Jenkintown boys defend BAL title
NEWTOWN >> Jenkintown coach Carl Pennell called it a “trideca-peat.”
Do the math, and that’s 13 Bicentennial Athletic League titles in a row for the Jenkintown boys cross country team, who had a nice-tight pack climbing the hills at Tyler State Park Wednesday afternoon.
“These races are won in the summer, when you gotta make a decision to get off the couch and get out there and train with your teammates,” Pennell said. “They put a lot of work in, right up and down the line. And it paid off.”
The Drakes took the top three spots and five of the top nine in running away to the team title with 20 points. Dock Mennonite powered to the runner-up spot with 76.
“We’ve got the title the past 13 years so it’s kind of expected, but even after losing four out of our top five from last year, it feels good that we could still come back and do well as a team,” said the Drakes’ Oliver Michell, who won the boys race with a time of 16 minutes, 40 seconds.
Michell was followed closely by Jesse Patterson and Isaac Mixon, who crossed second and third in 17:56 and 18:25. Nathaniel Barnett placed fifth in 18:56 and John Byler was ninth in 19:08.
“We’ve had some pretty amazing teams the past few years,” said Pennell, who coached Jenkintown to state titles in two of the past three years, “and some of these guys were on those teams, including Oliver especially, who is a stud for us. He’s out there and he’s absolutely amazing. And John Byler has made amazing progress this year as a 10th grader.
“Jesse has made amazing progress as a 10th grader as well. So we had a couple young guys step up nicely this year.”
For Jenkintown, the BAL meet is just the first step to what it hopes is another big postseason.
“It’s been an enjoyable experience,” Pennell said of the 13 league titles in a row.
The Dock boys were led by Trevor Godshall, who raced to sixth in 19 minutes. The Pioneer pack also included Daniel Ringenberg (19:19), Aaron Sensenig (20:03), Bryce Huang (20:44) and Owen Hunsberger (22:05).
“We ran here earlier this year so we had a lot of better times today,” Dock coach Justin Feil said. “We thought we could get second if we ran well enough and we did. That’s good for us going into districts and hopefully it gives us some momentum.
“We have a lot of new runners this year. We’ve seen a lot of improvements, which is great, so hopefully we can keep it going for one more week.”
One of those new runners was Marlyse Giesbrecht, who surged to fourth place overall, leading the Pioneer girls.
“This course is hilly and everything so it is kinda hard, but I felt really good in the beginning,” said Giesbrecht, who finished in 23:54. “I was pretty consistent each mile.”
Giesbrecht has embraced her role as captain.
“It’s been nice, not only learning the ropes but also being a leader,” she said. “I’m proud of us (placing second). I’m really looking forward to districts.”
The Dock girls finished with 49 points, second only to Delco Christian (20). Dock’s pack also included Maddy Churches (24:34), Bobby Jo Dodds (24:36), Paige Miller (27:31) and Carlota Alvarez (29:51).
Ella Hines of Delco took top honors in the girls race, crossing in 22:24.
