RIDGWAY – The Bradford Lady Owls captured their fifth
consecutive District 9 Class AAA cross country championship
Saturday.
The Lady Owls tallied 30 first-place points, holding off
Punxsutawney (32 points).
DuBois was third with 80 points, St. Marys was fourth with 100
and Clearfield came in fifth.
Lady Owl sophomore Sarah Lonzi won the race for the second time
in her career, blazing the course and setting a record with a time
of 19:35.
“This is great accomplishment for Sarah,” praised Bob
Macfarlane, BHS coach. “She has proven week in and week out that
she was the top runner in the district and in the Northwestern
Pennsylvania area.
“I’m very proud of her work ethic and determination to be one of
the top runners in the state. Next week she’ll have a chance to go
the state meet and lay it on the line.”
Jera Mennetti and Jessica Duffell of Punxsutawney took second
and third place, respectively, giving Punxsy an early lead in the
meet. DuBois’ runner Kory Gluzlik garnered the fourth place
position, while Lady Owls’ Paige Ambrose (21:47.34), Renee
Cavallaro (21:47.42) and Sam Cota-Robles (22:02) packed well to
place fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively.
“I give these girls a lot of credit with their heart and
determination to get the team in a position to win,” said
Macfarlane. “They packed themselves well as to keep the other teams
from gaining positions on us to secure the win.
“They ran with a lot of pride today and were very determined to
capture the team title. These young ladies have stepped up to the
plate and taken on big roles in the development and success of our
team.”
Freshman Erica Pascarella took the 10th spot (22:37), Liz Keller
placed 11th (22:41) and Sarah Trumbull was 16th.
“I give Erica a lot of credit,” Macfarlane offered. “A lot of
pressure was put on her and being only a freshman she handled it
very well. I’m proud of the fact she didn’t back down all year. She
has proven all season that she’s a force in the district.
“Liz has been very consistent this year. She never backs down in
a race. She’ll give 100 percent every time she runs.
“This year was to be our rebuilding year, with all the young
runners with little experience in big meets. We had our ups and
downs throughout the season, but as the season progressed they
begun to gel as a team and realized they could be very good.
“We had good leadership. All the girls worked hard, never
wavering to the demands of our practices and pushing them to their
potential.
“I give these ladies a lot of credit. They went up against a
seasoned veteran, well-coached team in Punxsy and came out the
victors. All seven varsity girls were named Fuhrman Chiropractic
Runners of the Meet.
“The formula for successðwas the way they all pushed each other
to be better runners and not worrying about the individual,
throughout the season. The concept of the team was always in their
mind.
“They were each given a race plan for the district meet and they
followed it with no reservations and didn’t blink an eye when they
were asked to go beyond their limits.
“We as coaches were very impressed by their attitude and
willingness to get better each meet.”
“I would like to congratulate coach (Tom) Tessena on his
championship title and thank him for all his help.
“Also, I’d like to thank coach (Larry) Stillman and coach (Mark)
Kelley for their countless volunteer hours of help throughout the
season. These two are great coaches and teachers of the sport of
running.”
All seven varsity girls will compete in the 32nd annual PIAA
championships Saturday at Hershey Park.
In the JV race, Bradford won the meet with a team score of
26.
Punxsy earned 34 points while and Brookville collected 70.
Lacey Willams of Punxsy won the race with a time of 23:11,
followed by Bradford’s Megan Foster taking the second spot
(23:56).
Other JV runners were Kara Holsinger (24:11), Kevryn Boser
(25:11), Olivia Goble (25:18), Kara Piganelli (26:19), Shannon
Taylor (26:22), Jessica Graves (26:24) and Steph Austin (27:58)
.
“This was a good win for these young ladies,” noted Macfarlane.
“They have been improving as the season went along. Also they are
beginning to understand the sport and the work involved to be
good.”
