Perk Valley girls race past Methacton on Senior Day
NEW HANOVER >> She marked the final race on her home course in most appropriate fashion.
Teagan Schein-Becker highlighted Perkiomen Valley’s Senior Day festivities by literally running away with the girls’ race against Methacton. The Viking senior covered the layout at Perkiomen Valley Middle School West in a low 19-minute run to head PV’s 15-42 victory over the Warriors.
Schein-Becker was shooting to beat the course mark of 18:58 held by former teammate Annie Glodek. She ended up running a 19:15 that still provided her a comfortable winning effort over Delaney O’Sullivan and other Viking teammates who swept the top five spots and added a ninth-place time to finish second in the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Liberty Division.
On the boys’ side, Methacton scored an 18-37 win over the Vikes as Matt Varghese led a 1-2-3-4 run in the schools’ final dual of the fall.
“I think if the ground wasn’t as soft, maybe I could have gone faster,” Schein-Becker said. “Next week is the PAC meet, so bring it on.”
O’Sullivan, covering her home course in 19:48, was the only other sub-20 placer on the girls’ side. In keeping with the spirit of the day, PV seniors Julia Dorley (20:10) and Rachael Daniels (20;46) went a respective third and fifth behind their fleet-footed classmate, with junior Jocelyn Rotay (20:22) fourth.
“Our season has been pretty good,” Schein-Becker said of her team, which went 4-1 against PAC Liberty opponents. At present, the Vikes hold second place in the division, with Thursday’s finale between Owen J. Roberts and Spring-Ford determining if they finish with a share of first or second place in the final standings.
“Over the season we’ve done pretty good,” Schein-Becker said. “We’ve had the best here this year.”
“I thought this group is a good as last year,” PV head coach Ryan Sullivan added. “We’re putting it together at the right time.”
Methacton (2-3) was headed by Carly Ukalovic’s sixth-place (20:57) run. Anna Price and Rebecca Sobeck added a 7-8 finish in respective times of 21:17 and 21:24, with Maddy Ziegler (10th, 21:33) and Mira Erzahnova (11th, 21:53) displaced by PV’s Emma Alexy (ninth, 21:27).
The Viking girls are now focused on a three-peat of the PAC race. That bid, however, will be challenged by OJR (4-0) and Spring-Ford (3-1), which have put together solid regular-season results thus far.
“Owen J. is really good, and Spring-Ford has super athletes,” Sullivan noted. “Owen J. is the team to beat … it’s placed 1-2-3 in a number of invitationals. We have a lot of ground to make up, but we have a shot.”
In the boys’ race, Varghese set a fast pace for his older teammates. The Methacton sophomore clocked a 16:43 to finish well ahead of juniors Garrett Campbell (17:10), Will Rebert (17:24) and Garrett McPhillips (17:25), who went 2-3-4 for the Warriors (2-3).
“I’m not really looking at time,” Varghese said. “I was trying to keep pace with the other guys. I was surprised by the times.
“Last week, I ran a 16:25 on the (home) PAC course,” he added. “I usually don’t run times like that, so I was pretty surprised.”
Dylan Danowski checked in as PV’s top runner, the sophomore going fifth in 17:27. He led an underclassmen pack that saw sophomore Tyler Clifford (sixth, 17:30), freshman Riley Milligan (seventh, 17:31), and sophomore Ethan Ribelan (ninth, 17:37) finish ahead of senior Matteo Goettler (10th, 17:38).
“I’m happy with the guys. They’ve made improvement this season,” Sullivan said of the 1-4 crew. “They’re super young, but they’ve been dropping their times. They’re a nice group of guys … they’re super motivated, an easy group to work with.”
Tom Chimes gave Methacton a runner who cut into PV’s pack with an eighth-place, 17:33 run.
The PAC championship meet will again be staged at Heebner Park next Thursday (Oct. 19). The following Friday will be the District 1 meet at Lehigh University’s Goodman complex, with states Saturday, Nov. 4, at Hershey.
“Teagan is among four or five girls who are competitive,” Sullivan said of the PAC’s next individual champion, which is open with two-time race winner Glodek graduated and attending Cornell University. “I like her chances for that.”
NOTES >> For the PAC meet, Varghese is shooting to improve on the 14th-place he achieved as a freshman. “I’m thinking I can come in sixth or better,” he said. … Varghese’s comparison of the PV course to the Heebner Park one: “There are some hills at the end, the last 800 meters,” he said. “It’s kind of challenging.” … The meet was completed just before Wednesday evening’s rain showers kicked in over the MS West campus.
