North Penn boys, girls stay hot with wins over CB South, Souderton

FRANCONIA — Wednesday’s tri-meet suddenly felt like a quad-meet, as North Penn, Souderton Area and Central Bucks South raced against 90-degree heat from start to finish.

“It was hot out there, man,” said Souderton Area’s standout junior, Connor McMenamin, moments after crossing his home finish line in impressive fashion, outlasting all other runners. “It was tough. That’s definitely something you don’t prepare for. You can run outdoors as much as you want, but your body’s gonna feel different every single day.

“We came in today and the only goal was to go 2-0. We came in guns-a-blazing and we really wanted that 2-0. We haven’t won a conference meet since 2012 and hadn’t won a meet at home since 2010, so this was big for us.”

McMenamin, winning Wednesday’s race by almost a minute, led Big Red to its first Suburban One League Continental Conference victory in three years, as the Indians raced past South, by the count of 18-45.

North Penn’s pack won the day, as the Knights were tremendous one through five in battling past Souderton 26-33 and South 20-43 in the conference opener for all three squads.

The North Penn girls, meanwhile, would also open the conference schedule with a pair of victories, earning a 22-33 win over Souderton and a 17-43 win over South, while the Big Red girls were 19-41 winners over the Titans.

“We’re a real young group and we’re learning right now,” Knights coach Mike Werner said. “The teams in our conference are so competitive. It’s really hard to race two teams and beat them in the front and in the pack, so what we’re trying to do is compete as best we can with the young guys that we have. Today, the pack is what really helped us.

“We knew that this was gonna be a tough meet. South’s got some tough runners and Souderton has everybody back from districts, including a very good front runner. We knew we had to come and battle, and not only battle them but battle the heat.”

The Knights, led by Brendan O’Toole (17:46), formed a parade of blue in taking places four through seven, along with Brian Johnson in ninth, to secure the wins.

McMenamin, not too far off the school record of 16:13, won the race in 16:24, followed by teammate Joe Breen (17:22) and the Titans’ Matt Scarpill (17:35).

“Connor’s really doing a lot to try and pull his teammates along and bring Joe closer to him and the rest of the pack closer to Joe,” Big Red coach John Donahue said. “That’s gonna be the key to success. I was happy for the guys. The team’s kind of taken some lumps the last three years so it was nice to see us bounce back.

“North Penn had a nice pack after our top two that we couldn’t break up. So we gotta work hard over the next few months to try and close that up. We’re doing as much as we can to keep getting better. We’re still pretty young — not too many seniors in the top seven, so we’re certainly excited about this year and the future.”

The Big Red girls, led by Emily Bonaventure’s second-place finish, followed up the boys race with a win over South.

The Maidens, even without their front runner in Phoebe Clowser (illness), attacked the Souderton course with plenty of drive, taking five of the top eight spots.

“We were running really well up front,” said sophomore Ariana Gardizy, who won the girls race in 20:14. “We have a pretty strong group back this year.”

North Penn has a home tri-meet Wednesday against Pennridge and Central Bucks East while Souderton’s next Continental battle will be back at home, Wednesday against Quakertown and CB West.

Boys Cross Country
North Penn 26, Souderton 33
North Penn 20, CB South 43
Souderton 18, CB South 45
1. Connor McMenamin (S) 16:24; 2. Joe Breen (S) 17:22; 3. Matt Scarpill (C) 17:35; 4. Brendan O’Toole (NP) 17:46; 5. Zach Thomas (NP) 17:51; 6. Delphin Monga (NP) 18:12; 7. Dan Santiago (NP) 18:15; 8. Austin Carlson (S) 18:17; 9. Brian Johnson (NP) 18:33; 10. Nick Cataldi (NP) 18:46; 11. Alex Davis (NP) 18:47; 12. Kyle Ryan (S) 19:05; 13. Mike Bougslaw (S) 19:12; 22. Colin Malloy (C) 20:25; 23. Josh D’Agostino (C) 20:31; 25. Dom Pignateli (C) 20:39; 28. Jake Sauers (C) 21:03.

Girls Cross Country
North Penn 22, Souderton 33
North Penn 17, CB South 43
Souderton 19, CB South 41
1. Ariana Gardizy (NP) 20:14; 2. Emily Bonaventure (S) 20:52; 3. Olivia Dyer (NP) 21:07; 4. Ellie Bell (S) 21:27; 5. R. Wilson (NP) 21:41; 6. N. McGrath (C) 22:08; 7. L. Matulevich (NP) 22:29; 8. Mikaela Vlasic (NP) 22:45; 9. Sadie Stehr (S) 23:05; 10. Katie Halteman (S) 23:11; 11. L. Bird (C) 23:13; 12. Alexa Spause (S) 23:30; 15. C. Muehlbronner (C) 24:06; 21. N. Wilhelm (C) 24:48; 24. K. Mulloy (C) 24:59.

Top Photo: North Penn, Souderton and Central Bucks South girls launch for their cross country race at Souderton Area High School on a hot and humid Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015.