North Penn girls, CB East boys race to double SOL Continental victories
TOWAMENCIN >> When it’s North Penn, Pennridge and Central Bucks East involved in a tri-meet, the strategy is brutal but simple: leave it all on the course and then tally up the points.
The Maidens squeezed out a 26-30 victory over Central Bucks East, earned an even tighter win over Pennridge, by the count of 26-29, and ultimately remained unbeaten with an all-around impressive showing on their home course Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s one of the closest meets I’ve seen,” North Penn coach Jim Crawford Jr. said, “with all three teams involved.”
The East girls nipped Pennridge, 26-31, and Central Bucks East enjoyed a pair of victories on the boys side, racing to a 15-47 win over North Penn and a 17-45 win over Pennridge. The Knights battled past the Rams, 23-35, to go 1-1 on the day.
Key for the Maidens was that they took two of the top three spots, as sophomore Ariana Gardizy crossed first in 19 minutes, 47 seconds, and senior Phoebe Clowser raced to third in 20:28.
That allowed the Maidens to hold off the Rams and Patriots, both of which packed it in pretty tight.
On North Penn’s flat home course, it was Gardizy, Pennridge’s Monica Brill (20:23), and Clowser who got out in front early and kept pushing steadily until the end.
“We know (our course) really well and don’t want to overthink it,” Clowser said. “It’s all about going out on an even pace and finishing on that even pace is the ideal goal.”
Olivia Dyer (21:13), Rebecca Wilson (21:37) and Lauren Matulavich (22:08) rounded out the top five for the Maidens, who improved to 4-0 in Suburban One League Continental Conference meets.
A consistent top-seven runner a year ago, Gardizy continues to race out in front in 2015. The sophomore won last week’s tri-meet with Souderton and CB South and was also a first-place finisher at Saturday’s Abington Invitational.
“She’s really picked it up this year,” Crawford said.
Brill has also made a big jump this fall for the Rams, pushing to a second-place finish on Wednesday.
“That shows that she can compete with some of the big girls,” Pennridge coach Bill Smith said. “I thought our effort was good. It was just a competitive meet for all three teams.”
Jake Brophy led the way for the Patriots in the boys race, first by pushing the rest of the East pack during the race, and then pulling away to a winning time of 16:52. East took the top three spots and six of the top seven — the Patriots’ pack was broken up by Pennridge’s Tyler Desko, who crossed fourth in 17:21.
Brian Johnson led a tight pack for North Penn (3-1 in the Continental), as just 20 seconds separated the Knights No. 1 and No. 5 runners. Johnson was fastest, finishing in 17:38.
“We would have liked to compete a little bit better with East, but they looked strong today,” North Penn coach Mike Werner said. “They sent us a message, so we’ll have to see how we respond.”
North Penn will head to the Briarwood Invite this Saturday while Pennridge gets ready for The Rock Run, Saturday the 26th, at Council Rock North.
Top Photo: An exhausted but happy group of the North Penn girls cross country runners embrace after their finish in their meet against Central Bucks East and Pennridge at North Penn High School on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015. (Mark C Psoras/The Reporter)
