Crawford sisters, Haverford enjoy a big day at Delcos
UPPER PROVIDENCE — Senior Ava Crawford and sophomore Rowe Crawford of Strath Haven were all smiles after being the first and second individual finishers in the Delaware County Cross Country Championships at Rose Tree Park Saturday afternoon.
The reaction of Haverford High’s runners was much different after the Fords learned that they had earned a one-point victory (57-58) over the defending champion Panthers in the battle for the team title.
“The girls had tears in their eyes when they learned they were champions,” said Matt Wells, who is coaching the Haverford team while Laura Clinton is on maternity leave. “This championship is dedicated to Coach Clinton, and we’ve been lucky to have her sister, Elizabeth, helping us.”
The Academy of Notre Dame, which placed third behind Haverford and Strath Haven in the team standings, had the third- and fourth-place finishers in freshman Therese Trainer and senior Lindsey Smith. Junior Maura Timoney, who was fifth, was Haverford’s No. 1 finisher.
Rounding out the top 10 were Katie Till of Cardinal O’Hara, Penncrest’s Liz Egan, Katrina Miciek of Haverford, Cara Stevenson of Notre Dame, and Episcopal Academy’s Jilliana McEntee.
Haverford’s other top finishers included Connie Katcavage (12th), McKenna Loney (13th), and Ava McAnally (19th) as the Fords earned their first team title since 2011.
Anya Hooper (14th), Gwyneth Stach (17th), and Stephanie Watson (24th) rounded out Strath Haven’s top five.
“We didn’t think we would win,” Timoney said. “We wanted to try to beat Strath Haven, but we weren’t sure we could do that.”
Timoney is a first-year cross country runner. She also is a member of the school’s volleyball team and often has to go to volleyball practice in the evening after running with the cross country team in the afternoon.
“I had run spring track and the girls all wanted me to run cross country,” she said. “I thought I’d try the dual-sport thing this year.”
Miciek said being Delco champs would be something she and her teammates would remember for a long time.
“This is just the best feeling,” she said.
Ava Crawford, who placed 16th in 2018 as Strath Haven dethroned Cardinal O’Hara as team champion, admitted that having her sister to run with made the race easier.
“She keeps me going,” Crawford said of sister Rowe, who finished 15 seconds behind her. “I knew the Notre Dame girls would be close, so when I had the lead with a mile to go I just made sure I went after it.
“I ran a lot of miles in the summer, and that helped me build up my confidence.”
Rowe Crawford, who won the Delco junior varsity race as a freshman last year, credited her older sister with helping her make the transition to the varsity race this year.
“She talks to me all the time,” Rowe said. “When she decided to take it out, I just let her go.”
Trainer was apprehensive as she approached the starting line for her first cross country invitational race.
“I was really nervous until we started,” she said. “Then I just relaxed and knew that I would have to work the hills that were coming up.”
The Irish’s Smith placed 11th in the 2018 Delco race.
“We just wanted to run with the Strath Haven girls while we could and keep them in sight,” she said. “When we got to the final horseshoe I knew it was time to kick it in.”
At the Salesianum Invitational:
Caroline Shannon finished 20th in 23:07, a second ahead of teammate Sarah Toth, as Agnes Irwin finished sixth in the Girls Varsity Small race in Delaware. Loretta Bigelow was 33rd.
At the Paul Short Run:
Garnet Valley sophomore Olivia Descovich clocked in at 19:43 to finish 17th in the Girls White race in Lehigh. Teammate Ashleigh Lustgarten finished 54th in 20:45.
