The Bradford Owls completed their dual meet season with a
perfect 10-0 record by downing Brookville 15-50 in cross country
action Tuesday.
In their last home meet, seniors Steve Kirkland, Ben Moran and
Anthony Cavallaro took the first three places with Kirkland winning
in a time of 17:45.
“It was good to see these three do well today,” BAHS coach Tom
Tessena said. “They have all come along way from when they were
freshmen.
“Three years ago we only had five guys out and they hung in
there and won districts even though we were beaten by all four of
the Class AAA teams. That showed me a lot about these guys. They
have been the heart and soul of Bradford cross country for four
straight years. You don’t have that happen very often. They are all
good leaders as well.”
The three were co-winners of the Fuhrman Chiropractic Runner of
the Meet.ð
The remaining Owls ran strong, taking the next eight spots.
Jared Feura was fourth, followed by Mike Foerstner and Shroy
Mukerjee.ð
Taking seventh place was freshman John Karrasch who recorded a
personal best time of 19:08, 32 seconds faster than his previous
best.
“We are going to Slippery Rock on Thursday and only 10 guys can
run,” Tessena explained. “John really wanted one of those places
and he got it today.”
Colton Langianese was in eighth place while Rich Bartlebaugh
took ninth and freshman Patrick Perschke rounded out the top 10
with a personal best time of 19:13. Jarret Clarke was 11th for
Bradford.ð
“We ran well today considering the wind was pretty rough at
times,” noted Tessena. “Some of our guys tried to pace our younger
runners and help them get their times down. That is the mark of a
good team when they want to see everyone improve.
“Brookville has a young team and they are improving. They have
good coaches and will be strong in the future. We just had too many
veterans for them today.”
The Owls head to the Tri-State Coaches Meet at Slippery Rock on
Thursday.
“The race will feature most of the top schools from the
Pittsburgh area,” Tessena said. “I believe there will be about 50
schools so it will be a good warmup for districts Oct. 29 at
Ridgway.
“We look to be in good shape,” the coach said. “I just have to
get my top seven guys finalized and that will be based on the
outcome of Thursday’s race.”
In middle school action, Fretz won its sixth straight meet to
complete an unbeaten season.
Michael White set a course record with a time of 9:22. Matthew
White took second with an excellent time of 9:34.ð
“These guys really make each other better,” Tessena remarked.
“No one other than Matthew has beaten Michael this year and that
includes four invitationals that we also won.”
Also for Fretz, Adam Barnes placed third in 10:11, Evan Feura
took fourth place in 10:16, Corey Little was fifth in 10:18, Zach
Acton sixth in 10:28 and Jamie Karrasch ran 12:22 for eighth
place.ð
“These guys were undefeated (6-0) as well as the varsity and
they have worked just as hard,” declared Tessena. “It was my
pleasure to coach these guys and the sky is the limit for them if
they keep working hard.”
BRADFORD 15, BROOKVILLE 50
Steve Kirkland (Brad) 17:45, Ben Moran (Brad) 18:36, Anthony
Cavallaro (Brad) 18:37, Jared Feura (Brad) 18:38, Mike Foerstner
(Brad) 19:06, Shroy Mukerjee (Brad) 19:06, John Karrasch (Brad)
19:08, Colton Langianese (Brad) 19:09, Rich Bartlebaugh (Brad)
19:12, Patrick Perschke (Brad) 19:13
