Junior Kadyn Tessena placed 24th at the Bear Mountain River Run held at Lock Haven University.  Tessena had a personal best time of 17:49.9 on the 3.1 mile course.

“He went out way too fast leading the race.  He was not quite ready for that and paid the price.  He did get back on a more reasonable pace and still had a personal best time,” Bradford Coach Tom Tessena said. “Every race is a learning experience and going out too fast is a lesson that when not learned will continue to be taught.  He is anxious to run again on Tuesday to apply what he learned (Saturday).

Junior Evan Troisi placed 47th in 18:58.9.  Sophomore Jordan Hogue took 49th in 19:04 for his fastest race of the season. Sophomore Xavier Frontino was right with Jordan.  He placed 50th in 19:04.2 for a personal best time.

“Evan improved 40 seconds from our 1st meet and he is working hard to improve on that time.  Jordan is getting stronger and more confident each week,” Tessena said. “Xavier is really coming on for us and is always pushing himself in practice.  Nikolai Frontino was 59th in 19:26.5.  He needs to stay with the top four guys.”

Senior Tony McDonald had a career best with 19:39.9 to finish 60th.  He is working very hard and is getting ready to be in the top five soon,” Tessena stated. ” Junior Cavan Drake also posted a personal best of 20:08 to finish 73rd.  Cavan always works hard in practice and it is paying off.  Sophomore Hawk took 82nd in 20:40 for a personal best.  There were 126 runners in the race.  Our guys have got to pack closer if we are going to beat anyone else this season.  That means we have work to do.”

The Owls placed 7th in the 12 team field with 186 points.  Hughesville was 1st with 27 points.

“They had an exceptional team with Tyce Shaner placing 1st in 15:22.4.  They also placed 3rd, 6th,7th, and 12th,” Tessena said.

Brookville was 2nd with 64 points led by Ty Fiscus in 2nd place in 15:50.1 and Liam Whitling in 5th in 16:51.  They are definitely a heavy favorite to win our Districts.  St. Marys place 5th with 136 points led by Aaron Bennett in 16th place in 17:26.6 and Jacob Sloppy (21st – 17:40.1).

“We did improve (Saturday) but Brookville and St. Marys improved more than we did.  Punxy also did well in their invitational, taking 2nd at the Big Run Invitational.  They feature five strong runners as well,” Tessena noted. “District 9 will be hotly contested this year so we have lots of work to do.”

Charlie Vinelli set a new school record for Fretz.  He took first place in 10:59.9 on the two mile course, leading from start to finish.  Gavin Weart place 23rd, just missing out on a metal.  He had a personal best in 13:08.  7th grader Breyden Sipko placed 38th in 14:07.5 for his season best mark.  Gavin and Breyden are working very hard and improving rapidly.  7th grader Kaiden Christjohn was 53rd in 15:213.7 for his personal best.  Kaiden is also improving rapidly.  Jacob Warfield placed 61st in 17:14.9 for his best mark of the year.  7th grader Lucas Corwin placed 62nd in 17:25.5.  Lucas is also improving and working hard as well.  These guys are very excited about running on Tuesday at home.    Charlie Vinelli is close to the Middle school record for GGB.  We think he could break that record if he gets some competition.

Bradford hosts DuBois and Brockway today at our GGB course.  This race will start later than usual at 5:15 with the Middle School race followed by the Varsity race.  Spectators are asked not to arrive until 4:30 to help with the bus traffic at dismissal time.