York Suburban finishes runner up at state meet
For the second straight year, the York Suburban boys' cross country team could not knock off Dallas for a PIAA Class 2A team title.
It was another frustrating end for the Trojans, as they entered Saturday's 2016 state meet with confidence, but did not have the collective day they hoped, and fell to Dallas by 20 points in the team standings.
"It's not that we failed, we are just disappointed," York Suburban coach Ron Herman said. "We thought we could end up on top this year. We had the right pieces but we didn't have our race today."
Last season the Trojans fell to Dallas by just eight points, but 2016 proved to have a bigger gap between the two competitive teams.
"Two of our guys had really good races, but a few others didn't have the race that we wanted, and what we needed to compete against Dallas," Herman said. "It is a bit of a disappointment because we shot for it all year, but we just didn't have it today."
Bryce Ohl was the top finisher for the Trojans, cutting the tape in 16:46, good for eighth overall. Tanner Haynes followed with a finish at 28th (17:13), while Jarrett Raudensky (38th, 17:28), Josh Kerr (51st, 17:35) and Peter Wagner (57th, 17:39) each had respectable finishes in the top 60.
"I was surprised (by Ohl)," Herman said. "He went out at about a 5:13 and was way behind but he made up so much ground, but that's the way he likes to race, and he's a great hill runner. So he took it out in the second mile, and his finish was very good. In fact, all of our guys finished rather well, we just got out too far behind."
Pair of 2A girls finish in top 6: It was almost like an instant replay of the District 3 Class 2A finals, with Northern York's Marlee Starliper battling with Greencastle-Antrim's Taryn Parks in the final mile.
Starliper gave Parks a run for her money — literally — during the girls' 2A race, crossing the finish line on the heels of the state champion for a second-place finish (19:00) in the first ever state meet.
Eastern York's Maddie McLain also had a fine day on the Hershey course, placing sixth in the girls 2A race at 19:19.
"I wanted top 10 so I was happy, but as the race progressed I was like maybe I can go for top five," McLain said. "The last straightaway I ended up going from sixth to fifth but another girl passed me so I finished sixth in the end."
Despite falling out of a top-5 finish, McLain shaved off 10 spots from her 2015 finish at 16th and more than nine seconds off her previous time on the Hershey course.
"My coach asked me when I was done if I was relieved or happy, and I said I think I'm just more relieved," McLain said, "because it wasn't an ideal race but I peaked a little early with my training this year so I'm switching my training for next year, so we will see."
The Northern York girls' team placed fifth overall with 206 points.
In the girls' 1A race, Lindsey Lytle of Fairfield placed 10th at 19:39, Katelyn MacDougall of York Catholic placed 21st with a finishing time of 20:02. Nicole Shelton of the Christian School of York placed 15th at 19:52.