 5 runners in the top 10 and all 7 athletes medaled, finishing in the top 25. Congratulations Cedar Crest!
The top 25 individual finishers earned league medals.
Girls Race Highlights:
Race Video (for best quality, ensure your YouTube video setting is set to HD) –
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9aKF1Ghm13c&t=458s
Gwyneth Young (jr, Cedar Crest) continued her dominating season by winning her first LL League Championship title. She led from the start, but was pushed through the first 2 miles by last year’s champion, Katie Locker (sr) of Elizabethtown. In the end, Young would pull away and cross the finish line first in 18:35. Locker would finish second in 18:58. Young is the likely favorite heading into Districts (AAA) and Locker should challenge for a top 5 finish.
JP McCaskey Junior Arielle Breuninger held off a fast-charging Anna Martin (jr, Warwick) to hold onto 3rd place. Both would run 19:18. Fun fact – Arielle’s sister Milana (fr) would join her on the medal stand as she would finish in 11th place. Milana was the top freshman in the girl’s race.
Crossing next was a duo from Elizabethtown, Madeline Quinn (jr) and Sierra Kapcsos (so). Their finish would give the Bears 3 runners in the top 6 which helped to earn the team a 3rd place finish. They both crossed the finish line in 20:00.
The team race was incredibly close between Hempfield and Cedar Crest. The Black Knights would take home the title with 91 points to the Falcons 94. Hempfield’s tight pack helped to secure the victory as their top 5 all placed between 10th-22nd.
The top 25 finishers earned league medals.
