Chesco runners in fast lane at 1st annual Whippet Invitational

Downingtown >> The first annual Whippet Cross Country Invitational, held Saturday morning at Downingtown West High School, featured a strong contingent of local runners in the 18-school field.

All but two of the medal-winners (top 20 finishers) in the boys’ varsity race were Ches-Mont runners. In the girls’ varsity race, 11 of the 20 medal-winners (top 20 finishers) were Ches-Mont runners.

Downingtown West cross country head coach Scott Burns said, “We really wanted to have an opportunity to have a home meet, to have an invitational, and we needed a meet this weekend – we didn’t want to go to the Paul Short Invitational this weekend after going to the Carlisle Invitational last weekend [the D-West girls finished second in the Girls Challenge race at Carlisle].”

Downingtown West will host the Ches-Mont Cross Country Championships Oct. 13 on the same 5K course as the Whippet Invitational was run on. The 5K course is relatively flat.

“This invitational is kind of our trial run of the course, to see if everything looks good today in preparation for the Ches-Mont Championships,” said Burns. “This course is pretty pancake flat; it’s a 2 1/2 loop course and it has maybe one baby anthill in it (laughs). I think it runs pretty fast, the course is well-marked.”

On Saturday, Downingtown West featured seven of the top 21 runners in the boys’ varsity race.

“Our [D-West] girls ran really, really well at the Carlisle Invitational last weekend,” said Burns. “We wanted to see our boys get after it today, and run as a pack, and they executed perfectly on that. They got through the key markers together as a pack, and I think that everybody ran pretty close to a PR today, which was nice to see on our home course.”

The winners in both the boys’ varsity race and girls’ varsity race were from Northeastern High School in York County. The boys’ winner was senior Cole Perry (15:50.80), who finished seventh in the PIAA District 3 Class 3A championships last fall; and the girls’ winner was senior Marissa Pritchett (18:44.90), who finished in the top 30 at the District 3 championships last year.

“This is a nice course….it’s pretty flat,” noted Pritchett.

After Perry, the next 12 places in the boys’ varsity race were taken by Ches-Mont runners. Following Perry were Kennett senior Jesse Comanda and West Chester Henderson senior Gavin Brophy (both at 16:37.10) and Downingtown West sophomore Richard Planck (16:54:30).

“This is one of the best courses I’ve raced,” said Brophy, who finished seventh at the PIAA District 1 cross country championships last fall. “It’s flat and fast.”

Comanda said, “This is a great course – flat and fast.”

Planck said, “This is a pretty nice course, a lot of even terrain.”

Great Valley senior Jake Zielinski placed fifth in the boys’ varsity race (17:07.60), followed by Great Valley senior Charlie Sita (sixth, 17:10.80), Great Valley freshman Ryan Pepperman (seventh, 17:12.80), West Chester Rustin senior Dimitri Kosmidis (eighth, 17:16.10), Kennett senior Gabe Pardo (ninth, 17:17.70), Downingtown West senior Dev Jijilal (10th), West Chester Henderson senior Danny Burt (11th), Great Valley sophomore Colin Mahoney (12th) and Downingtown West senior Joseph Cary (13th).

The remaining medal-winners (top 20 finishers) in the boys’ varsity race from Ches-Mont schools were Downingtown West senior JJ Conzelmann (15th), Great Valley freshman Trip Gomez (16th), Downingtown West sophomore David Whitford (17th), Downingtown West sophomore Riley Trigo (18th), Great Valley senior Patrick Hanlon (19th) and West Chester Rustin senior Chris Canterino (20th).

In the girls’ varsity race, West Chester Rustin Maddie Miller finished second (19:19), followed by Northeastern senior Bella Treglia (third, 19:34.20), Kennett junior Ella Burnham (fourth, 19:43.40) and West Chester Rustin senior Lindsey Volkman (fifth, 19:45.60). Miller and Burnham (who is in her first year of running cross country, after playing soccer last fall) both achieved the MileSplit US Second Team Standard for the 5K run, which only five runners in the entire field (boys and girls varsity) met Saturday.

Other medal winners (top 20 finishers) in the girls varsity race from Ches-Mont schools were Great Valley freshman Tessa Dietrick (seventh, 19:53.10), Downingtown West junior Bridget Kiey (8th, 20:00.90), Downingtown West junior Bridget Howe (11th), Bishop Shanahan sophomore Meghan Willis (12th), West Chester Rustin sophomore Brianna Ambrosine (14th), West Chester Henderson senior Amanda Kelly (16th), West Chester Rustin junior Hannah Betchyk (17th) and Kennett senior Rhianna Stewart (19th).