Perkiomen Valley girls finish regular season unbeaten

SCHUYLKILL >> Phoenixville’s Sean McGinnis won comfortably on the boys’ side, and Perkiomen Valley’s Annie Glodek did likewise on the girls’ side of Wednesday’s PAC-10 cross country tri-meet at the Center for Arts & Technology Pickering Campus.

McGinnis, a senior, rolled to victory in 17:01 on the boys’ 3.1-mile course. Glodek won the girls’ race in 19:21 to lead a pack of Vikings across the finish line as Perkiomen Valley completed a perfect 9-0 run through the PAC-10 in regular season meets.
In boys’ scoring, Perkiomen Valley edged Phoenixville, 26-30, and defeated Upper Perkiomen, 15-50. Phoenixville also defeated Upper Perkiomen, 15-50.

The girls’ meet also belonged to Perkiomen Valley, by scores of 17-48 against Phoenixville and 15-50 against Upper Perkiomen. Phoenixville defeated Upper Perkiomen, 23-33.

“I didn’t feel that great coming into the meet,” said McGinnis. “We had a really hard workout Monday night so going into this I was really sore. But I came out with a win, which is nice.”

Perkiomen Valley placed second and third behind McGinnis with Jeff Montgomery (17:12) and Frankie MacGregor (17:13) before the Phantoms crossed again with Dylan Smiley (17:14) in fourth place and Mike Shaw (17:29) in fifth place.

“There was more competition today (three teams), which is always nice,” said McGinnis. “You are able to run a lot faster when there is more.”

Perkiomen Valley’s John Adams, Matt Town and Thomas Armstrong finished sixth through eighth, respectively. Phoenixville’s Christian Schaaf was ninth, and PV’s Alex Wagner finished 10th. Upper Perkiomen’s first finisher was Landon Detweiler, who came in 12th.

Glodek is back for her senior year as well after enjoying a big junior season in both cross country and track & field as a distance runner.

She is the main piece of a large group of talented Perkiomen Valley runners. Their team is difficult to match and beat, and that is why no team did so during the 2015 regular season.

“We have a really nice pack,” said Glodek. “Our team did a lot of running together during the summer. That builds a base, and you can work on speed.”

Glodek liked running at Phoenixville’s new course, instead of its former venue across the road at the University of Valley Forge (formerly Valley Forge Christian College).

“I just liked the course,” said Glodek. “It is pretty new. It really runs across and straight. It is cool to run a new course. I always like to run different courses. It is flat, which is always good for a solid time. It really is a nice course.”

She liked the grassy portions as well as the wooded areas and the scenic background. Glodek said the only thing to be wary of was the electric fence that appears along the course.

Perkiomen Valley claimed the first three spots in the race with Jocelyn Rotay finishing second in 19:52 and Teaghan Scheinbecker placing third in 20:11.

Phoenixville’s Natalee Serwatka came in fourth with a time of 20:14. However, the Vikings took the next four positions with Michele Daniels, Hannah Stolpe, Julia Dorley and Laura Styer.

Upper Perkiomen notched ninth with sophomore LeeAnn Markwalter (21:12) and freshman Serena Detwiler (21:40). Perkiomen Valley’s Anna Sokolowski, Phoenixville’s Emma Wilson, PV’s Olivia Citrone, Phoenixville’s Virginia Wright and Perkiomen Valley’s Megan Foley closed out the top 15 finishers.