HERSHEY — Most of the Chambersburg boys cross country team produced a good performance on Saturday and that enabled coach John Ambrosio — who is retiring after 36 years as head coach — to smile when the day was through.
The Trojans placed 9th in the state and had one medalist in Class 3A as the PIAA held its cross country championships at the Parkview Course in Hershey.
John Ambrosio
“I’m proud of the guys; they represented themselves well,” Ambrosio said. “A top 10 at states is one of the best finishes we’ve had here, and that’s pretty good.”
Chambersburg’s girls captured 15th place in states, and several other schools and individuals from the area also competed.
The Trojan boys actually finished in a tie for eighth with Council Rock South, but lost a tiebreaker (placing of the No. 6 runner). State College won handily with 53 points.
Ambrosio said, “That’s the highest finish we’ve had at states since 1994, when we were seventh. In our history, we were second in 1972 and third in 1970. But things are a lot different these days — the level of competition is so much better now.”
Chambersburg’s No. 1 runner, senior Liam Kirkpatrick, finished 19th in the field with a time of 16:20 to earn a medal.
Liam Kirkpatrick
“Liam did a tremendous job,” Ambrosio said. “He had a fantastic season and hit all of his goals.”
The rest of the top five included Julian Clark (62nd place in 17:01), Kaden Rife (108th in 17:24), Aiden Alleman (143rd in 17:36) and Boston Vincenti (148th in 17:40), plus Cole Lehman in 215th in 18:23.
Ambrosio said, “Clark ran a really nice race and had a solid effort. Rife was solid for us all year. Alleman was a little disappointed, because he ran so well in the conference and district meets, and he just had a so-so day today. And Vincenti finished about 2 minutes faster than last year.
“We were hoping five of our seven could have good days, and that’s what we got. Four of the seven kids who ran today will be back, so they should be good. I’m at peace with exiting stage left, as the Looney Tunes guys would say. If I’ve had any success, it’s because of the talent and hard work of our runners. It was a privilege to be associated with them.”
Greencastle-Antrim’s Joel Amstutz placed 123rd with a time of 17:30 in 3A.
In 1A, Southern Fulton competed as a team and placed 18th with 492 points. The Indians’ top runners were Teagan Ritz (98th, 18:40); Gaven Mellott (164th, 19:48); Charlie Weicht (190th, 20:16), Daniel Paul (239th, 22:23) and Colin Householder (248th, 23:05).
Brook Boone
Chambersburg’s girls were 15th with 340 points, while the winner, Haverford, totaled 110.
“We didn’t have quite the day we were hoping for, but it still pretty solid and we accomplished some of the goals we had set,” Trojan coach Chris Monheim said. “We ended up being the second-best team from District 3.”
Brook Boone, a sophomore, had the best finish for Chambersburg, taking 72nd place with a time of 20:17.
Monheim said, “Brook had an outstanding race and moved up quite a bit in a loaded field with the best runners in the state.”
Also in the scoring for the Trojans were Mady Koons (105th, 20:42); Natalie Quinn (148th, 21:15); Dana Rosenberry (161st, 21:27) and Kaylie Savage (186th, 22:05). Annemarie West (218th, 23:27) and Raegen Hepner (221st, 24:13) also competed.
“This is a great group of girls and I’m excited that six of the seven (Rosenberry is the lone senior) that raced today will be back in action next year,” Monheim said.
In Class 2A, James Buchanan senior Katelyn Clever turned in a time of 21:44 to place 114th.
Three area 1A runners competed at states — Southern Fulton’s Julia Madison was 43rd in 21:34, teammate Mia Hiller was 104th in 22:43, and Regan Kearns of Shalom Christian placed 89th in 22:24.