Glodek steers Perkiomen Valley to best PIAA finish since 1981
HERSHEY >> Annie Glodek had two reasons to be happy Saturday.
Glodek had parts in two memorable finishes by the Perkiomen Valley girls cross country team at the PIAA Championships. The PV junior recorded a Top 10 finish in the Class AAA race, and she headed a Top Five team showing by the Vikings at the Parkview Cross Country Course.
Glodek’s 10th-place run — the best of the 20-plus local contestants in the girls’ Class AAA and AA races — easily put her on the medal stand, the individual awards going to the top 25 in each of the six divisions. Two other teammates of the Vikings’ crew, Jocelyn Rotay and Teaghan Scheinbeck, placed among the first 100 to help them place fourth as a team … their best finish since a state-championship showing in 1981.
“This season exceeded all my expectations,” Glodek said. She came to the state meet off a championship run in the Pioneer Athletic Conference meet two weeks ago, and a seventh-place effort in last week’s District 1 competition.
In the girls’ AA race, Pope John Paul II freshman Julia Costello placed 25th to come away from the weekend with an individual medal.
Head coach Ryan Sullivan, who guided the PV girls to a sweep of the PAC-10’s regular-season and championship meets, was quite overjoyed to see his squad rank among the state’s best big-school programs this year.
“I’m psyched. This was an outstanding finish,” he said. The Vikings’ team score of 197 put them just ahead of fifth-place State College Area, and well in front of fellow PAC-10 rival Owen J. Roberts’ 10th-place 254.
“Five times we’ve beaten Owen J. Roberts as a team,” Sullivan said. “Having them in the same league as us, and Spring-Ford too … those are three phenomenal teams.”
Glodek set that pace with an 18:44 clocking on the notoriously-hilly Parkview Course — a time 43 seconds behind the 18:01 of race champion Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury. She was one of three runners crossing the line at 18:44.
“I started slower, but picked it up,” Glodek recalled. “I ran past a bunch of people 4,000 meters in.”
Following Glodek were teammates Rotay, 41st in 19:37, and Scheinbeck, 62nd in 19:51. Others figuring in the PV team scoring were Julia Dorley (125th), Michele Daniels (142nd) and Hannah Stolpe (164th), with Laura Styer (172nd, 21:23) also competing.
“They all set the standard,” Glodek said. “It takes every member of the team to be successful. That’s why we get it, because everyone wants it.”
“Jocelyn is a freshman, and Teaghan a sophomore,” Sullivan added, “so the future looks bright.”
Costello is building herself a bright future, too. The PJP freshman didn’t allow herself to be awed by the Parkview hills, clocking a 19:52 that was two seconds off Forest Hills freshman Emily Montag.
“This is a crazy course,” she said. “I knew how hard it would be to pass people, so I slowly started to move up. There are lots of hills, but we have a home course that’s pretty hilly, so I’m used to hills.”
Costello was coming off a third-place finish in District 1’s AA race last week. One week earlier, she scored an 11th in the PAC championship.
“I knew I wanted to come out and run the race I normally did,” she said.
Costello’s teammate, Kelly Williamson, ran a 21:03 in finishing 92nd. The area’s only other AA girl, Dyani Hairston of Pottsgrove, was 86th in 21 minutes.
Elsewhere in the AAA field, Allison Brunton headed the OJR contingent with a 48th-place, 19:42 run. She was followed by teammates Alex Glasier (60th, 19:50), Emma Torak (116th, 20:24), Megan Bernotas (128th, 20:38), Emily Hansell (149th, 20:56), Mary Bernotas (159th, 20:24) and Katie Proffitt (165th, 21:16).
Spring-Ford was represented by Emily Smith and Isabella Marchini. Smith placed 55th in 19:48 while Marchini was 65th in 19:52.
For Daniel Boone, Lauren Reighteneour ran a 20:26 in finishing 119th.
NOTES >> Sargent’s individual win helped Pennsbury claim the AAA team championship, with teammates Hannah Molloy (sixth) and Mary Webb (ninth) adding other Top 10 efforts. … Downingtown West’s Aislinn Devlin and Unionville’s Anna Juul gave District 1 a 1-2-3 finish in the AAA race. … Dallas’ Ally Rome was the AA individual champion while Villa Maria Academy, with three Top 10 finishers of its own, won the team championship. … Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy won the A race, with Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy finishing as team champion.
