North Penn sweeps Wissahickon for SOL non-conference victory
LOWER GWYNEDD — Wissahickon’s Lukas Marcelis got out to a blistering pace, and would wind up running his fastest time ever on his home course.
But North Penn’s Ryan Tung did not want to let him pull away.
“Lukas brought it out really fast, like 5:05 or so, and I just stayed with him — I didn’t realize it was that fast,” Tung said. “Once I started to reel him in a little bit, I started to feel a surge coming on and I went.”
The senior got the lead and held it, crossing the finish line in 16 minutes and 31 seconds to lead the Knights to a 22-38 win over area rival Wissahickon on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Wiss.
The Maidens followed with a 20-37 victory in what was a non-conference matchup of perennial powers in the Suburban One League.
“It was a warm day, great competition, and we just wanted to come out and continue to work on finding out where we are at this point in the season see how much work we need to do to stay competitive in our conference,’ Knights coach Mike Werner said. “I have to say our leadership has been fantastic.’ Tung showed why, pushing the pace for a solid pack that took five of the top seven spots.
“We bounced back from a tough invitational,’ the senior said of the GFS Invite. “This was a nice confidence boost — some P.R.’s and a win.’
Fellow senior Michael Cooney also broke 17 minutes on the Wissahickon course, going 16:54 to place third. Marcelis, a junior, was the top runner for the Trojans, running a 16:38 for second. Senior Kyuande Johnson also clocked his best time, crossing in 17:13 for fourth.
“I was pleased with the way the kids ran,’ Wiss coach Bill Gallagher said. “Biggest team I’ve ever had — there’s 46 kids on the team and 25 of them are sophomores and freshmen. We’re a young team, but they’re coming along.’
The Wiss girls, meanwhile, were led by Lotte Black’s first-place finish in 19:05. The Maidens’ Phoebe Clowser was right behind, crossing in 19:17 as a strong North Penn pack took places second through sixth.
“I love this course,’ Clowser said. “I ran on it as a freshman and it felt good to get back.’
Clower and Ali Valenti both ran under 20 to display the Maidens’ strength up front. NP is just looking to tighten things up in the back.
“We’ve had five that have been pretty close, but they have to get closer than that, and six and seven we definitely have to move up,’ NP coach Jim Crawford Jr. said. “But it’s early yet so hopefully they’ll improve as we go along.’
