Mesyngier first as Strath Haven wins Abington Invite

Maia Mesyngier crossed the line first Saturday at the Abington Invitational varsity girls cross country meet. The Panthers junior finished in 19 minutes, 55 seconds to place first on the 5,000-meter course.

Mesyngier’s effort, along with that of Claire Wolters (third place, 20:15), Naima Okami (sixth, 20:45) and Isabel Cardi (ninth, 21:04) lifted the Panthers to the team title .

Strath Haven accumulated 46 points, with Upper Dublin the nearest challenger at a distant 145 points.

Haverford placed third while Upper Darby finished seventh of 19 teams that registered points.

Other impressive finishes of Delaware County participants included Dootleen Joseph of Upper Darby, who finished fourth overall. Diana Dunn of Penncrest claimed eighth, and Marissa Donohue of Haverford took 11th. Garnet Valley’s Skyler Berardi and Amanda Kodis placed 14th and 17th, respectively.

Dana Giles of Episcopal finished 16th.

In the varsity boys competition at Abington, the best Delco finisher was Haverford’s James Abrahams, who posted a time of 17:26 to place 14th. Strath Haven’s Conan Beckley-Gray wasn’t far behind, placing 20th in 17:45.

Brian Melton of Haverford finished 22nd in 17:51, Strath Haven’s Greg Kotchick went 18:08 to finish 28th and Alex Derbyshire and Adam Simonson of Haverford finished 29th and 30th.