South Central runners dominate District 3 cross country meet
· Yahoo Sports
A dozen titles were handed out in six races, but there was one dominant league at the District 3 cross country championships Saturday, Oct. 31.
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The newly named and expanded South Central Athletic Conference brought home half of the gold medals, three times more than any other conference.
Four schools won team titles in the Halloween races on the Big Spring High School course, two girls and two boys. It was the first time since 2020 that the former YAIAA won four team titles.
Boys from Dallastown and Big Spring claimed individual titles.
An additional team qualified for the PIAA meet, which brings the runners back to Big Spring on Nov. 7, as well as numerous individual runners. The top 20 boys and girls received medals in Class 2A and 3A and the top 10 in Class A.
Making history at Shalom Christian
It only took the Flames three seasons in the PIAA to win the school's first District 3 title.
The boys grouped their five runners from eighth to 17th place in scoring positions to claim the Class A team title. Schools that don't have enough runners to form a team are included in overall positions, but aren't counted in team places.
Will Davis finished 10th overall, but two runners ahead of him weren't part of the team competition, so his finish earned him eight points. The Flames finished with 62 points to outdistance Anchor Christian by 30 points.
The rest of the Flames points came from Shay Kane (10), Owen Book (12), Matthew Davis (15) and Lee Metcalf (17).
"We put in the work, this is what we were working for all season, and we knew we could do it," Davis said.
He said the tight grouping was a formula that worked well for them all season, so they weren't going to change it for districts.
And now the Flames have a chance to add to their story with a good showing at the PIAA meet.
"It's a payout for the hard work we have been putting in over the season," Metcalf said. "Sticking together, team building. Leaving districts as a team in first place, states is going to be our reward run for finishing so well."
Back-to-back champs
York Catholic coach Jeff Alloway kept refreshing his phone, waiting for the official race results to be posted. He thought his girls had a chance to successfully defend their Class A team title, but he wasn't sure.
It was that close with Covenant Christian Academy.
"I was very pleased with all six runners," Alloway said. "If one or two of them has a bad day, we don't have a next week."
Abby Bullen led the Irish with a personal-best 19:47.7 to finish second behind Covenant Christian's Alex Sagen, who won in 18:56.6. Alloway challenged Bullen to be more aggressive in her third mile, something she took to heart in the district meet.
But he admitted it was tough for her to do with no one around her. Bullen was nearly a minute behind Sagen and nearly a minute ahead of Shalom Christian's Kassidy Hubers.
Isabella Frattone followed Bullen in seventh overall at 21:33.3, Gwen Kerr was 10th in 21:54.9, Dakota Bird was 15th in 22:18.4, Adalyn Steinkamp was 21st in 22:52.9 and Casey Campbell was 30th in 24:03.9.
Frattone said defending the title was a little surprising since they didn't run very well in the league meet.
"We were supposed to win, so it was and wasn't [surprising to win]," the sophomore said.
When is a tie not a tie?
If you look at the official results of the Class 2A boys race, it looks like Big Spring's Asher Baker and Annville-Cleona's Benjamin Boyd tied for the title.
The results show both juniors crossing the finish in 15:51.1.
In actuality, Baker got the lean for the gold medal.
"I was kind of looking back a little bit, saw him, and as soon as we came on that final straightaway, I knew it was going to be a fight," Baker said. "So I just tried to give it my all. I thought he had me at the end, but I was able to give it a final push."
Baker said running on his home course gave him the inside knowledge he needed to pull out the win. Knowing exactly how to take the turns came in handy.
He also had a bit of extra incentive to do well. His grandmother, Vicki Baumgardner, was in town to see him race in person.
"My grandma came out, so I really just wanted to win for her," Baker said. "Both of my grandfathers passed in the last year, so I just wanted to come out here and win it. Her coming from Arizona, seeing me, it meant a lot."
First gold for Warriors
Susquehannock was the top-seeded team coming into the Class 2A boys competition. They made that seed stand in convincing fashion by seeing all six of their runners finish in the top 25 to claim the first district team title in program history.
Their top five finished from fourth to 22nd to secure 70 points, nearly half that of runner-up Octorara's 132.
Junior Ian Bucalo led the way with fourth in 16:34.6, less than a minute behind Baker's winning time. Bucalo was followed by Brandon Reisig, seventh in 16:38.2; Logan Trimble, 17th in 17:15.0; Alex Dougherty, 22nd in 17:23.4; Levi Russell, 23rd in 17:25.9; Bobby Wuhrman, 32nd in 17:49.5 and Maxwell Border, 36th in 17:55.8.
Bucalo said the great weather contributed to the team's success, but it was the months of planning that did the most good.
"We were just kind of determined as a team to get the job done," he said. "We were predicted at No. 1, then that changed to 7 or 8, and then it changed back. We knew what we had to do. We had to execute."
And they did that. Without coach Dan Snare, who was at the hospital with his wife who had gone into labor early.
SCAC champs fare well
Dallastown senior Ben Farbman picked up his second gold medal in as many weeks on the Big Spring course. He followed up his first SCAC meet title with the Class 3A boys crown.
He won the league title in 15:50, but knocked 16 seconds on the district course to claim his first individual title.
"Once we hit the woods, the other guys really started to fall off," Farbman said of his move between the first and second miles. "I was a little scared because I didn't want to run 2 miles of this race by myself. But it ended up working out nicely."
Farbman edged Red Lion junior Ryne Coble by 13 seconds, nearly the same margin as the league meet.
Red Lion senior Gabrielle Houck didn't have the same outcome as the league meet when she won the title, but she was OK with that.
She ran the last half mile of that race with a side stitch, so missed out on a personal best. Houck didn't have any issues on Saturday and came away with a 17:55.8 finish for the silver medal.
"I wasn't sure how I was going to do, but was hoping for second or third," she said. "I was hoping to not cramp like I did at counties. This time I was good."
She broke 18 minutes for a personal best. Daniel Boone's Julia Leady won the title in 17:42.8.
No contest for Dallastown
Dallastown has had the horses to do well for years. They put it all together to claim the Class 3A girls team title for the third time since 2018.
The Wildcats placed their scoring runners in the top 25 to put up 74 points. The easily outdistanced runner-up Governor Mifflin, who finished with 140 points.
Dallastown's success started with Leah Navarro's fourth-place finish in 18:26.3. She was followed by Abigail Evans in 18:45.8, Neila Granger in 19:02.8, Anna Gentzler in 19:39.8 and Reagan Durgee in 19:43.7.
Granger said the team was working toward this title all season.
"Our dual meets we were coming together as a team, working together more, trying to become more united and we realized we had a lot of potential together," she said. "Running here before helps us focus on the strategy. We've run here a lot, so we've had good practice here."
Medalists and PIAA qualifiers
Class A
Girls
Winner and SCAC medalists: 1. Alex Sagen, Covenant Christian, 18:56.6; 2. Abby Bullen, York Catholic, 19:47.7; 3. Kassidy Hubers, Shalom Christian, 20:32.9; 7. Isabella Frattone, York Catholic, 21:33.3; 10. Gwen Kerr, York Catholic, 21:54.9.
Other PIAA individual qualifiers: 11. Alessandra Colantoni, Delone Catholic, 21:57.9; 14. Katherine Garcia, Delone Catholic, 22:10.8; 16. Olivia Kearns, Shalom Christian, 22:22.1.
Boys
Winner and SCAC medalists: 1. Jaxon Hobbs, Anchor Christian, 15:45.1; 6. Leo Bradley, York Catholic, 17:11.9; 10. Will Davis, Shalom Christian, 17:44.6.
Other PIAA individual qualifier: 12. Ben Hall, Delone Catholic, 17:51.4.
Class 2A
Girls
Winner and SCAC medalists: 1. Reagan Gates, Pequea Valley, 18:10.5; 11. Lilah Van Vorst, West York, 19:49.7; 12. Nettie Flinchbaugh, Eastern York, 19:51.3; 13. Madeline Moyer, Big Spring, 19:58.8; 18. Alessa Miklos, Susquehannock, 20:23.1.
Boys
Winner and SCAC medalists: 1. Asher Baker, Big Spring, 15:51.1; 4. Ian Bucalo, Susquehannock, 16:34.6; 7. Brandon Reisig, Susquehannock, 16:38.2; 8. Gavin Wenger, Big Spring, 16:39.4; 10. Owen Dull, Bermudian Springs, 16:52.0; 11. Carson Sleichter, Kennard-Dale, 16:53.4; 16. Johnnie Martin, James Buchanan, 17:12.6; 17. Logan Trimble, Susquehannock, 17:15.0; 18. Luke Burinsky, Kennard-Dale, 17:19.8.
Class 3A
Girls
Winner and SCAC medalists: 1. Julia Leady, Daniel Boone, 17:42.8; 2. Gabrielle Houck, Red Lion, 17:55.8; 4. Leah Navarro, Dallastown, 18:26.3; 9. Abigail Evans, Dallastown, 18:45.8; 10. Vivian Millar-Kellner, New Oxford, 18:49.3; 12. Lyla Eltz, South Western, 18:57.2; 14. Neila Granger, Dallastown, 19:02.8.
Boys
Winner and SCAC medalists: 1. Ben Farbman, Dallastown, 15:34.0; 2. Ryne Coble, Red Lion, 15:47.4; 15. Jake Roskovensky, Dallastown, 16:03.7.
Other PIAA individual qualifiers: 23. Xander Myers, Dover, 16:12.0; 29. Compton Speck, South Western, 16:19.8; 41. Bryn Lindenmuth, York Tech, 16:37.2.
Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: South Central runners dominate District 3 cross country meet