Shelton sets record; Suburban boys win gold
NEWVILLE – York Suburban will send both its boys' and girls' cross country teams to the state meet after the boys team won the District 3 Class 2A championship and the girls squad was second Saturday at Big Spring.
Leading the way for the York Suburban boys, who finished with 48 team points, were Bryce Ohl and Jarrett Raudensky. They both finished at 16:40, although Ohl took second place and Raudensky took third.
“I think I got my left foot out just enough,” Ohl said of the final moments of the race.
Wyomissing's Joe Cullen was first with a 16:35, and the Spartans were second in the team standings with a 16:35.
Also scoring for York Suburban were Josh Kerr (11th place, 17:01), Tanner Haynes (13th, 17:02) and Peter Wagner (19th, 17:15).
There was not much in the way of an overall team strategy for York Suburban, beyond letting each runner run the best race he thought he could.
“Just run your race, and pass any jersey you can,” Raudensky said. “Including your own.”
Other York County runners who qualified for states as individuals included Zachary Falk of Eastern York (21st, 17:21) and Merle Bernhard of Kennard-Dale (22nd, 17:21).
Chad Long of Bermudian Springs placed 10th with a 16:59, also clinching a spot in the state championship race.
In the girls' 2A race, Northern York edged York Suburban for the team title. The Polar Bears won by six points with a total of 40. However, since the top three teams from District 3 Class 2A move on, York Suburban safely advanced to next week's state meet.
Courtney Ohl led York Suburban with an 11th place 20:23. After her finished Zette Pflum (18th, 20:54), Cecilia Lantz (19th, 20:57), Brooke Ruth (22nd, 21:00) and Lena Strong (27th, 21:16).
However, the top YAIAA runner was Maddie McClain of Eastern York, who was fourth with an 18:52. McClain was the only other local state qualifier from the 2A girls' race.
CLASS 1A
Nicole Shelton of the Christian School of York won the District 3 Class 1A gold medal with a 19:13, setting a district record. She took advantage of the sloped areas of the course.
“I'm pretty good at running the hills,” Shelton said. “That's where I do my passing. Everyone hates hills; it just happens that I hate hills a little less.”
Shelton and Katelyn MacDougall of York Catholic, who was second with a 19:20, were both able to stay ahead of defending champion Jordan Haberstroh of Columbia. Shelton said she had run against Haberstroh three other times this year, beating her one of those occassions. That other victory was in the Blosser Invitational, which is also held on Big Springs' course.
Shelton broke the district record that Haberstroh set last year by 2 seconds.
MacDougall's second-place individual finish helped York Catholic to a second-place team finish, putting the Irish in the state meet next week. York Catholic finished with 68 team points, seven behind champion Kutztown.
After MacDougall for the Irish were Allison Flaim (22nd, 21:59), Megan Hale (24th, 22:12), Kayleigh Pokrivka (25th, 22:27), and Gabrielle Debolt (28th, 22:44).
The Delone Catholic boys just missed out on a state berth as a team, finishing with 93 points to tie with Tulpehocken for second place. Only two Class A boys teams advance, and Tulpehocken took the last berth on the sixth-place runner tiebreaker.
Evan Schlosser and Christian Gervasi of York Catholic both qualified for states as individuals. Schlosser was sixth with a 17:26, while Gervasi was 11th with a 17:56.
CLASS 3A
Among locals, three girls and one boy qualified for states in the large school division.
Emily Schuler of Dallastown was sixth in the Class 3A girls' race with a 19:01. Kiersten Lloyd of Red Lion was 20th with a 19:42, while Maddie Warrender of Northeastern was 22nd with a 19:43.
Dallastown's Patrick Jacobson was 33rd in the Class 3A boys' race with a 16:38 to move on.