Junior Kadyn Tessena knew he had to step up this year and he did just that as he took first place with a time of 18:37.69 to lead the Owls to a very close win over St. Marys by a score of 27 to 30 Tuesday.  The Owls also defeated DCC 15 to 50 and Northern Potter 19 to 43.

Sophomore Jordan Hogue ran well for Bradford, taking sixth place in 19:26.  Junior Evan Troisi placed seventh in 19:36.  He was followed by sophomores Nikolai Frontino (8th – 19:40) and Xavier Frontino (9th – 19:53).

Tony McDonald placed 11th in 20:31.5 and Miles Hawk placed 13th in 20:54 and both had personal best times on our course.

“These two guys also helped us win because they displaced the number five runner and added two more points to St. Marys total,” Bradford coach Tom Tessena said.

Other Bradford runners included Kamil Chen (14th – 21:03), Cavan Drake(15th – 21:10), Langdon Krepp(25th – 22:35), and Owen Tingley(31st – 24:34).

“The opening cross country meet is always a challenge.  It also reveals who has been working the hardest and it shows where everyone is position-wise on the team.  It was good to get three wins today but it showed us we aren’t in racing shape,” Tessena said. “We head down to Lock Haven on Saturday for the Bear Mountain River Run. This is a very fast course with top competition. St. Marys will also be there and that gives us another test to see who is improving the most.

“I think we do have the makings of a very good team but we need to work harder to get better.  This meet (Monday) was a good one to watch. Kadyn went out hard with the two St.Marys guys right with him. Jacob Sloppy and Gavin Henry passed Kadyn at the 1600 meter mark.   Kadyn retook the lead but the St. Marys runners came back again and were leading at the 3200 meter pole.  As they started the final lap downhill Kadyn retook the lead for good and finished with the St. Marys runners only a few steps behind.”

In the middle school action Charlie Vinelli of Bradford won the race with a time of 9:24.58.   Charlie was 1:28 ahead of the second place runner.  St. Marys won the team competition over Bradford 24 to 40.  For Bradford, Gavin Weart place fifth (11:05 personal best), 7th grader Breyden Sipko placed ninth (12:07), 7th grader Lars Krepp took 14th (12:30), 7th grader Kaiden Christjohn was 17th (13:04), Jacob Warfield was 22nd (13:52P for a personal best and Lucas Corwin placed 25th (14:05).  This group did well for their first meet of the season.

Varsity Race results: Kadyn Tessena (B) 18:37.64; Jacob Sloppy (SM) 18:39.14; Gavin Henry (SM) 18:40.79; Cooper Eskesen (NP) 18:58;  Andrew Mawn (SM) 19:17.44; Jordan Hogue (B) 19:26; Evan Troisi (B) 19:36; Nikolai Frontino (B) 19:40.68; Xavier Frontino (B) 19:53; Jackson Wehler (SM) 20:02

Middle School results: Charlie Vinelli (B) 9:24.58; Kayd Caskey (SM) 10:52.9; Cohen Swanger (SM) 10:56.94; Angelo Yost (SM) 10:58.47; Gavin Weart (B) 11:05.96