Junior Tyler Kraft placed ninth in 18:14 to lead Bradford to third place in the 10-team Bradford Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.
“Tyler ran a good race today,” Owls coach Tom Tessena said. “We really worked hard threedays this week so we didn’t have fresh legs so our times were a little slower because of it. This was a good field that included perennial power Elk Country led by top runner Ben Hoffman who took first overall in 16:57.”
Elk won the team Title with 53 points. Clarion placed second with 73 points while the Owls were third with 83 followed by Smethport (97) and Cathedral Prep (99). Kane followed in sixth place (149), Clearfield was seventh (163), Otto-Eldred took eighth (185), Cowanesque Valley was ninth (225), and Youngsville finished 10th (292).
Smethport runners Darion Gregory and Christian Tanner battled with Ben Hoffman and placed second and third in 17:03 and 17:15 respectively.
“Elk’s depth was too great for any of the teams to handle,” Tessena said.
They placed first, fourth, sixth, eighth, 34th,and 39th .
The Bradford runners made a good accounting of themselves with Kraft, senior Hunter Fox in 15th (18:39), sophomores Gabe Mitchell in 16th (18:42), Ryan Cottillion in 17th (18:43), and Aiden Wright in 27th (19:27).
“This was far and away our best split 1-5 in 1:13. Our 1-4 was a mere 29 seconds and that is really solid. I can’t say enough about Hunter Fox and how he has really made us better. He always pushes himself and it’s hard to believe that this is only his fourth race ever.
“Gabe Mitchell is getting better each race and is going to be running some real fast times by the seasons end. Ryan Cottillion was awesome today. On Tuesday he fell and injured his arm. We thought it was broken but fortunately it was a bad sprain. He did a little running on Thursday and Friday and then came up with his best time ever. He really came through for the team. “Sophomore Aiden Wright just keeps getting better as well. He will be closing that 1-5 split even more. It was nice to have five guys medal today.”
Other Bradford Runners were: Ian Paterniti (32nd – 19:37), David Allen (36th – 19:56), Quentin Minard (41st-20:08), Devin Benson (47th – 20:22), Ethan Hollamby (63rd – 21:16), Stephen Morgan (76th -22:23), and Frank Colosimo (80th – 22:53).
“Five of these guys have been in the top group this year so if they get serious and put pressure on the top five guys today, they could make our team even better. We will definitely need to get better to compete with Punxsy at Districts.
“There always comes a time in a race when a runner has to decide how important it is for him or her to go all out for the team and not worry about themselves. The team concept really matters in cross country because only the runners knows whether they gave all or dialed it back because of some or a lot of discomfort.”
In the middle school race Elk County again was victorious taking the team title with 42 points barely edging out Smethport with 44. Bradford was third with 63 points. Elk’s Adam Straub was first overall with a time of 10:09 on the 1.65 mile course. Bradford’s Leo Paterniti placed second in a personal best time of 10:26.
Other Bradford runners who medaled were Evan Elmore (11th – 11:23) and Connor Schuster (14th – 11:33). Also running were Luke Caruso who was 36th in 13:49 and Jackson Brien who placed 44th in 16:50.
“The top four had personal best times and Jackson did a great job finishing the race with a bad side stitch. He didn’t give up.”
Bradford will be on the road against Punxsutawney on Tuesday.
Top 10 Boys
1. Ben Hoffman (ECC) 16:57
2. Darion Gregory (Smethport 17:03
3. Christian Tanner (Smethport) 17:15
4. Isaac Wortman (ECC) 17:38
5.Nathaniel Lerch (Clarion) 17:47
6.Jacob Carnovale (ECC) 17:54
7.Devan Bailey (Coudy) 18:00
8.Joe Wolfe (ECC) 18:13
9. Tyler Kraft (Bradford) 18:14
10. John Wolfe (Kane) 18:18
