PIAA Cross Country Championships Preview Capsule

Bob Lipsky, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.
·4 min read

Nov. 4—PIAA Cross Country Championships Preview Capsule

When: Saturday

Where: Parkview Cross Country Course, Hershey

Race times: Class A girls, 11 a.m.; Class AA girls, 11:45 a.m.; Class 3A girls, 12:30 p.m.; Class A boys, 1:15 p.m.; Class AA boys, 2 p.m.; Class 3A boys, 2:45 p.m.

Course length: 5,000 meters (3.1 miles)

Live updates: Follow Republican Herald sports writer Bob Lipsky on Twitter @boblipskyRH

2021 area state medalists: Blue Mountain's Olivia Haas, 1st in Class AA girls; North Schuylkill's Ryley Schwalm, 16th in Class AA girls; Minersville's Landon Boyle, 19th in Class A boys

2022 state qualifiers

Class A girls — Mahanoy Area team (Madison Bowles, sr.; Felicia Bro, fr.; Alexis Chilinskas, soph.; Riley O'Brien, soph.; Yarileidy Peralta, soph.; Emma Price, soph.; Kaylee Senglar, jr.; Tabbatha Ward, sr.); Emma Ashfield, jr., Marian; Julia Burgess, jr., Minersville; Rebecka Donnelly, jr., Minersville; Kaylei Wentz, sr., Minersville; Anna Schaeffer, soph., Schuylkill Haven; Samara Yule, sr., Schuylkill Haven

Class AA girls — Andie Hollander, sr., Blue Mountain; Lucy Scheidel, fr., Blue Mountain; Nicole Carroll, sr., Jim Thorpe

Class 3A girls — None

Class A boys — Minersville team (Logan Curran, soph.; Keegan Dubé, jr.; Mason Houser, sr.; Alex Kurtek, sr.; Ayden Kurtek, jr.; Kolin Long, soph.; Jack Maley, jr.; Logan Perzel, jr.); Tri-Valley team (Jaxson Bruso, fr.; Braden Hall, soph.; Wyatt Letizel, jr.; Ian Mitchell, soph.; Connor Readinger, fr.; Brett Reed, jr.; Jacob Schmeltz, soph.; Owen Wolfgang, fr.); Albin Petschauer, jr., Marian; Joseph Rossi, jr., Nativity; Carter Daniel, soph., Schuylkill Haven; Ayden Zamudio, soph., Shenandoah Valley; Michael Berger, sr., Weatherly; Jacob Parker, sr., Weatherly

Class AA boys — Blue Mountain team (Joseph Cairnie, fr.; Francesco Carr, fr.; Jackson Leichleitner, jr.; Kyan Mitchell, sr.; Ethan Phipps, sr.; Cole Schaeffer, sr.; Jude Scheidel, soph.; Nathan Yackenchick, jr.); Jordan Remmel, sr., Jim Thorpe; Justin Williams, sr., North Schuylkill; Levi Kunkel, soph., Tamaqua; Anthony Marchetti, soph., Tamaqua

Class 3A boys — None

Awards: The top 25 individual finishers in each class will receive medals and be designated as All-State.

Notes: Including alternates, 51 Schuylkill League athletes (17 girls and 34 boys) qualified for states. That includes four teams: Minersville boys, Tri-Valley boys, Blue Mountain boys and Mahanoy Area girls. Last season, 43 runners qualified (24 girls and 19 boys). That included three teams: Weatherly boys, Tri-Valley girls and Blue Mountain girls. ... One of the main storylines will be the weather. The forecast calls for a high temperature of 72 degrees (too high for distance running) under partly sunny skies. That's a big change from the cool, dry, 50 degrees that greeted runners last season. Two years ago, runners competed at states in similar warm conditions. A few runners could not complete the course, and many collapsed just past the finish line. Taking care to eat and drink the right amounts and to be diligent in replacing fluids will be key to coming through the race strong. ... There's no local superstar runner like Blue Mountain's Olivia Haas and North Schuylkill's Cori McCormick in recent years. The goal for many runners will be to improve last year's time and place higher for those returning and to gain experience for the future. ... Overall, the local contingent is young: girls (6 seniors, 4 juniors, 5 sophomores, 2 freshmen) and boys (9 seniors, 10 juniors, 10 sophomores, 5 freshmen). ... Tri-Valley's boys' team, for example, starts two juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. States is a great opportunity for the Dawgs to run together looking toward even brighter days ahead. ... The Giant Center, its parking area and the surrounding grounds will be even more crowded than usual. At 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., the Joyce Meyer Ministries Conference Tour is scheduled to gather at the Giant Center. As a result, the first race this year, the Class A girls, was pushed to 11 a.m. instead of its usual 9:30 start. PIAA associate executive director Melissa Mertz said in an email this week that "the reason for the time change is to assist Hershey with another event they have on site that day. They are also hosting a Joyce Meyer event in Giant Center, and we moved to lessen traffic issues, parking and help with (Hershey-Park's) staffing of two events."

— Compiled by Bob Lipsky