The District V/VI Cross Country meet was run on Saturday at the Indian Valley Middle School course.
Each of the local high schools qualified one runner for the PIAA State Meet.
Tyrone junior Emily Ingle finished right on the bubble, finishing her race in the exact state qualifying time of 21:41. The only Tyrone girl to run in the Districts, Ingle was 16th overall.
Ashley Wilson of Bedford was the first female through the course in a time of 20:23, followed by Susan Strayer of Forest Hills (20:30), Carly Seymore of Central Cambria (20:32), Dani Williams of Bishop Guilfoyle (20:44). Rounding out the top five was Shannon Yingling of Bishop McCort (20:49).
“Emily was our only runner today and, what can I say about her?” said Tyrone cross country coach Tammy Snyder. “She did a fantastic job! She placed 16th and was the 10th and final girl to go from our district. They take the top two teams and anyone else who beats the state qualifying time. She ran her heart out. Coach Dillon and myself are so very proud of her. Emily has had a great season, however, we were a little worried about districts because she has been ill the last week or so. Bur she overcame it, dug down deep and got the job done. When she is doing something (not just with running), she gives it her all. We are looking forward to Hershey next week.”
Westmont-Hilltop was the top girls team and Penns Valley was second in the team race.
Bellwood-Antis senior Aaron Bell punched his ticket to the State Meet with a ninth place finish in 17:49.
Blairsville, who placed first, and Penns Valley were the two boys teams to qualify for the PIAA meet next week. Westmont-Hilltop placed two of the top three finishers and was third overall, followed by Central Cambria in fourth, and Bellwood-Antis in fifth
“Aaron finished the end of his race much stronger than he did at the conference meet, after having about the same split times early,” said Bellwood-Antis cross country coach Julie Roseborough. “He did not run a personal best, but by the time for the boys Double-A race, the course was muddy and slick. Aaron has just been so very solid over his four years at Bellwood-Antis. He has paid his dues, just missing going to states last year by two spots.”
Freshman Ben Hatch finished 36th for the Blue Devils, Brandon Beech was 46th, Eli Colyer 52nd, Liam Flynn 62nd, Jamey Rimmey 71st and Josh Ervine 106th, of a total of 149 runners.
“Overall, the boys finished fifth out of 27 schools,” explained Roseborough. “That’s the way to end an excellent season. The boys really proved themselves. We lose just one varsity runner, if everybody who is eligible comes back. Although Aaron Bell’s shoes will be hard to fill. Hopefully we can feed off the fifth place finish and go from there.”
Aaron Houck was Tyrone’s top placer in the boys’ race coming in 49th, in a time of 19:18, followed by Chris Bradigan (76th), Nathan Barber (85th), T. J. Albright (86th), Sam McCloskey (121st), Eric Sweet (136th) and Jacob Smerekar (148th).
“Our boys all did a great job. Aaron Houck was our first boy in at 49th, followed by Chris Bradigan, T. J. Albright, Nathan Barber, Sam McCloskey, Eric Sweet and Jake Smerekar. Caleb Dillon was our only boy in the junior varsity. The guys ran tough and had great performances.
“I had a great time and really enjoyed working with all of them and watching how they made such great strides this season. They are all great kids.”
The Bellwood-Antis girls were led by sophomore Sarah Bell with a 40th place finish in 23:10 and senior Jenna Ralston, who was 53rd in 23:46. Senior Allison Sinisi was 81st, Lydia Gray 83rd, and Amanda Houtz 117th.
“Our girls were missing our regular fifth runner today, which made things a little more difficult,” said Roseborough. “With not having everybody there, our girls finished a respectable 13th out of 27 teams. Jenna and Allison both have done really well, especially for the amount of experience they have. Jenna is only in her second year in cross country and this is Allison’s first year. Both finished off really good seasons. Sarah Bell did a good job for us on a tough course.
“We had two junior varsity runners do good jobs. Becca Colyer for the girls and Ronnie Wilson for the boys. Both ran well enough to move up to the varsity if we had more meets this season. We are looking forward to next season.”
Westmont-Hilltop’s Frank Eanes was the first boy across the finish line in 16:35 and teammate Travis Dean was third in 17:18. Donnie Sanner of District 5 Meyersdale, was second in 17:18. Blairsville’s Chris Herdman was fourth in 17:27 and Judson Brooker of Penns Valley, was fifth in 17:29.
