Souderton boys, girls go 3-0 against Dock, Hatboro-Horsham, Plymouth Whitemarsh

FRANCONIA >> Life on the trails can be a grind. Souderton Area seems to have the right kind of bunch to make the journey go smoother.

“It’s a great group of guys. They’re funny, they’re entertaining,” Big Red’s front man, Connor McMenamin said of the Indian pack. “They know when to play hard and when to work hard.”

Big Red’s combined effort on both the boys and girls side propelled Souderton to a 3-0 sweep of visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh, Dock Mennonite Academy and Hatboro-Horsham on a hot, windy day on the course at Souderton.

The Big Red boys ran away to victories of 19-42 over PW and 17-34 over Dock and squeezed past the Hatters, 26-29. The Souderton girls earned a 23-36 win over the Colonials, beat Dock 15-50 and outran the Hatters 20-35.

Before many of the spectators had even made their way over from the starting point to the finish line, McMenamin was already motoring his way home, entering the Souderton track all by himself and hammering away to a first-place finish in 16 minutes, 17 seconds. Already the course record holder, McMenamin had the fastest time by 48 seconds.

“You just gotta put your team on your back,” the senior said. “And I just kept telling myself, (coach John) Donahue needs this low stick, the guys need this low stick. And I said I’m just gonna push through this pain — we’re all feeling the same pain.”

Big Red took three of the top four spots, with Breen coming through in the No. 2 spot with a 17:05 and Paul Boehm crossing fourth in 17:28.

“We have a great group,” McMenamin said. “We have a lot of underclassmen — about five of the top seven, along with the two captains, Joe Breen and I. We’re setting up a good base for the future.”

In the girls race, Emily Bonaventure set a pace that was unmatched. She crossed in 19:57, with multiple red jerseys following her lead, occupying three of the top four spots overall.

“We’ve run this course so many times that I knew when to push and where the tough parts are,” Bonaventure said.

“We’ve been training on it a lot — three practices a week — because we have primarily home meets this year,” said coach Jake Marushak, who liked that his team is closing the gap from four to seven. “Last year, we tried to get off campus as much as possible.

“It’s a fairly flat course here but it’s very exposed. So the strategy for this course is to just know where the blind turns are and to overcome the extreme heat in the open areas. You just have to be mentally ready for it or else it’s gonna kick you in the butt.”

Bonaventure went out attacking.

“I started pushing the pace right from the start,” she said. “I really wanted a good time today.”

The junior helped Big Red overcome a strong effort by an improved Hatter squad. Paced by Hannah Knudsen (fifth), Hatboro went 2-1 in the non-league quad meet, racing past PW (26-33) and Dock (15-50).

The Hatter boys also went 2-1, prevailing 17-44 over PW and 16-47 over the Pioneers.

Kyle Hontz crossed third for the Hatters, who got their season off to a strong start. Coach Michael Mahoney liked what he saw.

“We beat ‘em up the first three weeks of camp so they’re running on tired legs,” he said. “They’re all running more miles than they ever have.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Kylie Shalala is glad to be back out on the course. She missed all of her junior season because of tendonitis in her foot, but on Tuesday, she returned in a big way, placing second in 21:32.

“I’m really happy (to be back). Hopefully my times can only go down,” said Shalala, who helped lead the Colonial girls to a 15-50 win over the Pioneers, with the PW boys earning a 22-34 victory over Dock.

“When our team came in, we barely did a course walk so I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. The beginning was kind of good until the last mile and a half. I really just wanted to stop but I knew I would have hated myself (laugh). I just pushed through.”

Tim Kennel had a nice race for Dock, placing ninth in 18:34. The Pioneers — runner-ups in the boys District 1-2A last year and District 1-A Champs on the girls side — are rounding into form.

“It was a good starting point,” coach Justin Feil said. “We gotta get healthy and we might be alright.”

Top Photo:  Souderton’’s Emily Bonaventure takes the lead during the Indians’ cross country meet with Plymouth Whitemarsh, Christopher Dock and Hatboro- Horsham on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. (Gene Walsh/Digital First Media)