Delone Catholic High cross country coach Scotty Watt's summer camp has paid off.

The Squires clinched both the boys' and girls' YAIAA Division III titles Tuesday at Susquehannock High School in a four-team meet including Northeastern, Susquehannock and York Catholic.

The boys hadn't won since 2010, and this was the first title for the girls.

The division titles come in Watt's last year as Squires coach.

"I haven't even thought about it, but it's great," he said. "It's a tremendous gift they gave me. Fabulous."

The boys beat York Catholic 26-32 and Northeastern 24-33 but lost to Susquehannock 25-30. The girls beat Susquehannock 26-29, Northeastern 15-50 and York Catholic 19-36.

Delone senior

Delone Catholic's Nick Poole leads the pack at the beginning of Tuesday's YAIAA cross country Meet on Tuesday at Susquehannock High School. Poole eventually won the race in 17:50 as Delone's boys won the YAIAA Division III title. (The Evening Sun - Brett Berwager)
Nick Poole won the boys' competition with a time of 17 minutes, 50 seconds, 32 seconds ahead of Susquehannock's Jake Thomas. Squirette freshman Kate Mowrey won the girls' competition with 21:13.

She remembered being nervous meeting her future cross country teammates while attending Watt's summer camp. Mowrey ran over the summer but wasn't sure how good her training had been.

"I was not expecting to be near the top," she said. "When we started practice, I fell in love with cross country. I loved going to practice and it paid off."

Teammates Sarah Bischoff and Andrea Resciniti came in third and fifth, respectively. They needed the strong performance to hold off York Catholic, which was one win behind the Squirettes in the standings.

"We targeted a team. We targeted people," Mowrey said. "I feel so happy we won the division. It just means a lot to our team."

Watt said the group of three freshmen, two of whom are scorers, and seniors were vital to the team's success. That was apparent immediately after his camp.

"When those freshmen met each other there, they bonded," he said. "When the camp was over, my staff and I said, 'Wow, we got three kids who are going to bring a lot of life to the team.'

Delone Catholic's Kate Mowrey, left, and Sarah Bischoff, right, celebrate as teammate Andrea Resciniti lies on the track moments after finishing her run during Tuesday's meet at Susquehannock High School. (The Evening Sun - Brett Berwager)
Between (the seniors) and the freshmen, bingo."

Poole also credited Watt's camp for helping the boys' team.

"For us, it was the start of the summer going into camp," Poole said. "This is what we wanted. This is what we built for. This is what we ran for. This team is more of a team than I've ever been on. This is our year."

Jack Hagarman and Brandon Trish, who finished eighth and 12th, respectively, were the top finishers for the boys' team. They were chasing Poole, who believed he would win the race in the second mile.

The race Tuesday went better for Poole than last Friday, when he lost a shoe in the first half-mile of the Paul Short Run's Varsity White race at Lehigh University. He finished 35th with just one shoe.

The Squires can turn their focus toward their postseason goals.

"Good districts," Poole said. "Maybe pull out a win there. But run strong. Run strong."
 
dpaulling@eveningsun.com. 717-637-3736, extension 139. Twitter: @DanielPaulling.


  
at Susquehannock
DELONE CATHOLIC 26, SUSQUEHANNOCK 29
DELONE CATHOLIC 15, NORTHEASTERN 50
DELONE CATHOLIC 19, YORK CATHOLIC 36
SUSQUEHANNOCK 15, NORTHEASTERN 50
SUSQUEHANNOCK 20, YORK CATHOLIC 39
YORK CATHOLIC 15, NORTHEASTERN 50
   1. Kate Mowrey, DC, 21:13; 2. Rachel Bandeira, Sus, 21:30; 3. Sarah Bischoff, DC, 21:51; 4. Emily Fourhman, Sus, 22:34; 5. Andrea Resciniti, DC, 22:41; 6. Amanda Falvey, YC, 23:03; 7. Jackie Ditt, Sus, 23:30; 8. Courtney Rodgers, Sus, 23:51; 9. Alexis China, YC, 23:52; 10. Alyssa Alpeghini, DC, 24:04; 11. Jenna Salter, DC, 24:17; 12. Lindsey China, YC, 24:25; 13. Karaleigh Stiffler, Sus, 24:28; 15. Kyleigh Smeltzer, Ne, 24:38; 18. Veronica Skehan, YC, 25:11; 19. Morgan Klunk, YC, 25:15; 20. Laura Zielinski, Ne, 25:16; 23. Hannah McLeod, Ne, 26:26.
  
at Susquehannock
SUSQUEHANNOCK 24, N'EASTERN 31
SUSQUEHANNOCK 26, Y. CATHOLIC 32
SUSQUEHANNOCK 25, DELONE CATHOLIC 30
DELONE CATHOLIC 24, NORTHEASTERN 33
DELONE CATHOLIC 26, YORK CATHOLIC 32
NORTHEASTERN 25, YORK CATHOLIC 32
   1. Nick Poole, DC, 17:50; 2. Jake Thomas, Sus, 18:22; 3. Ben Linne, Ne, 18:28; 4. Tucker Ebersole, YC, 19:03; 5. Ryan Sevret, Ne, 19:08; 6. Joe DiPiazza, YC, 19:13; 7. Patrick Morrison, Sus, 19:15; 8. Jack Hagarman, DC, 19:16; 9. L.J. Zinda, YC, 19:19; 10. Chris Sproul, Sus, 19:30; 11. Michael Wells, Sus, 19:46; 12. Brandon Trish, DC, 19:48; 13. John Mall, DC, 19:49; 14. Nake Hake, Ne, 19:56; 15. Zach Shelley, Sus, 20:01; 16. Luke Woolford, DC, 20:02; 18. Jacob McKenzie, Ne, 20:07; 19. Dalton Buffington, Ne, 20:08; 21. Kevin Moran, YC, 20:22; 30. Alex Taylor, YC, 21:29.