NEWVILLE — District 3 held its cross country championships Saturday and Chambersburg was able to qualify both its boys and girls teams for the PIAA Championships next week.
Both teams ended up placing third in the team standings in Class 3A, and the top five gain entry into states.
Mady Koons
Trojan girls coach Chris Monheim said, “I’m so proud of this team. They have been slighted and disrespected all season in the rankings, but once again showed up and got it done when it counts the most.”
Chambersburg scored 248 points to finish behind Manheim Township (126) and Governor Mifflin (218).
Mady Koons placed 18th in a time of 19:19.5, and she was followed by Brook Boone (32nd, 19:56.0), Natalie Quinn (57th, 20:34.5), Dana Rosenberry (63rd, 20:37.4) and Kaylie Savage (104th, 21:01.8).
“Mady had a career day and a huge personal best. She has led our team all season and set the tone. Brook left it all out on the course today.
“Natalie, Dana and Kaylie raced with a ton of mental toughness and they all made major second-half moves, which made a big difference in our point total.”
It is the fourth consecutive season that Chambersburg’s girls have advanced to the PIAA event as a team.
Liam Kirkpatrick
The boys were not able to repeat as district champions, but coach John Ambrosio was still ecstatic about the results. The Trojans (131 points) finished behind Manheim Township (114) and Hershey (130).
Ambrosio said, “We had a terrific day and did everything I was hoping we could do … except win. Our score would have won the championship in nine of the last 15 years. Manheim and Hershey are just strong teams, and that’s the way it goes.”
Liam Kirkpatrick ran an excellent race to place fifth in a time of 15:46.8, and Aiden Alleman came in 11th in 16:00.5.
“Liam became a two-time medal winner in districts and Alleman is showing what he’s capable of — he was 10th in the conference meet and 11th today,” Ambrosio said.
Also for Chambersburg, Julian Clark was 24th in 16:17.7, Kaden Rife placed 49th in 16:44.2 and Boston Vincenti took 52nd in 16:46.8.
Ambrosio said, “Clark ran a big PR, Rife was solid and Vincenti was the best No. 5 runner in the meet. We did everything we could have done and we were in the hunt to win, so I’m happy.”
Also in the boys 3A race, Joel Amstutz of Greencastle-Antrim posted a time of 16:12.7 to place 19th, which qualified him for states. Shippensburg’s Rylan Asper took 44th in 16:39.3. Waynesboro’s Ella Swart took 65th in the girls race in 20:37.8.
In Class 2A, James Buchanan placed 10th in the team standings in both girls and boys. The Rockets’ Katelyn Clever placed fifth in the girls race in 20:29.5, and Tristen Hall was the boys’ top finisher, 24th in 17:17.1.
Shalom Christian placed fifth in the boys and sixth in the girls team standings in Class 1A in the school’s first year in PIAA District 3 competition. Reagan Kearns placed fifth in the girls race in 22:13.0, wile Shay Kane took 20th in the boys race in 18:35.9.
JB’s Clever and the Flames’ Kearns qualified for states.