Pennridge boys, Souderton girls race to victory
EAST ROCKHILL >> The Souderton Area girls had some ground to make up.
“In the first half of the race, they had a ton of green up front,” Big Red coach David Klein said of rival Pennridge. “But the girls wanted to pack it up, wait and be patient, and today that worked.”
Big Red rallied for a 29-30 victory over the Rams and the Pennridge boys were winners in the first race, pulling away to a 21-34 win over Souderton in a sunny Suburban One League Continental Conference double dual meet Wednesday at Pennridge.
“We haven’t been here in five years so we walked the course beforehand and we recognized that, hey, there are a lot of hills here,” Klein said with a laugh. “And it was a hot day so we slow played it a little bit. But I am just really proud of the way the girls were able to mentally hang tough, make their move, and they did a really nice job today.”
Gina Smyth led the pack for Souderton, crossing third in 22 minutes, 9 seconds. Then came a long parade of red, as Souderton took places five through 10 to lock up the victory.
Meg Lysk-Hagy took top honors for Pennridge, winning the race in 21:18.
“You start out pretty steady but you gotta go out hard because we start on a flat,” she said of her home-course strategy. “And when you get to the hill, you just have to do smaller steps and try and keep your pace but you can’t overexert yourself in the first lap.”
Olivia Corbet placed second for Pennridge and Ara Puttorak was fourth for the Rams.
“We owned the first half of the race and (Souderton) owned the second half, and unfortunately the second half is the one that counts,” Rams coach Bill Smith said. “Their pack came on strong and we ran very well from the lead.
“I think we might have gotten a little bit too excited (early) and didn’t have anything left in the tank. (Souderton) kept plugging along, came back and got us.”
Diego Lera-Lozano ran the fastest race of the day, crossing in 16:52 to lead the Pennridge boys to the win.
“(This course) is rough but I guess it kinds of gives us an edge because we’re used to running it,” he said. “I try to run the first hills quite fast and hopefully the kids behind me die out.”
Lera-Lozano was all by himself, winning the race by a minute and 12 seconds. The Rams took five of the top eight spots to cement the win.
“The times were a little slower than they ran last week against North Penn and CB West, but I thought they did a good job,” Rams coach Terry Permar said of his squad. “They had a good race at the Council Rock Invitational (Saturday), and for a lot of teams, this is the third race in eight days.
“Some people handle it better than others. Saturday might have taken a little bit out of their legs, but all in all, they did a good job.”
Souderton had a good day on the hills, led by Cole Keel (fourth, 18:32).
“We needed to break up their top three and we weren’t able to do that, but the guys ran really well,” Big Red coach John Donahue said. “They made a nice pack at three, four and five, and four and five worked really hard. It was a good local meet, tough course. My guys like the hills, coming off the race at Hershey over the weekend.”
Boys Cross Country
Pennridge 21, Souderton 34
1. Diego Lera-Lozano (P) 16:52; 2. Ethan Saville (P) 18:04; 3. Rob Yochum (P) 18:12; 4. Cole Keel (S) 18:32; 5. Nick Morales (S) 19:17; 6. Devon Maue (S) 19:35; 7. Richard Loughran (P) 19:46; 8. Ryan Martin (P) 19:48; 9. Owen Hershberger (S) 19:54; 10. Will Handwerk (S) 20:07.
Girls Cross Country
Souderton 29, Pennridge 30
1. Meg Lysk-Hagy (P) 21:18; 2. Olivia Corbet (P) 21:47; 3. Gina Smyth (S) 22:09; 4. Ara Puttorak (P) 22:11; 5. Jennifer Sidarous (S) 22:14; 6. Allison Malmquist (S) 22:55; 7. Morgan Kelley (S) 22:59; 8. Kristine Kearns (S) 23:12; 9. Campbell Bache (S) 23:16; 10. Allison Clemens (S) 23:18; 11. Bella Musgrove (P) 24:08; 12. Sam Foster (P) 24:17.
