This past Friday marked a new era for the Harriton Cross Country boys’ team. As a result of their times in the PIAA District One race, at the beautiful Lehigh University campus, two Harriton runners, junior Peter Downs and sophomore Max Norris, are going to be sprinting out to Hershey, PA this coming weekend to compete in the state championship race. Placing 21st with a time of 16:13 was Max; only 4 seconds and 9 places later was Peter. While both ran well last year, this year they’ve really showed what they’re made of with a total of 4 first places between them over the course of the season.
So how did they do it? Max attributes it to hard work; over the past 22 weeks he has run 828.8 miles, enough to go from Philadelphia to the Canadian border. When asked if he had anything to add, Peter only said, “Well this year we decided to go fast. Last year, our strategy was to go out fast for the first third of the race, slower in the second third, and fast at the end. This year, Max and I sat down with our coach Mr. Dick and hammered out a bold new strategy that involves going fast the entire time. I’d say it’s worked out pretty well for us!” Due to their hard work and excellent coaching, these two runners will be hoping to do well at Hershey this Saturday. Despite having had less competition in the past, no Harriton runner in the last five years has managed to win a game and attend Hershey; for the first time, the XC team is ranked AAA and had to compete with XC powerhouses such as Strath Haven, Lower Merion, Henderson, and Haverford, to name a few. And, for the first time, the boys’ team didn’t have a losing record; the final count was 11 wins, 11 losses. Led by captains James Butler and Connor Wortley, this was a powerful showing for the first year in the Central League. But Peter and Max weren’t the only two Harriton runners to strut their stuff at Lehigh; every single varsity member set a personal record. Captain James Butler came across the finish line in 16:34; Junior Cameron Trainer in 17:53; captain Connor Wortley in 18:07; senior Brant “The Friendly Bear” Smith in 18:16 (beating his last record by more than 30 seconds); and junior Jack “Jackalope” Curtis crushed his old personal record and flew across the finish line in 18:32. While only Max and Peter will be running at Hershey on Saturday, a fan bus will be leaving early on Saturday morning to take the rest of the XC team and anyone else who’d like to go cheer the two stars on at their race.
The cross-country girls finished last October 23rd at the Central League Championships, but the day was not without its impressive individual performances. Junior Ally McLaughlin finished in 18th and medaled with a time of 20:36, and fellow junior Leora Haber notched an impressive time of 22:34. At districts, both improved upon their times, with McLaughlin running a 19:59 en route to a 79th place finish, while Haber ran a 22:22. Sophomores Hannah Klugman and Andrea Sobel also contributed to the Rams’ 54th place finish, each setting a personal best time.
Cross Country: A Season in Review
December 7, 2010
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