D-East boys, Rustin girls set pace for Chesco runners at District 1 AAA cross country championships

The Downingtown East boys and the West Chester Rustin girls set the pace for Chester County runners at the PIAA District 1 cross country championships at Lehigh University Friday.

The D-East boys cross country team finished second in the District 1 AAA boy’ team competition with 141 points, behind first-place Lower Merion (128). The top six boys’ teams at District 1 AAA advance to States, thus the Cougars’ squad advanced to the PIAA Class AAA cross country championships for the first time in school history.

Leading the way for Downingtown East were seniors Caiden Leen (third place, 15:33.70) and Brendan Flynn (eighth, 15:45.20). Leen finished behind first-place finisher Brian DiCola of Hatboro Horsham (15:28.40) and runner-up Ethan Fingerhut of Haverford High (15:28.80).

“Caiden and Brendan put themselves up in the front pack, and their plan was to see how much they had left after the second mile,” said D-East cross country coach Austin Tobelmann.

Also for D-East, senior Chris Walsh placed 30th (16:23.60), senior James Smith finished 43rd (16:36.30) and senior Owen Hibshman was 57th.

“This was Owen’s best race of the season,” noted Tobelmann.

The sixth- and seventh-fastest runners at Districts for D-East Friday were junior Ryan Christman and senior Ben Leandri. Leen, Flynn, Walsh, Smith, Hibshman, Christman and Leandri will compete for D-East at the PIAA Class AAA cross country championships Nov. 6. Six of the seven are seniors.

“I think these seniors wanted to kind of leave their legacy,” said Tobelmann.

“The weather conditions were pretty good today – the ground wasn’t too soft, and the wind wasn’t that bad if you were in a pack.”

The West Chester Rustin girls placed fourth in the District 1 AAA girls’ team competition, behind first-place finisher Strath Haven, runner-up Owen J. Roberts and third-place finisher Haverford High, and qualified for States as a team – the top six girls’ teams at District 1 AAA qualify for States.

“It means a lot to us to qualify for States, to have seven girls at the starting line at Hershey,” said Rustin girls cross country coach Andrew White. “Our runners really jumped in this fall, were committed to getting better. Our girls really wanted to win the Ches-Mont championship, and when we finished second as a team there, our girls said, ‘We think we have a chance to make States,’ and we did.”

The Rustin girls were led Friday by junior Ellie Keefer, who placed sixth in the girls AAA individual competition with a clocking of 19:01.00. Rustin sophomore Maddie Miller finished ninth (19:11.70) and senior Lindsey Volkman was 23rd (19:33.10).

What makes this even more remarkable is that none of this trio competed at Districts last year, although all three are multi-sport athletes.

“Ellie is a soccer player who ran track last spring, and set school records in the mile and two-mile run,” said White. “She trained with us last summer to stay competitive, and this fall, she ran cross country and played soccer. Maddie played field hockey last fall, then ran track last spring in the 800 and the mile run. Lindsey swam last winter, and last spring ran track – the mile and the two-mile run.”

Rustin’s top seven runners at Districts Friday – all of them will run at States – were Keefer, Miller, Volkman, sophomore Brianna Ambrosine, junior Hannah Betchyk, senior Maeve Bonass and junior Nadia Kim.

“Brianna Ambrosine and Hannah Betchyk have really been tremendous workers and keep getting better each season,” said White. “Hannah is a true leader and the one who set a lot of goals for the team, and we couldn’t accomplish them without those two working so hard.”
Other Chesco boys who qualified for States on an individual basis at the District 1 AAA cross country championships Friday were West Chester Henderson’s Gavin Brophy (14th place, 15:58.10), Unionville’s Aryan Abbaraju (18th, 16:09.90), Conestoga’s Vicente Pena (26th, 16:22.80), Conestoga’s Michael Baumgardner (31st , 16:23.80), Avon Grove’s Connor Britton (33rd, 16.26.10), Unionville’s Adam Kitay (34th, 16:26.70), Kennett’s Jesse Comanda (35th, 16:28.4), Coatesville’s Joshua Miller (36th, 16:30.20), Downingtown West’s Richard Planck (37th, 16:31.6) and Kennett’s Kendal Lanier (38th, 16:33.3).

In the District 1 boys’ AA race, Bishop Shanahan had five runners place between 10th and 17th – Simon Ambrose (10th, 17:54.4), Aiden Shannon (11th), Colin Bruggeman (15th), Owen Whitaker (16th) and Patrick O’Rourke (17th).

Other Chesco girls who qualified for States on an individual basis at the District 1 AAA cross country championships Friday were Downingtown West’s Carolyn Tarpley (eighth place, 19:10.2), Conestoga’s Julia Harris (13th, 19:19.10), Downingtown West’s Taylor Rochon (18th, 19:28.0), Avon Grove senior Annika Pfaff (24th, 19:33.60), Kennett’s Ella Burnham (26th, 19:34.6), Unionville’s Josie Tucker (29th, 19:40.5), Downingtown East’s Emily Steinberg (31st, 19::45.4), Bishop Shanahan’s Carlyn Segrave-Daly (39th, 19:52.5) and Great Valley’s Tessa Dietrick (40th, 19:53.3).

In the girls’ AA race, Villa Maria had a trio of runners bunched together from 13th to 16th – Charlotte Fritz (13th, 21:57.9), Caroline Bell (15th) and Christina Traficanti (16th). Fritz qualified for the PIAA Class AA state cross country championships.

NOTES: The Avon Grove boys finished 10th in the team competition, their best team finish ever. “Even though it was a windy day, four of our seven boys got PRs,” noted Avon Grove boys coach Bill Langhorne.