District 9 Crowns Cross Country Champions

Boys’ 1A Full Results • Girls’ 1A Full Results • Boys’ 2A Full Results • Girls’ 2A Full Results

RIDGWAY, Pa. – Brookville’s Ryan Thrush (1A Boys), Northern Potter’s Danielle Perry (1A Girls), Punxsutawney’s Ethan Brentham (2A Boys) and St. Marys’ Michelle Bauer (2A Girls) won individual District 9 cross country titles Saturday at Ridgway.

(Cover photo of the District 9 cross country champions. Front row: Dnaielle Perry of Northern Potter. Back row (l-r) Ethan Brentham of Punxsutawney and Ryan Thrush of St. Marys. Missing from the photo, Michelle Bauer of St. Marys)

Also, the Elk County Catholic boys (1A), Northern Potter girls (1A), Punxsutawney boys (2A) and St. Marys girls (2A) took home D9 team titles.

In the boys’ 1A race Thrush ran a time of 16:34.70 to top Elk County Catholic’s Zachary Wortman (16:46.90) by 12 seconds. Cranberry’s Harrison Keenan was third in a time of 17:04.80 while Keenan’s teammate, Sam Lander, was fourth in a time of 17:16.30 with Smethport’s Christian Tanner rounding out the Top Five with a time of 17:23.30.

The 1A boys’ team race saw ECC win with 42 points followed by Cranberry with 70 points and Smethport with 131 points. Both ECC and Cranberry advance to the PIAA Championship meet.

The ECC team consists of Wortman, Ben Hoffman (7th), Matt Dippold (9th), Logan Hoffman (12th), Isaac Wortman (13th), Vincent Thompson (18th) and Ben Uberti (78th), while Cranberry’s team consists of Keenan, Lander, Nolan Brannon (20th), Daniel Fisher (21st), Logan Johnson (25th), Tanner Berry (30th) and Brandon Forrest (36th). Note that the placings may be different than the team scoring for each runner.

Also qualifying for the PIAA meet as individuals were Thrush, Tanner, Darion Gregory of Smethport (6th), Adam Bettwy of Clarion (8th), Luke Guyer of Ridgway (10th), Broc Schoeppner of Keystone (11th), Isaiah Griebel of North Clarion (13th), Nathaniel Lerch of Clarion (15th), Tristan Amell of Coudersport (16th) and Jacob Bauer of North Clarion (17th).  

The girls’ 1A race saw Northern Potter take the first three spots.

Perry won the race in a time of 19:41, Amanda Ford was second (20:12.30) and Emma Ford was third (20:17.30.3). Kane’s Chelsea Hunter finished fourth (20:36.20) and Cranberry’s Kristin Reynolds was fifth (20:45.70).

In the team race, Northern Potter won with a score of 33 followed by Cranberry at 54 and Brookville third with 107 points. Both Northern Potter and Cranberry qualify for the PIAA meet.  

The NoPo team consists of Perry, Amanda Ford, Emma Ford, Rebecca Morgan (20th), Gracie Hamilton (23rd), Rutana Reed (60th) and Lewam Reed (62nd) while Cranberry’s team is made up of Reynolds, Lauren Varsek (6th), Samantha Woolcock (12th), Chelsea McKissick (25th), Laurel Ecklund (26th), Jayne Wolbert (29th) and Madeline Keenan (33rd). Note that the placings may be different than the team scoring for each runner.  

Also qualifying for the PIAA meet as individuals were Hunt, Lauryn Wortman of ECC (7th), Sylvia Pisarchick of Brockway (8th), Chelsea Mason of Clarion (9th), Abby Bonfardin of ECC (10th), Emily Peterson of Kane (11th), Katie Craig of Clarion (13th), Michaela Higgins of North Clarion (14th), Rosie Thomas of Port Allegany (15th) and Jennifer Kidder of Brookville (16th).   

In the boys’ 2A race, Brentham won in a time of 17:36.30 followed by teammates Owen Bartlebaugh (17:49.20) and Jake Dinger (18:05.1). Bradford’s Vinnie Bizzarro was fourth (18:11.8) with Bradford’s Cade Hayden (18:15.1) rounding out to the Top Five.

Punxsutawney won the team race with 27 points followed by Bradford with 36 points. Punxsy qualifies for the PIAA meet.

On the Puxsy squad in addition to Brentham, Bartlebaugh and Dinger were Alex Eberhart (10th), Corbin Heitzenrater (11th), Liam Storms (15th) and Ethan May (20th).

Qualifying for the PIAA meet as individuals were Bizzarro, Hayden, Bradford’s Logan Caruso (6th) and Andrew Kraft (7th) and Clearfield’s Isaac Swanson (8th).  

The girls’ 2A race saw Bauer roll to victory in a time of 19:39 followed by teammates Amanda Foster (19:55.90). Karns City’s Rebecca Pennington was third (20:22.50), Bradford’s Emily Little was fourth (21:28.60) and Punxsutawney’s Isabel Hackenberry was fifth (21:43.20).  

In the team race, St. Marys edged Bradford 33-45. The Lady Dutch qualify for the PIAA meet.

The St. Marys team consists of Bauer, Foster, Yessa Grotzinger (8th), Lucy Anthony (9th), Autumn Majchrzak (12th), Anna Raffeinner (28th) and Kara Reiter (32nd).

Qualifying for the PIAA meet as individuals were Pennington, Emily Little, Hackenberry, Clearfield’s Paige Mikesell (6th) and Bradford’s Amanda Little (7th).

Both DuBois teams ran in Class 3A meets elsewhere and managed to crown a champion as senior Cassie Folmar won the D6-9-10 race at Forest Hills High School in Johnstown. She won in 19:05.9, for a nearly 19-second win. Her teammate Lauren Usaitis was ninth overall in 20:14 to also earn a trip to Hershey. The boys ran in Sharon where junior Peter Foradora was runner-up in 17:39, three seconds behind Cathedral Prep’s Ryan Garich.