HS CROSS COUNTRY: Haven soph takes title at Cardinal Clash

Bob Lipsky, Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.
·5 min read

Sep. 25—PINE GROVE — Nine days ago, Anna Schaeffer had never won a varsity cross country invitational.

Now she has two.

The Schuylkill Haven sophomore followed her victory in the 'Canes Invitational with a gold-medal performance Saturday morning at the 22nd annual Cardinal Clash, a fixture as part of Pine Grove's homecoming celebration. Schaeffer built a big lead midway through the 3.1-mile varsity girls' race and cruised to a win in 21:31. Minersville's Julia Burgess took second in 22:21.

"Honestly, it's pretty shocking," Schaeffer said. "Last week was really shocking, and this week I thought, 'Now that I won one maybe I'll have a chance for two.' But I didn't expect to do that good today."

Fleetwood senior Nate Goldsborough won the varsity boys' race in 17:05. Minersville's Keegan Dubé placed second in 17:34.

In junior high action, Pine Grove eighth-grader Bella Kassab won her second straight Clash title, clocking a 9:29 on the 1.5-mile course. Nativity eighth-grader Nash Stehr took the junior high boys' race in 8:33.

Autumn arrived in full force for the Clash as 48-degree temperatures under partly sunny skies greeted the runners. As the meet went on, the temperatures climbed into the low 50s, and the clouds steadily gave way to more sunshine.

Last season, Schaeffer placed fifth at the Clash in 22:31. Her time Saturday was exactly one minute faster.

"I really had no confidence going into last week's invitational, so last week helped me prepare for this week," Schaeffer said. "The confidence is helping me a lot because I'm going to be running in the Paul Short race, and I didn't have any confidence for that, but now going into that I feel a little more like I deserve to be there.

"All the hard summer practices that I went through, waking up in the mornings, but it's definitely all paying off now. I'd like to give a shout out to both of my coaches. (Friday) they made us run repeat 400s, which we hated, but I think it definitely helped," Schaeffer added with a laugh.

Led by Dubé's and Burgess' runner-up efforts, Minersville swept the team titles. Dube, who placed third at last year's Clash, chopped 38 seconds off last year's time.

Kolin Long (fifth in 18:09), Ayden Kurtek (ninth in 18:21) and Alex Kurtek (10th in 18:25) added strong places for the Miners, who won the boys' title with 45 points. Tamaqua (65) and Northern Lebanon (82) took second and third, respectively.

On the girls' side, the Miners ran away, winning with 39 points. Tamaqua (63) placed second, followed by Pine Grove (98).

Kaylei Wentz (fifth in 22:58), Alyssa Cook (seventh in 23:26) and Rebecka Donnelly (eighth in 23:30) backed Burgess' runner-up run.

"People are starting to get healthy, getting into midseason form, so we're always working toward the future for the next meet for leagues, districts, end of the season," Minersville coach Jason Burgess said. "It's rounding out nicely so far.

"They still should be running a little tired," he added. "It's been meet, invite, meet, invite, meet, invite, so now we'll have a little bit more break to get some workouts for the end of the season, prep for the postseason."

22nd annual Cardinal Clash

At Pine Grove Area High School

Saturday's results

KEY: Fleetwood (Fle), Hamburg (Ham), Minersville (Min), Nativity (Nat), Northern Lebanon (NL), Pine Grove (PG), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Shenandoah Valley (SV), Tamaqua (Tam), Tri-Valley (TV)

VARSITY GIRLS

Top 3 teams: 1. Minersville 39, 2. Tamaqua 63, 3. Pine Grove 98

Individual results (37 finishers): 1. Anna Schaeffer (SH) 21:31, Julia Burgess (Min) 22:21, 3. Mia Jones (Tam) 22:34, 4. Melissa Malarkey (Nat) 22:40, 5. Kaylei Wentz (Min) 22:58, 6. Samantha Plasha (Tam) 23:16, 7. Alyssa Cook (Min) 23:26, 8. Rebecka Donnelly (Min) 23:30, 9. Sunni Krill (PG) 24:09, 10. Isabella Jones (SH) 24:12

VARSITY BOYS

Top 3 teams: 1. Minersville 45, 2. Tamaqua 65, 3. Northern Lebanon 82

Individual results (66 finishers): 1. Nate Goldsborough (Fle) 17:05, 2. Keegan Dubé (Min) 17:34, 3. Anthony Marchetti (Tam) 17:53, 4. Levi Kunkel (Tam) 18:03, 5. Kolin Long (Min) 18:09, 6. Joseph Rossi (Nat) 18:09, 7. Wyatt Leitzel (TV) 18:13, 8. Tyler Shunk (NL) 18:16, 9. Ayden Kurtek (Min) 18:21, 10. Alex Kurtek (Min) 18:25

JUNIOR HIGH GIRLS

Individual results (41 finishers): 1. Bella Kassab (PG) 9:24, 2. Olivia Horoschak (TV) 9:29, 3. Bailey Pliska (Tam) 9:40, 4. Madelyn Schaeafer (Tam) 10:03, 5. Jenna Cullen (Min) 10:04

JUNIOR HIGH BOYS

Individual results (34 finishers): 1. Nash Stehr (Nat) 8:33, 2. John Burgess (Min) 8:41, 3. Luis Sanchez (Tam) 8:57, 4. Jordan Bowers (Min) 8:59, 5. Noah Hanlon (TV) 9:00

2 local runners medal at Foundation

HERSHEY — Blue Mountain's Lucy Scheidel ran 20:30 to earn a 17th-place medal at the PIAA Foundation Race held at the Parkview Cross Country Course. Brownsville's Jolena Quarzo won the Class AA girls' race in 18:38.

Andie Hollander (21:58) finished 64th as the Eagles placed 18th as a team.

In Class AA boys, North Schuylkill's Justin Williams placed 24th in 17:22 to be a top 25 medalist. Jim Thorpe's Jordan Remmel (18:01) was 57th. Danville's Rory Lieberman won the race in 15:48.

Blue Mountain placed 17th. The Eagles' top runner was Jude Scheidel, who finished 78th in 18:31.

In Class A boys, Marian's Albin Petschauer led the locals with a 30th-place finish in 18:15. Weatherly's Jacob Parker (18:24) was 39th.

In Class A girls, Mahanoy Area's Kaylee Senglar ran 22:59 for 35th place as the Golden Bears took 10th in a 19th-team field. Marian placed 19th. Emma Ashfield (24:07) finished 56th for the Fillies. Elk County Catholic's Grace Neubert won the race in 19:58.

Contact the writer: blipsky@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6012; @boblipskyRH on Twitter