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The competition, run in near-perfect weather and on a very spectator-friendly course at Big Spring High School, featured several state-ranked teams and individuals, and delivered some outstanding performances.
The boys race featured an outstanding performance by James Buchanan's Liam Corcoran, who chased winner Vinny Todaro of Big Spring wire-to-wire, posting a time of 16:13.59 to Todaro's 16:11.59.
Corcoran, a 4:21 miler and 9:29 two-miler, but in only his second year of cross country, held his own throughout the race, but could not close the small gap Todaro had built.
"My goal was to come in and run faster than last year (17:24) and I got that," Corcoran said. "I am looking forward to districts and a top-25 finish."
For Chambersburg, each team entered the season with different expectations, and for both the journey has been a work in progress with increasingly satisfying results although not without a few bumps along the way.
The Trojan girls have used several competitive invitationals around the state and strong performances by Courtney Group to move within striking distance of the top district teams.
Group, after an opening meet loss (Enos Yeager Invitational) to teammate Alex Orr, has led the Trojans by posting several
Saturday was no exception - she navigated the challenging 5K course in a course PR of 19:19.63. That was good enough for fourth place overall and helped the team to fifth with 132 points.
Mady Clahane, a sensational freshman from Cumberland Valley, was the overall winner in 18:48.55.
"I just wanted to stick with the top girls," said Group, when asked about her strategy. "I got gapped around two miles and ran in by myself, which is
She was backed by strong performances by Deija McBeth (25th, 20:34.00) and freshman Ally Neidigh (28th, 20:35.86). Alex Orr (32nd, 20:43.75) and Megan Reel (43rd, 21:07.32) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Trojans.
Trojan coach Chris Monheim is waiting for it all to come together.
"On a great day here we'd get third, a good day fifth," he said. "We had a couple of girls that had off days, but yet two who broke through. If we put it all together we can run up front, and we will need to at districts where only four teams advance to states."
Palmyra (70 points) took the team title, followed by Cumberland Valley (87).
Group, McBeth, Neidigh and Orr all achieved All-Conference (top 35) honors for their efforts.
Greencastle-Antrim's top runner, Caroline Schemel, did not compete to rest an injury. The Blue Devils' Shelby Stouffer placed 36th in 29:48.20. James Buchanan's Amanda Cole and Erin Hoffman took the next two places after Stouffer.
The Chambersburg boys, last year's Mid Penn and District 3 champions, were able to break into the top 10 (ninth) and did so without recent No. 1 runner, Grant Frey, who started but did not finish due to illness.
Danny Klink led the Trojans with a 13th-place finish in a solid 16:56.05 and earned All-Conference honors.
Klink bounced back from a recent subpar performance at the Carlisle Invitational to lead a top five that consisted of two freshmen - Tanner Amsley (46th, 17:38.15) and Chris Wurtz (60th, 17:55.49) - and a sophomore, Ethan Overcash (66th, 18:03.18). Junior Devin Thompson (97th, 18:38.09) completed the scoring for the Trojans.
This has been a year of rebuilding for the Trojans and coach John Ambrosio after losing his top three runners to major college programs.
"We did OK today," Ambrosio said. "A top-10 finish with one of our top guys out. It was a great job by our young guys, who got some valuable experience. And kudos to Danny Klink, who has put together a couple of nice performances recently."
Greencastle's Daulton Monn placed 24th in 17:05.61 and was the area's only other All-Conference pick. Hershey won the boys team title with 96 points.
The District 3 Championships will be held in Hershey on Oct. 24, with the PIAA State Championships to follow in Hershey on Nov. 3. Only the top four teams and top 25 individuals will advance to states from districts.
Mid Penn Championships
(At Big Spring H.S., 5K)
GIRLS
Team Standings
1.Palmyra 70; 2.Cumberland Valley 87; 3.State College 109; 4.Carlisle 122; 5.Chambersburg 132; 6.Hershey 186; 7.Lower Dauphin 243; 8.Red Land 262; 9.Big Spring 263; 10.East Pennsboro 319; 15.Greencastle-Antrim 480; 20.James Buchanan 515; 25.Waynesboro 732; 26.Shippensburg 733
Top Individuals
1.Mady Clahane (CV) 18:48.55; 2.Carol Strock (CV) 18:57.77; 3.Dee Dee Shea (LD) 19:05.69; 4.Courtney Group (Chbg) 19:19.63; 5.Maria Tukis (Pal) 19:31.45; 6.Gabi Broschard (Her) 19:32.53; 7.Emily Joyce (Big Spr) 19:39.74; 8.Olivia Farabaugh (Pal) 19:53.86; 9.Miranda Salvo (Pal) 19:54.96; 10.Caitlyn Padgett (Car) 19:56.78; 11.Emma Cousins (SC) 20:00.41; 12.Lillie Brown (Boil) 20:02.50; 13.Angel Barber (EP) 20:04.20; 14.Emily Dethlefs (Trin) 20:04.86; 15.Mekena Felts (RL) 20:11.40; 16.Natasha Fetkina (SC) 20:18.15; 17.Laura Duquette (Pal) 20:18.98; 18.Sara Miller (McDev) 20:19.58; 19.Erin Vrana (Her) 20:20.19; 20.Kaelyn Yoder (SC) 20:20.87; 21.Laura Barnes (CV) 20:24.20; 22.Madeline Kole (Car) 20:25.10; 23.Megan Howe (CV) 20:26.43; 24.Ella Breidenstine (LD) 20:33.03; 25.Deija McBeth (Chbg) 20:34.00
Other Chambersburg runners: 28.Ally Neidigh 20:35.86; 32.Alex Orr 20:43.75; 43.Megan Reel 21:07.32; 57.Jennifer Maxwell 21:38.65; 95.Carolyn Dann 22:49.48
Greencastle-Antrim runners: 36.Shelby Stouffer 29:48.20; 52.Caitlyn Hetrick 21:26.76; 75.Madison Hurley 22:21.31; 145.Morgan Stahley 24:31.04; 180.Kylie Carbaugh 26:14.05; 200.Megan Bowman 35:19.98
James Buchanan runners: 37.Amanda Cole 21:28.15; 38.Erin Hoffman 21:29.22; 103.heather Sempowski 23:02.28; 152.Nicole Fleegle 24:40.38; 160.Courtney Horst 24:54.69; 163.Meghan Hafcut 24:58.02; 188.Janelle Garbinski 27:03.59; 192.Katrina Giffin 27:37.65
Shippensburg runners: 112.Emily Stouffer 23:10.95; 113.Maria Owens 23:11.78; 157.Zoe Weaver 24:48.10; 179.Audrey Goates 26:06.40; 186.Kylee Miller 26:57.39; 189.Cathy Adams 27:14.93
Waynesboro runners: 99.Bethany Carter 22:56.31; 137.Julia Rodriguez 24:03.78; 166.Marleigh Chaney 25:14.00; 169.Alexandra Correll 25:21.54; 176Lily Harnish 25:58.67; 178.Davis Taylor 26:04.04; 195.Nannah-Kate Schlegel 27:51.83
BOYS
Team Standings
1.Hershey 96; 2.Lower Dauphin 128; 3.Cumberland Valley 132; 4.Central Dauphin 138; 5.State College 172; 6.Mifflin County 181; 7.Carlisle 182; 8.Red Land 222; 9.Chambersburg 282; 10.Cedar Cliff 303; 15.Waynesboro 467; 16.Shippensburg 494; 20.James Buchanan 570; 22.Greencastle-Antrim 662
Top Individuals
1.Vinny Todaro (Big Spr) 16:11.59; 2.Liam Corcoran (JB) 16:13.59; 3.Nate Hamilton (Her) 16:14.52; 4.Cole Nissley (LD) 16:32.02; 5.Will Cather (SC) 16:33.68; 6.Alec Kunzweiler (CV) 16:38.42; 7.Zach Brehm (Car) 16:41.74; 8.Nathan Repetz (CC) 16:44.65; 9.Aiden Demko (Her) 16:47.21; 10.Jon Colwell (MC) 16:48.91; 11.James Wood (CD) 16:50.88; 12.Corbin Padgett (Car) 16:51.99; 13.Danny Klink (Chbg) 16:56.05; 14.Calvin Conrad-Kline (Pal) 16:56.87; 15.Aaron Lauer (RL) 16:57.53; 16.Sean Manning (Boil) 17:00.20; 17.Eric Simons (CD) 17:00.85; 18.Zach Seiger (RL) 17:01.76; 19.Josh Santeusanio (LD) 17:02.02; 20.Daniel Green (JB) 17:02.37; 21.Addison Monroe (MC) 17:02.72; 22.Jordan Crawford (CC) 17:04.10; 23.Eric Cray (Her) 17:04.66; 24.Daulton Monn (G-A) 17:05.61; 25.Will Sponaugle (Her) 17:06.09.
Other Chambersburg runners: 46.Tanner Amsley 17:38.15; 60.Chris Wurtz 17:55.49; 66.Ethan Overcash 18:03.18; 97.Devan Thompson 18:38.09
Other Greencastle-Antrim runners: 115.Zach Husband 18:50.09; 133.Ben Hockman 19:09.52; 181.Andrew Martin 20:28.11; 214.Marc Pittman 22:56.66; 217.Luke Norris 23:31.90
Other James Buchanan runners: 171.Colby Sites 19:59.04; 183.Morgan Flannery 20:29.68; 196.Jake Sword 20:56.35; 201.Andrew Myers 21:07.91; 219.Scott McClure 24:02.05
Shippensburg runners: 83.Nathan Thrush 18:25.24; 91.Austin Ambrosio 18:31.34; 102.Ben Nye 18:42.02; 106.Zach Ackerman 18:43.96; 112.Zach Fulker 18:47.24; 155.Nathanael Lyman 19:29.39; 156.Mitchell Rhinehart 19:29.78; 166.Ashtin Perry 19:47.04
Waynesboro runners: 63.Clay Foreman 17:57.16; 65.Colt Foreman 18:01.90; 99.Jonathon Daniels 18:39.65; 114.Abram Moats 18:49.62; 126.Chris Ramsey 18:58.66; 127.Shaun Egolf 19:00.06; 132.Ian Skroban 19:08.88; 154.Jacob Minnick 19:28.95
