Area runners ready for state meet

The area's top runners head down to Hershey for the PIAA Cross Country Championships today.

Among those running in the meet will be the Northeast Bradford boys' team, who won the district title last week.

The Panthers had four runners who were within 15 seconds of each other - Jake Balchikonis, Curt Jewett, Kent Upham and Devin Middaugh, and their fifth runner, Sam Williams, was within a minute of the first runner on the team.

"We are excited," Northeast Bradford coach Mike Murphy said. "We have got Jake and Kent and Devin who have already been down there so we are bringing back a little experience. We are trying to get a little experience for the future, because we are hoping to go back again next year."

Having those veteran runners should help the younger runners out.

"They are definitely going to set a good example," Murphy said. "Curt has definitely caught on pretty soon. If we can pack together like districts, hopefully we can have a top five finish. I think they are definitely capable of competing with anyone in the state. If we have a good day and we stay healthy, I'm looking for a positive result."

While the Panthers won the team title at districts, Wyalusing's Taylor Woznicki won the district title as an individual and is looking to carry that over to a good showing at states. Woznicki makes his second straight trip to states and this year he is joined by teammate Stephan Tewksbury.

"Those two have been working really well together all season long," Wyalusing coach Jim Schools said. "Taylor has been sharing with Stephan some of his experiences, trying to help him out. He has been telling him what to do, what not to do. It's neat because Taylor has someone with him and someone to run with. It will be a little bit of comfort early in the race. When they start they will be able to work off each other. With our starting spot we aren't located near anyone else we know, so it helps that they have each other."

After winning the district title Woznicki has big goals this year.

"He's very excited," Schools said. "We learned a lot of lessons from the state meet last year. He's real excited about having that experience under his belt last year and being able to come down this year as a district champion and do well. He's very excited and very motivated to do well."

For Tewksbury this trip will be a new experience.

"Stephan is really excited," Schools said. "We had a really good week of practice this week. He's really excited. They are both two very motivated kids. They know what the plan is ahead of them. We have been scouting out the different results in the district and our goals for both Stephan and Taylor are pretty high.

"The goal for Taylor is to medal and for Stephan to gain some experience down there and see where he fits in as far as the medal hunt."

Another school taking a pair of boys to the meet is the Sullivan County Griffins.

The Griffins will have senior Logan Hatton making a repeat trip, while freshman Kelby Mullen makes his first trip.

"They are very excited, they have been working real hard together all week," Sullivan County coach Glenn Vaughan said. "We had a couple of workouts the past couple of days and they have done a good job of executing them.

"I think last year helped Logan a lot. Last year it was Logan's first time there and I think he was feeling a little of the nerves. This year he seems to be handling everything very well and I think his outlook is terrific. Kelby is going to benefit from having an experienced Logan leading him."

For the Griffins having one of their freshmen down there will only help in the future.

"Definitely, Kelby is a future star and actually he's a star now," Vaughan said. "He's going to do a great job for us the next three years as a leader and as a runner. It's really neat for us to see at a small school like ours just year after year of competitive cross country teams."

The Canton Warriors will have Blake Bunner making his first trip to states and coach Steve Williams says he is ready to go.

"He is really excited," Williams said. "He had a teammate down there last year and he went down to watch and support him and he kind of said right then that he wanted to get down next year.

"He's going in with an open mind. He knows it's a big race with a lot of good runners and anything can happen. But, he also knows he has been able to run with a lot of the top runners in the district."

Some of the Warriors younger runners will be down to watch Bunner and Williams hopes this motivates them for the future.

"Emmett Watson is going Friday to help him and some of the other guys are coming down on Saturday," Williams said. "I think it will be a real motivating factor. It was something Blake looked forward to for a year and something the others see as a possibility."

Towanda's Chance Cook also qualified for the race, but he has been sick and will not be able to run Saturday.

Towanda coach Leo Harris knows that Cook will realize that qualifying for states itself was an achievement.

"That is something that I know he does realize," Harris said. "His dedication, his commitment, you talk about a kid putting in the miles, he can take pride in what he has done and what he has accomplished.

"It really does make it a very good feeling on his accomplishment even though it is bittersweet."

In the Class AAA boys race Athens' Ben Knecht will make a return trip to the state meet.

For the girls Mansfield's Susan Learn won a medal last year and she will be looking to bring home another state medal this year, while Wellsboro's Sophie Weaver had another strong showing at districts and will look to claim her first state medal.

Weaver will be joined by freshman teammate Randi Grim at the state meet. Grim isn't the only freshman girl making the trip as Troy's Casey Norton also makes her first trip to states, while Athens' Paige Bennett is one of three Wildcats in the Class AAA race.

The Wildcats freshman will be joined by teammates Hannah Harvey-Sampson and Ashley Whipple, who are each making their second straight trip to Hershey.

"They are really excited," Athens girls' coach Scott Riley said. "Hannah for the first time is actually healthy at the end of the season and Paige as a freshman is just looking forward to getting a chance to see what the course is like."

For Whipple and Harvey-Sampson going last year should help them this time around.

"Hopefully it will be a lot different for them," Riley said. "The start of the race, especially up to the first mile, is so compact. Definitely seeing it before will help them."

For Harvey-Sampson this is her senior year making this race a little more special.

"She was talking about it Monday, looking back to her sophomore year when she ran and played soccer," Riley said. "It is her last week of practice. Her last cross country race. There is a little bit of reflection there."

For Bennett and Whipple the experience is something Riley hopes they use to help the team get to states next year.

"Without a doubt, we went into this year with two girls returning and next year with Ashley and Paige we have two returning state qualifiers," Riley said. "Hopefully the girls who are not down there will get an idea of what it feels like to be that close."

In the Class AA race Sayre's Hannah Robinson makes her third straight trip to states. After knee surgery following basketball season last year, just getting to states this year is an accomplishment for the junior.

"I think she is more excited then ever from the fact that she really thought her season was done after the ACL tear and didn't really expect to be in this position," Sayre coach Randy Felt said.

This year Robinson is happy to be at states and is going down with no expectations.

"I think she's the kind of girl that might be better then in the past where she had some pressure," Felt said. "I think she's really relaxed and ready to go.

"She has steadily progressed all season. She wasn't really sure what to expect with the injuries, it's just been a really positive season."

Sign up for Text Alerts

Sign up for e-mail newsletters