RIDGWAY – Bradford put seven of its runners in the top 11 places
as the Owls won their eighth straight District 9 Class AAA cross
country championship Saturday.

The Owls were led by senior Jared Feura who placed second
overall in a time of 18:58.ð

“Jared ran a good race,” BAHS coach Tom Tessena said. “He has
had an outstanding season and has been our leader all year.”

St. Marys runner Ben Huey was the individual winner with a time
of 18:38.

Bradford High freshman Matthew White and senior Rich Bartlebaugh
grabbed the next two places.

“Matthew had an outstanding race and this was Rich’s best race
ever,” Tessena noted.

“All of the St. Marys runners got out well and were actually
ahead of us at the mile mark. Matthew and Rich broke up their pack
or it would have been tough for us to win.”

Colton Langianese placed seventh in 19:42, Michael White eighth
in 19:59 and Shroy Mukerjee ninth in 20:00.

“Colton hurt his back last week and he was in a lot of pain, but
he gutted it out and hung in there,” Tessena added. “I look for him
to be ready next week for states. Michael and Shroy ran strong
races today. They got out in good shape and didn’t let anyone pass
them.”

Bradford’s Mike Foerstner was 11th in 20:14.

“Our guys have run well all year so it was great to see them win
the District 9 AAA title,” Tessena admitted. “Our five seniors
never lost a dual meet or a district championship. That is a pretty
good mark for the younger guys to shoot for.

“Our two freshmen, Matthew and Michael White, really came
through for us today. They really complemented the seniors and made
us a strong team this year.”

Bradford’s JV team easily won their race taking five of the
first six places.

Adam Barnes (20:18) led from start to finish. Sophomore John
Karrasch took second in 20:36, Evan Feura third in 21:05, Patrick
Perschke fifth in 21:32 and Corey Little sixth in 21:35.

Barnes will go to states with the seven varsity runners.

Co-runners of the meet were Matthew White and Bartlebaugh. The
most improved runner was Karrasch.

“I would like to congratulate all the boys on a fine season and
thank them for all their hard work and the many hours they put into
this season,” Tessena said. “This was a good win for our program.
It showed that our younger guys are going to be OK next year. We
still have the race that we focused on all season – states – to
complete. Last year we were 14th and our goal is to improve on that
finish.ð

“We would also like to congratulate coach (Bob) Macfarlane and
the girls team for their outstanding season and wish them luck at
states.”