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For Public Opinion
HERSHEY - Chambersburg girls coach Chris Monheim knew it would take a good day to advance to the PIAA cross country championships.
Not great, just a good, solid day.
Let the top scoring five (out of seven runners) run close to their potential, with no disasters. On paper, that's what they had to do to secure one of the top four spots to advance.
Monheim got his good day Wednesday afternoon. The Trojans did what they had to do to grab fourth in Class AAA in the District 3 Championships at the Hershey Parkview course.
In unseasonably warm conditions on the challenging 5K layout, Chambersburg used another strong effort by Courtney Group (10th, 20:15) to power the team up front and the resurgence of Alex Orr (19th, 20:25) gave the team a second critical top-20 finisher. For their efforts, both earned district medals (top 20).
Deija McBeth continued her strong October push, grabbing the 38th spot (21:10), followed closely by Megan Reel (57th, 21:46) and freshman Ally Neidigh (64th, 21:51) for a team total of 173 points.
Cumberland Valley, led by freshman sensation Mady Clahane (1st in 18:49), secured the team title with 61 points, followed by Governor Mifflin (99) and Carlisle (168).
For Group, it was somewhat a battle of attrition. Suffering a cold for the better part of a week, Group averted Monheim's disaster, running a steady race, keeping the leaders in sight and timing her moves.
"The cold has bothered me a good bit, but
Monheim knows there is still more left in the tank.
"We had a good day - not our best - but we did what we needed to do," he said. "Group ran tough today, but Alex Orr was the key. She has been a little off lately, but she got the job done. Two medalists in this district is excellent."
After narrowly missing the district
"We entered the summer with high hopes of a district title and more, but the loss of one of our top runners (Natalie Holder) has made us adjust. But a top 10 next week is very doable and we beat some good District 3 teams," Monheim said.
On the boys side, Chambersburg's young team struggled to a 19th-place finish. Hoping for a possible top-10 team honor and a couple of individual advancements, the defending district champs were left with only senior Danny Klink advancing by way of a very respectable 13th-place finish.
Klink moved his way through the masses and stayed out of trouble, using his experience to run the course "smart" and be there at the end.
"I have run here before and I know this course will eat you up in the middle hilly section," Klink said. "It all comes down to who dies less at the end. I ran conservative going out and just kept picking people off. I'm looking forward to next week."
Teammate Grant Frey, expected to advance, got spiked at around 800 meters in and lost a shoe. By the time he was able to lace it back up, he was in dead last place (248th). However, Frey admirably stayed in the race and finished 55th in 17:50.
Chambersburg coach John Ambrosio said, "Our inexperience caught up to us today. We are very young and at least our guys got some big-meet pressure. I am really happy for Klink and just as unhappy for Frey. His last two races (DNF at Mid Penns) did not turn out as expected."
This year's district meet had a restructuring of classifications with the addition of a Class A class. Area teams James Buchanon and Greencastle made the move to AA from AAA.
In AA boys action, JB senior Liam Corcoran continued his strong second season of cross country by grabbing third place in 16:49, right behind Annville-Cleona's Shawn Wolfe (16:39) and champion Vinny Todaro of Big Spring (16:35).
Greencastle-Antrim's Daulton Monn posted a very solid 17:39 to just miss a top-10 finish in 11th, and JB's Daniel Green was right behind in 17:41 for 15th.
Corcoran, Monn and Green all medaled and will move on to the state meet - AA qualifying takes the top three teams and top 15 non-team individuals.
In girls AA, Greencastle was hoping for some good individual performances to move its young talent to states. But the Blue Devils, beset by injuries all year, found no love Wednesday, either.
Caroline Schemel and Shelby Stouffer, both sophomores, saw their state championship hopes dashed down the stretch. Both girls were in qualifying position with 600 meters to go when ailments and the weather conditions took over.
Schemel, held out of last week's Mid Penns due to a hip injury, was bothered by that again and she could not hold on down the stretch and finished in 21:33 for 31st place.
Stouffer faired much worse due to dehydration symptoms on the warm day and wavered badly near the end apparently losing control with about 50 meters to go and crawling across the finish in 72nd (23:17).
She received medical attention at the finish and was later transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The Blue Devils still managed a respectable ninth-place team finish, garnering 280 points. Palmyra captured the team title with 49. Cumberland Valley also won the boys AAA team title and Annville-Cleona took the AA crown.
The PIAA State Championships are Nov. 3, also at Hershey, and begin at 9:30 a.m.
District 3 Cross Country
boys
Class AAA
Team Standings
1.Cumberland Valley 166; 2.Lower Dauphin 169; 3.Hershey 174; 4.Hempfield 222; 5.Gov. Mifflin 232; 6.Wilson 284; 7.Red Lion 290; 8.Carlisle 293; 9.Warwick 309; 10.Dallastown 312; 19.Chambersburg 454; 33.Waynesboro 838; 35.Shippensburg 891.
Individual Results
1.Alex Kunzweiler (CV) 16:35; 2.Patrick Reilly (Dall) 16:43; 3.Evan Williams (GM)16:45; 4.Ryan Hertzog (South Western) 16:48; 5.James Martin (Garden Spot) 16:48; 6.Cole Nissley (LD) 16:48; 7.Nathan Repetz (Cedar Cliff) 16:50; 8.Zach Brehm (Car) 16:52; 9.Harrison Schettler (Penn Manor) 16:53; 10.Jordan Crawford (CC) 16:57; 11.Nate Hamilton (Her) 16:58; 12.Aiden Demko (Her) 16:59; 13.Danny Klink (Chbg) 16:59; 14.Aaron Gebhart (New Oxford) 16:59; 15.Matt Sankey (Daniel Boone) 17:02; 16.Connor Zimmerman (Manheim Twp.) 17:04; 17.Jacob Connors (Wil) 17:05; 18.James Wood (C.Dauphin) 17:05; 19.Caleb Gatchell (R.Lion) 17:05; 20.Ben Mueller (War) 17:06; 21.Dalton Trump (McCaskey) 17:07; 22.Jonathan Bitner (PM) 17:10; 23.Andrew Birk (Hemp) 17:11; 24.Aaron Lauer (Red Land) 17:18; 25.Zach Seiger (R.Land) 17:20.
Other Chambersburg runners: 55.Grant Frey 17:50; 98.Tanner Amsley 18:24; 139.Ethan Overcash 18:43; 149.Chris Wurtz 18:51; 161.Devin Thompson 19:05; 219.Mitch Maier 20:11.
Waynesboro runners: 150.Clay Foreman 18:52; 163.Colt Foreman 19:06; 164.Jonathan Daniels 19:07; 167.Abram Moats 19:09; 194.Christopher Ramsey 19:36; 201.Shaun Egolf 19:40; 226.Ian Skroban 20:28.
Shippensburg runners: 126.Nathan Thrush 18:37; 181.Ben Nye 19:24; 182.Zach Fulker 19:24; 195.Zack Ackerman 19:37; 207.Mitchell Rhinehart 19:48; 212.Austin Ambrosio 19:59; 217.Nathanael Lyman 20:09.
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Class AA
Team Standings
1.Annville-Cleona 100; 2.York Suburban 127; 3.Manheim Central 205; 4.Lancaster Mennonite 250; 5.Big Spring 251; 6.Wyomissing 258; 7.Trinity 275; 8.Gettysburg 283; 9.Kutztown 305; 10.Palmyra 321; 23.James Buchanan 561; 25.Greencastle-Antrim 621.
Individual Results
1.Vinny Todaro (BS) 16:35; 2.Shawn Wolfe (AC) 16:39; 3.Liam Corcoran (JB) 16:49; 4.Xavier Sauvageau (Littlestown) 16:56; 5.Calvin Conrad-Kline (Pal) 17:02; 6.Kyle Shinn (Wyo) 17:14; 7.Mark Bachman (AC) 17:27; 8.Chris Diaz (YS) 17:34; 9.Sean Manning (Boiling Springs) 17:36; 10.Ben Linne (Northeastern) 17:38; 11.Daulton Monn (GA) 17:39; 12.Will Edwards (Trin) 17:40; 13.Sam Signor (E.Pennsboro) 17:40; 14.Gabe Imhof (LM) 17:40; 15.Daniel Green (JB) 17:41; 16.Jeff Inman (AC) 17:46; 17.Andrew Murphy (Lanc. Cath.) 17:46; 18.Brad Clark (YS) 17:47; 19.Ryan Schlegel (Fleetwood) 17:49; 20.Thomas Buxton (Get) 17:55; 21.Jacob Thomas (Susquenita) 17:59; 22.Brishen Dearborn (BS) 17:59; 23.Clay Stabolephszy (Schuyklill Valley) 18:01; 24.Connor Mertz (Kutz) 18:02; 25.Glen Heck (SV) 18:03.
Other James Buchanan runners: 174.Morgan Flannery 20:57; 180.Colby Sites 21:08; 189.Jake Sword 21:37; 194.Andrew Myers 22:06.
Other Greencastle-Antrim runners: 107.Zach Husband 19:42; 114.Ben Hockman 19:48; 187.Andrew Martin 21:32; 202.Marc Pittman 22:47; 205.Luke Norris 25:03.
girls
Class AAA
Team Standings
1.Cumberland Valley 61; 2.Gov. Mifflin 99; 3.Carlisle 168; 4.Chambersburg 173; 5.Daniel Boone 206; 6.Garden Spot 233; 7.Hershey 242; 8.Warwick 289; 9.Wilson 314; 10.Hempfield 319.
Individual Results
1.Mady Clahane (CV) 18:49; 2.Greta Lindsley (PM) 19:01; 3.Tessa Mundell (GM) 19:04; 4.Kelsey Ibarra (Central York) 19:09; 5.Carol Strock (CV) 19:30; 6.Hannah Mansell (GM) 19:48; 7.Dee Dee Shea (LD) 19:52; 8.Laura Barnes (CV) 20:09; 9.Gabi Broschard (Her) 20:12; 10.Courtney Group (Chbg) 20:15; 11.Makena Feltz (Red Land) 20:21; 12.Sarah Brzostek (Elizabethtown) 20:22; 13.Emily McBride (MT) 20:23; 14.Rebecca Owens (Wil) 20:23; 15.Caitlyn Padgett (Car) 20:23; 16.Anne Den Otter (Wil) 20:24; 17.Erin Vrana (Her) 20:25; 18.Amanda Wivell (R.Lion) 20:25; 19.Alex Orr (Chbg) 20:25; 20.Maryn Bernhardt (MT) 20:25: 21.Nicole Moyer (GM) 20:28; 22.Abby Martin (Mech) 20:33; 23.Danae Peters (Manheim Central) 20:41; 24.Alex Santora (DB) 20:48; 25.Kelly Moyer (GM) 20:48.
Other Chambersburg runners: 34.Deija McBeth 21:10; 53.Megan Reel 21:46; 60.Ally Neidigh 21:51; 73.Jen Maxwell 22:15; 99.Carolyn Dann 22:43.
Shippensburg runners: 138.Emily Stouffer 23:11; 158.Maria Owens 23:29; 230.Zoe Weaver 25:53
Waynesboro runners: 189.Bethany Carter 24:11.
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Class AA
Team Standings
1.Palmyra 49; 2.York Suburban 72; 3.Wyomissing 150; 4.Big Spring 181; 5.Kennard Dale 206; 6.Conrad Weiser 220; 7.East Pennsboro 232; 8.Lancaster Catholic 262; 9.Greencastle-Antrim 279; 10.Trinity 293; 19.James Buchanan 412.
Individual Results
1.Maria Tukis (Pal) 19:59; 2.Emily Joyce (BS) 20:04; 3.Olivia Gettle (YS) 20:08; 4.Olivia Farabaugh (Pal) 20:09; 5.Angel Barber (EP) 20:15; 6.Kayla White (Kennard-Dale) 20:16; 7.Shannon Cruz (LC) 20:17; 8.Emma Leik (YS) 20:20; 9.Lillie Brown (Boil) 20:22; 10.Devi Jagadesan (Wyo) 20:22; 11.Samantha Gehly (YS) 20:22; 12.Laura Duquette (Pal) 20:24; 13.Miranda Salvo (Pal) 20:33; 14.Sara Miller (Bishop McDevitt) 20:39; 15.Kirsten Lebo (CW) 20:44; 16.June Chiango (Wyo) 20:47; 17.Chloe Mattilio (LM) 20:51; 18.Emily Dethlefs (Trin) 20:58; 19.Jessica Thies (SV) 21:02; 20.Devin Strynkowski (Pal) 21:04; 21.Rosemary Tuzzino (LC) 21:06; 22.Rachel Crane (Bermudian Springs) 21:07; 23.Lauren Shrader (YS) 21:07; 24.Tina Bowers (Wyo) 21:08; 25.Katie Keck (Pal) 21:10.
Greencastle-Antrim runners: 28.Caroline Schemel 21:33; 32.Caitlyn Hetrick 21:50; 64.Shelby Stouffer 23:17; 65.Madison Hurley 23:18; 90.Morgan Stahley 24:24; 100.Melissa Holmes 24:57.
Other James Buchanan runners: 34.Erin Hoffman 21:56; 49.Amanda Cole 22:34; 88.Heather Sempowski 24:18; 120.Meghan Hufcut 25:58; 121.Janelle Garbinski 25:58; 122.Courtney Horst 25:59.
