PIAA Cross Country: Another state gold for Archbishop Wood’s Martin

Gary Martin of Archbishop Wood raced to his second straight PIAA-AA title Saturday at the Boys Cross Country State Championships in Hershey.

Martin set an unbeatable pace, crossing with a winning time of 15 minutes, 46.70 seconds. His closest competition was Weber Long of Greencastle-Antrim, who was second in 15:59.50.

Also from the area, Lansdale Catholic’s Anthony Gargani was ninth in 16:42.40.

In Class 3A, Hatboro-Horsham’s Brian DiCola raced to ninth place, crossing the finish line in 16:22.90.

Methacton’s Vaughn Lackman also medaled, finishing 22nd in 16:35.30.

La Salle raced to the runner-up spot in Class 3A, finishing with 125. That was second only to North Allegheny (63). Will Rau led the pack for the Explorers, with a time of 16:44.70.

The Central Bucks West boys, paced by Nikolaus Mangeot (16:59.10), cracked the top 10, placing ninth in the team standings with 279. 

Oliver Michell (16:43.20) was the third-place overall finisher in the Class A race, leading Jenkintown to a No. 5 finish in the team standings with a score of 210.

Hatboro-Horsham had quite a duo in the 3A girls race, as Lillian DiCola surged to 14th in 19:06.60 and Emily Simko was 16th in 19:11.20.

Mount St. Joe’s Ella Woehlcke was 24th, in 19:26.60.

In Class 2A girls, Pope John Paul II’s Gianna Cagliola raced to sixth in 19:45 and Bishop McDevitt’s Katelyn Deitrick was 17th in 20:01.50.