CROSS COUNTRY: Miller helps Perk Valley girls stay unbeaten; Methacton boys top PV
CENTER POINT >> Fast individuals meshing into a tight pack: That’s been the standard for the Perkiomen Valley girls in recent years.
It’s been more of the same this fall. It was very much in evidence Tuesday when the Vikings were hosted by Methacton in a Pioneer Athletic Conference meet at Heebner Park.
The PV girls dominated the Warriors, taking eight of the first 10 places in an 18-45 runaway that kept them perfect for the 2020 season. A closer boys’ contest, marked by a veritable photo finish for first place, went to Methacton 25-30.
Sienna Miller blistered the Heebner course in the girls race, clocking an 18:45. That was more than a minute faster than teammate Summer Watts, the PAC’s reigning individual champion, whose 19:57 run left her a comfortable second ahead of Methacton front-runner Molly Thomas’s 20:09.
“I’m happy with the girls,” PV head coach Ryan Sullivan said about his 6-0 unit, “and excited about going to districts. We’re working to get everyone tapered for districts and keep everyone healthy.”
En route to a second straight undefeated PAC season, PV dominated the Top 10 with a five-runner pack behind Miller and Watts. Delaney O’Sullivan, Megan Furlong, Claudia Brach, Lindsay Fry and Elyse Tancini finished in that order in a 79-second span — headed by O’Sullivan’s 20:28 — and Denise Hurd added a 10th in 21:48.
Miller’s win enhanced a freshman season that’s seen her lead every race this fall. It’s the reward for an off-season’s training impacted by the self-quarantining requirements through the spring and into the summer months.
“Training hard and working hard,” she said in describing her approach. “We (teammates) were doing it separately, then got to work together.”
In the boys’ competition, PV’s Kabiru Brown and Methacton’s Vaughn Lackman dueled right to the line. They were both clocked at 17:17, but Brown was a hair ahead at the finish.
“The last mile, I came at him,” Brown said. “I felt I could have run a bit faster.”
“I let him lead the whole race,” Lackman noted, “because we (team) wanted to win the meet.”
The Methacton boys went 3-4 behind Brown and Lackman. Charlie D’Orazio was third in 17:39 and Chris Spletzer fourth in 17:45.
Tim Bricker and Evan Romano gave PV (4-2) a 5-6, with teammates Dan Hayman eighth and Dylan Ribelin 10th. What carried the day for the Warriors (4-1), though, was Jason Shumaker going eighth — he finished one second (17:59) ahead of Hayman — and Matt Sanders ninth three seconds later.
“We’re more concerned with Spring-Ford Friday,” Lackman said of his team’s next opponent, which improved to 6-0 against Upper Perkiomen.
The Methacton girls (3-2) went 8-2 in the second 10 after Bipasha Moktan’s 21:47 ninth place, Chris Gong led the group, placing 11th in 22:03.
“I was hoping Molly would break into the top five,” head coach Steve Mahan said, “and was hoping Bipasha could slip in between their four and five. That’s what we were shooting for.”
With the District 1 meet coming up next weekend, the teams’ runners are shooting to qualify for states out of the single post-season meet, the pandemic rescheduling result elimination of the PAC championship.
“I’m ready for it,” Miller said. “I want to try and place well.”
“I’m hoping to get under 16:20,” Brown, who posted a personal-best 16:27 in a previous meet with Upper Perkiomen, added, “and will probably be in the Top 10. The top 15 from districts will go to states, and I’m confident of making that.”
“I’d like to make states,” Lackman said. “Last Friday I ran a PR of 16:45, and I’d like to get to 16:20.”
NOTES >> The meet celebrated Methacton’s senior class, which includes D’Orazio and Aidan Byrne for the boys and Casey Biglin for the girls. … A misunderstanding on the course layout resulted in the girls adding approximately 20 to 30 yards to their run.
