Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Local schools Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis participated in the Mountain Athletic Conference cross country meet at Indian Valley Middle School in Reedsville on Wednesday afternoon.
Bellwood-Antis won the MAC Division IV championship in both boys and girls races and both had individuals who claimed second and third places in their divisions.
B-A scored 165 points to out distance West Branch in the boys competition. West Branch finished with 201, Bishop Guilfoyle had 313 points, Juniata Valley had 349 and Mount Union had 351.
The Tyrone boys finished second in Division III and were led by Aaron Houck, who finished in ninth place among division runners with a time of 19:16. Chris Bradigan was 10th in 19:45, T. J. Albright was 11th in 19:54, Nathan Barber 13th in 20:19, Sam McCloskey 15th in 21:24, Eric Sweet 16th in 21:26 and Philip Kreckle 19th in 23:22.
The Penns Valley boys took the Division III title with 115 points, followed by Tyrone with 313 and Philipsburg-Osceola with 345.
“All of our boys had very good runs tonight,” said Tyrone coach Tammy Snyder. “They finished second to Penns Valley in our division. Their times were all good. Aaron, Chris, T. J., and Nathan are all running great and are pretty close together. Sam has shown a great deal of improvement this season. I am really happy with the way he has come along. Eric and Philip also had great races today. Caleb and Jake ran junior varsity today and both had their best times of the season.
“The course was very wet and slippery tonight and we did not have the best weather. A few of the boys were also battling illness, so that just adds to the job they did.”
Aaron Bell was 13th overall and second among Division IV boys for Bellwood-Antis in 17:57. Freshman teammate Ben Hatch was right behind Bell with a third in 18:13. Eli Colyer was sixth among division runners in 18:59, Liam Flynn was eighth in 19:30, Brandon Beech 10th in 19:33, Jamey Rimmey 12th in 19:40 and Josh Ervine 13th in 19:45.
Dan Clark of West Branch, finished second overall and first in Division IV with a time of 17:17.
“The kids like this course and they always try for a personal best here,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Julie Roseborough. “Our boys ran the most aggressive race they have run all year. They ran very focused and very hard. We had lost to West Branch by a point during the season. Our guys thought they had a point to prove in this race, and they did.
“ Aaron almost gets ignored because you expect him to do a good job, and today he did it. Ben Hatch is doing a terrific job being only a freshman. Brandon Beech is coming back from an injury and hasn’t reall had much time to prepare. Eli Colyer stepped it up for this race to run his best race of the year. Liam, Jamey and Josh all ran hard to get us to where we wanted to be. Now we need to remain focused and carry over the intensity.”
The Bellwood-Antis girls had 195 points to win the Division IV crown, with Bishop Guilfoyle second with 240. The Juniata Valley and Mount Union girls didn’t have enough runners to score points, but competed as individuals.
Jenna Ralston was 26th overall and second to Dani Williams of Bishop Guilfoyle among division runners with a time of 23:00. Sarah Bell was third in the division with a time of 23:08, Allison Sinisi was fifth in 24:20, Lydia Gray was seventh in 25:39, Cathy Mock was ninth in 26:26, Amanda Houtz 12th in 26:58 and Jannell Wilt 14th in 27:42.
“Our girls ran a good, solid race,” said Roseborough. “The girls did what they needed to do. We felt that if we ran the way we’re capable of, then we could win Division IV. They all needed to run good races if they were going to win the division. Jenna and Sarah ran great races to finish second and third. Allison Sinisi really stepped it up a notch today. Lydia Gray and Cathy Mock both had good races today. The fourth and fifth girls always need to do well if a team is going to succeed and both girls really did their best.”
Tyrone didn’t have enough girls to score in Division III, but Emily Ingle was 19th overall and fifth in the division for the Lady Eagles with a time of 22:26. Rebecca Mogle was ninth in 23:46, Paige Black was 15th in 27:18 and Amber Davis finished 16th in 27:36.
“Our girls also ran a great race. Although we could not score as a team, they went out and gave it everything they had. Emily Ingle had not been feeling well, but still finished fifth in the division and 19th overall. She was followed by Rebecca, who ran a great race. This was Rebecca’s last conference meet and I am happy with how she did it. She is our only senior this year and she will definitely be missed next year.
“Paige Black and Amber Davis also ran very hard races. Amber seems to run better in colder weather and I know both girls as well as myself were very happy with their times. We are looking forward to the Districts.”
Overall, State College won both the boys and girls races. The State College boys finished with 34 points to edge out Altoona which had 45. Altoona’s Zach Epple was the boys first place finisher in 17:14.
In the girls race, State College won with 25 points and three of the top four runners, led by Katherine Ward in 19:53, with Penns Valley second.
The District VI cross country meet will also be held at Reedsville on Saturday, Oct. 30.

By Rick