RIDGWAY – The Bradford Lady Owls’ cross country team won their
sixth straight District 9 Class AAA championship Saturday.

Bradford scored 23 points followed by Punxsutawney (37), St.
Marys (79), Clearfield and DuBois.

Bradford junior Sarah Lonzi (20:45) was the D-9 champion for the
third consecutive year.

“This is a great accomplishment for Sarah,” BAHS coach Bob
Macfarlane said. “This is a record at Bradford High, for no one has
accomplished this goal before.

“She has proven week in and week out she is the top runner in
the district and in the state. I’m very proud of her work ethic and
determination to be one of the top runners in the state.”

Punxsy’s top runners Jera Mennetti and Jessica Duffell took the
second and third spot to give the Lady Chucks a early lead. Then
Bradford put the meet away by taking the next five spots.

Placing fourth was junior Renee Cavallaro, fifth freshman
Marissa Buchheit, sixth sophomore Erica Pascarella, seventh senior
Liz Keller and eighth junior Paige Ambrose.ðð

“We give these girls a lot of credit with their heart and
determination to get the team in a position to win,” Macfarlane
noted. “They ran with a lot of pride today and were very determined
to capture the team title.

“The formula for success was the way they all pushed each other
to be better runners throughout the season. We had good leadership.
All the girls worked hard.”

Taking the 19th spot out of 26 girls running in the meet was
Bradford freshman Megan Prosser.

“The weather (rain) and course conditions didn’t affect the
girls today,” Macfarlane pointed out. “We’ve been running in these
types of conditions all season. They followed their race plan and
performed extremely well in a championship meet.”

Next weekend the Lady Owls travel to Hershey for the state
meet.

“I know the girls are excited to run and are determined to
improve their times from last year,” the coach emphasized. “This
team has a lot of heart, grit and character, which is the reason
why it’s a great team to work with.

“I want to thank coach Mark Kelley and coach Larry Stillman for
all their help this year. They put in a lot of time which is all
volunteer on their part. They are great coaches who help make this
team successful.

“I would like to congratulate coach (Tom) Tessena on his
championship title and thank him for being a great mentor.”

In the JV race, freshman Brittni Wiseman place third, Kara
Piganelli seventh and Shannon Taylor 12th.ð