Delco Christian’s Harvey earns trip to state championship meet
BETHLEHEM — Delaware County Christian School senior Alex Harvey has been to a state championship cross country meet. He wasn’t wearing a green and white uniform that day.
“We moved here from Princeton, New Jersey,’ Harvey said. “I went to the state meet when my team qualified when I was running for Princeton High School.’
Next weekend, Harvey will head for Hershey, where he will compete in DCCS’ colors at the PIAA Cross Country Championships after placing second in the District One Class A final at Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus Friday morning.
Harvey’s time of 17 minutes, 18 seconds was 11 seconds behind that of winner Greg House of New Hope-Solebury. Delco Christian junior Michael Logie placed 10th in 18:09, but only the top six Class A runners met the state-qualifying standard.
Delco Christian place second behind New Hope-Solebury in the team standings, but only the district champions advanced to the state meet as a team.
Harvey expected House to set a fast pace and was determined to keep up at the head of the field.
“I knew what he would do, so I knew it would be better for me to stay with him,’ said Harvey, who lives within walking distance of the Delaware County Christian School campus. “Because he took it out so fast, I found out it was a little quicker than I should have been going.
“I knew I couldn’t worry about what kind of time we were running. This race is all about where you place.’
District One will be represented by only one Delaware County boy in the Class AAA state final. Springfield sophomore Liam Galligan took 30th place to earn his place among the 39 individuals who qualified Friday. Haverford High’s Liam Boyes (43rd) and James Abrahams (49th) were the local runners closest to the qualifying cutoff who came up short.
Haverford was the top Delco team, placing 11th. Conestoga took first in the tight team race over West Chester Henderson and Central Bucks West.
Galligan’s district finish as a freshman last year was 195th.
“I got a good start, then felt myself tiring about 800 meters out,’ he said. “My mile time was 5:02, and that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to stay with the top group, then take the hill hard.
“I was cramping up a little with about a mile to go. Then I could hear my teammates and a lot of other people screaming, and that helped me.’
Galligan was disappointed teammate Justin Miller finished 22 seconds behind him in 61st place and saw his season come to an end.
“He’s been a great senior captain and I give a lot of credit to him for what we’ve done,’ Galligan said. “He’s always encouraged me to make sure I finish strong.’
Haverford’s Boyes also plays soccer during the fall season.
“I don’t get that much of a chance to train (for cross country),’ he said. “I wanted to get to states today and I got out to the mile in about five minutes. “In the last mile I tried to get by as many people as I could.’
Abrams had some trouble at the start then worked his way back toward the front of the field.
“I was cut off and needed to get some more space,’ he said. “The hills were rough, and that last run to the finish line seemed so far away. It was a tough finish, and I tried to stay up as best I could.’
