Leaders of the Pack: North Penn boys, CB West girls running strong

DOYLESTOWN >> A warm, sunny day on the course shed even more light on the North Penn boys and Central Bucks West girls cross country teams, both dominant in their Suburban One League Continental Conference tri-meet with rival Pennridge.

“We try as hard as we can to stick with each other,” said the Knights’ Noah Demis, “because we know we’re a team and we know we can always count on each other.”

“We feel really confident,” Demis said. “We definitely have a shot at winning the conference. And I think we can go to states as a team.”

“We’ve been packing on the miles and just trying to prepare ourselves for the season and everything beyond,” said the Bucks’ Piper Wilson. “We’re excited for the conference meet and districts. There’s a lot to look forward to.”

The West girls raced to impressive 15-50 victories over the Knights and Rams while the NP boys earned a 23-35 win over West and a 17-43 victory over Pennridge.

The Bucks took the top seven spots in their race Wednesday, charging around Lake Galena in great numbers.

“It’s a little different from other cross country races, where you’re running on the grass and everything, but I still really love it,” Wilson said of West’s home course at Peace Valley Park. “It’s around the lake — you got the scenic views. It’s awesome. I love it.”

Wilson won the race for the Bucks, crossing the finish line in 19 minutes, 5 seconds.

Asked if she took it out strong, Wilson said: “The whole team did.”

The first seven finishers were all West and nine of the top 11 also were for the Bucks.

Julia Flood placed second, followed by Katie Jenkinson, Darby Roth, Emmi Simon, Grace Kolbe and Shannon Roy. Megan Lysek-Hagy came in eighth for Pennridge and was followed closely by teammate Olivia Corbett, who grabbed ninth.

Angela Wu had a nice race for North Penn, leading the Knights’ pack.

In the boys race, Demis surged to the lead early and never gave it up. He pulled away to a win in 16:28.

“I ran that first mile in 4:58,” he said. “I felt pretty comfortable.”

The Knights went one and two, as Samir Razi helped give North Penn a solid one-two punch. Brian Johnson raced to fifth for NP, and teammates Dylan Reid and Erik Kull were eighth and ninth.

The Bucks were paced up front by Luke Cimakasky and Nick Gillespie — third and fourth — while the Rams followed Ethan Saville.