The Solanco cross country teams opened the season with a home meet in heat and humidity Tuesday, September 2. Both the Mules' boys and girls teams lost two out of the three meets against tough foes. In the boys competition, Solanco defeated Annville-Cleona 23-34 and lost to Ephrata 29-30 and to Hempfield 26-35. “We had a very strong effort and solid results from our top three runners Liam Hodgson, Noah Brady, and Kyle Munro," Solanco coach Craig Ausel said.
Hodgson finished second in a time of 18:01 with Brady third (18:09) and Munro sixth (18:29). "Liam ran a very smart race working his into second place over the last mile," Ausel said. "Noah did a great job securing a solid third place finish. He ran strong over the last 1,000 meters to pull away from the Ephrata number one man and catching the Hempfield number two man at the finish line." Other Solanco times: Matt Curran 20:46, newcomer Keith Carnrike 21:09, Alec Munro 21:18, Connor Neaves 21:18.5, Dan Riddell 22:05, and Patrick Workman 22:42. "This group of runners will need to move up this season to secure some much needed points in the fourth and fifth man position." Hempfield placed eight competitors in front of the Mules' fourth and fifth runners and Ephrata had six. The girls meet featured three of the league's top teams in Hempfield, Ephrata, and Solanco. The Mules defeated Annville-Cleona 15-55 and lost to Ephrata 20-36 and Hempfield 19-39. Led by first place Molly Conrad of Hempfield (21:14), the first eight finishers recorded times that placed them on the all time fastest list for Solanco's home course. The Ephrata squad had a great day with their top five runners finishing 4th-8th with a gap of only 18 seconds from their 1st-5th girl. "Our ladies fought a good fight but could not match the Hempfield and Ephrata teams," said Ausel. Sophomore, Cortney Johnson had a breakthrough race finishing third with a time of 21:27. Ausel said Johnson's time was the fastest time ever recorded by a Solanco sophomore on the home course and the eighth fastest of all girls runners to run the course. "Cortney ran a smart race catching the Ephrata pack and pulling away over the last mile," said the coach. Ausel said senior Natalie Crum raced hard from start to finish recording a time of 22:21. Essi Glah-Fisher was 13th in 22:37, a spot in front of teammate Morgan Perry (22:41). Essi and Carly both fought hard in the last mile to narrow the gap of several runners," said Ausel. Senior Carly Allport finished in 20th place with a time of 24:34. Ausel said freshman Kaitlyn Borcky was "a pleasant surprise". She finished with a very strong time of 26:31 and finished in 27th place. "We are very proud of both teams," Ausel said. "We learned many lessons and we have a lot of serious training yet to do this season. We will regroup and travel to Lancaster County Park for another opportunity to get the very most from our abilities and hard work." Comments are closed.
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