Cross country: Downingtown West girls sparkle at Carlisle Invitational

The Downingtown West girls’ cross country team, which finished second in the Girls Challenge race at the prestigious 28th annual Carlisle Invitational Saturday, competed on a course that had an interesting – and wet – twist.
On the Carlisle 5K course, a small stream bed several feet wide was covered by water that was nearly shin-deep. Each runner had to cross the stream bed – which was normally dry – several times during the Challenge races.
The D-West girls proved they were up to the challenge, finishing runnerup to Dallastown.
“With the water element, and the sun beating down strongly, I think our runners ran really tough today,” said D-West coach Scott Burns. “Carlisle is an amazing meet – there are teams here from Virginia and other states – and the field is stacked, the team competition is strong.”
D-West junior Carolyn Tarpley led the charge for the Whippets, with a sixth-place finish (18:49.10).
“Carolyn put herself in the top 10 early, then moved up a couple of spots, and closed really well,” said Burns. “Our girls followed her lead.”
Depth was key for the Whippets’ high team finish, as junior Taylor Rochon (37th, 19:58.80), senior Savannah Shaw (39th,20:06.80), junior Bridget Kiey (43rd) and junior Bridget Howe (47th) all placed in the top 50.
“This was the first time Taylor broke 20 minutes in a 5K, and Savannah had a breakthrough race – she’s been working hard for four years, and it was great to see her run the way she did today,” said Burns. “For both Bridget Kiey and Bridget Howe, it was their first 5K high school race ever.”
Avon Grove finished ninth in the Girls Challenge race, led by senior Annika Pfaff (26th, 19:43.20), sophomore Ava Pfaff (38th, 20:01.20) and senior Jade Barrett (64th).
West Chester Henderson placed 11th in the Girls Challenge race, led by senior Amanda Kelly (36th, 19:56.40), sophomore Riley Bender (44th) and junior Weronica Ziemniak (52nd).
Bishop Shanahan was 19th in the Girls Challenge race, led by senior Carlyn Segrave-Daly, who finished 27th with a clocking of 19:43.70 and earned a medal (medals go to the top 30 finishers in the Challenge races).
“Carlyn’s time was a PR for the 5K, which under the conditions was remarkable,” noted Bishop Shanahan coach Mark Schmidt.
Great Valley, 21st in the Girls Challenge race, was led by freshman Tessa Dietrick (58th); while Oxford, who placed 27th in the team standings, was led by senior Abby Oliver (42nd).
In the Boys Challenge race, Avon Grove finished 13th, led by sophomore Connor Britton (55th) and senior co-captain Noah Cimini (61st).
Avon Grove boys coach Bill Langhorne said, “We are pleased to see the effort that the team is putting forth in practice is paying off in big-time meets. Both Connor and Noah ran like their teammates – they remained patient during the first mile and continued to get faster as the race progressed.”
Other local runners who placed in the top 60 for the Boys Challenge race were Coatesville sophomore Josh Miller (40th), Downingtown West sophomore Richard Planck (51st) and West Chester Henderson senior Gavin Brophy (53rd).
Great Valley placed 21st in the Boys Challenge race. The Patriots were led by a trio of closely-bunched runners – senior Jake Zielinski (104th), senior Charlie Sita (111th) and freshman Ryan Pepperman (114th).
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At the Boys Gold Race (AAA) at the PIAA Foundation Invitational in Hershey, Downingtown East finished second, grabbing two of the top four individual spots. Cougar seniors Brendan Flynn and Caiden Leen both clocked 16:35, behind winner Cole Adams of York Suburban (16:28) and runner-up Andrew McGonigle of Owen J. Roberts (16:33). D-East senior James Smith placed 37th (17:28), and Cougar senior Chris Walsh finished 41st (17:33).
In the Girls Gold Race (AAA), D-East sophomore Madison Brown placed 21st (20:40), and Cougar freshman Emily Steinberg finished 32nd (20:52). The D-East girls placed 15th in the team competition.
In the Boys White Race (A), Devon Prep senior Keaton Rush finished ninth (18:18).
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Closer to home, Unionville competed in the Penncrest Invitational Saturday morning, and finished first in both the team competition and the individual competition for both the boys’ varsity and girls varsity races.
In the boys’ varsity race, Longhorn junior Aryan Abbaraju finished first (16:36.40) and Unionville senior Adam Kitay placed second (17:05.50). Both runners are aiming for additional post-season glory this fall – Abbaraju competed in States as a freshman, and Kitay went to Districts last year.
The Unionville boys had five of the top eight finishers Saturday, including senior Caden Young (sixth), junior Lucca DiMario (seventh) and sophomore Lucas Siepser (eighth).
The Longhorn girls had three of the top four runners in the girls’ varsity race – senior Josie Tucker was first (20:06), senior Sarah Smith placed third (20:53.30) and junior Nicky Diver finished fourth (21:01.70).
“This is my first year running cross country,” said Tucker. “Last fall, I played soccer, but I conditioned with cross country runners last summer and fell in love with the sport.”