Chesco runners make their mark in deep field at 4th annual Unionville 2 Mile Bash

East Marlborough >> The 4th annual Unionville 2 Mile Bash held Saturday morning at Unionville High School, featured a deep field of more than 40 high schools and 1,500 registered high school cross country runners.

Avon Grove junior Connor Britton, who won the boys’ junior race, said, “I like this field; it gives me a chance to race against runners from Delaware.”

Unionville sophomore Jonathan Stancik, who won the sophomore boys race, said, “This is amazing – I wasn’t expecting anything like this – it was great to beat [more than] 200 runners and have my teammates cheering me on my home course.”

Downingtown West senior Bridget Kiey, who placed third in the senior girls’ race, noted, “It’s cool to run against kids from Delaware.”

About five years ago, Unionville High School cross country coach Mark Lacianca came up with the idea of starting a two-mile meet on the Longhorns’ home course.

“We had been going to the Cherokee (N.J.) Challenge, which had 80 schools and was really getting crowded, and it cost $1,000, with entry fees and taking two buses over there,” said Lacianca. “I saw an opportunity to run a meet in Pennsylvania without financially impacting the [Cherokee] meet.”

There were eight races in all Saturday – in order, they were senior girls/boys, junior girls/boys, sophomore girls/boys and freshman girls/boys. A total of 200 medals were awarded Saturday – 25 for each race.

Downingtown West’s Taylor Rochon, who won the senior girls race with a clocking of 11:59.50, said, “I wasn’t expecting to start off in the front pack, but I did, and I really moved out at the mile-and-a-half mark. I like this course – it’s mostly flat, with one hard hill, and it’s a pretty fast course.”

Haverford High’s Patrick Lawson, who won the senior boys race with a time of 9:43.8 (the fastest boys’ time of the morning), said, “I finished fourth in the junior boys race last year, and was not happy with my finish in that race. I felt like I had something to prove this time.”

Kaitlyn Highduch of Governor Mifflin, the winner of the junior girls’ race (11:45.6), said, “I think this course is super-fast.”

Britton, who won the junior boys race with a clocking of 9:56.5, said, “My coach [Bill Langhorne] talked to me about starting slow and picking it up in the second half. I like this course because I could catch runners late because the last part is flat.”

Haverford High School’s Olivia Cieslak, who won the sophomore girls race with a time of 11:23.2 (which was the fastest girls’ time of the day), said, “This course is really fast, and since it was my first race of the season, I really wanted to go all-out.”

The sophomore boys’ race was the largest race of the morning with approximately 280 registered runners. Stancik’s winning time was 10:25.8.

The freshman girls race winner was Garnet Valley’s Avery Lustgarten (12:24.1), and the freshman boys race victor was Lansdale Catholic’s Stephen Heckler (10:35.4).

“I like this course a lot,” said Heckler. “It’s not too hilly, so it’s real easy to push yourself on it.”

Lacianca said, “I’d say our course today was a lot like Lehigh’s; I’d say it’s not as fast as Lehigh, the terrain is not as friendly, the grass is a little rougher and the turns aren’t really, really smooth. I think it’s a good early-season test.”

In the girls combined results, Cieslak was the fastest girl at Saturday’s event (11:23.2), followed by Highduch (11:45.6), Tatnall’s Katrina Endres (11:50.1), Owen J Roberts’ Jane Kratz (11:52.4), then Rochon.  West Chester Rustin’s Maddie Miller was seventh (12:02.1), Bishop Shanahan’s Meghan Willis was eighth (12:02.4), Kennett’s Ella Burnham was ninth (12:02.7) and Kiey was 10th (12:03.1).

In the boys combined results, Lawson was first (9:43.8), followed by Owen J Roberts’ Andrew Mcgonigle (9:48.3), Haverford High’s Quentin Ryan (9:56.1) and Britton (9:56.5). Unionville’s Aryan Abbaraju was sixth (9:58.1), Simeon Shappell Smith of West Henderson was ninth (10:13.4), Unionville’s Lucas Siepser 10th (10:25.7) and Stancik 11th.

The top 10 boys team scores included Unionville in first place, followed by Hempfield, Governor Mifflin, Haverford High, Avon Grove, West Chester Henderson, Bishop Shanahan, Perkiomen Valley, Radnor and Downingtown West.

The top 10 girls team scores included Owen J Roberts (first place), followed by Perkiomen Valley, Governor Mifflin, Haverford High, Unionville, Upper Dublin, Charter of Wilmington, Ursuline, Downingtown West and West Chester East.

After the final race (freshman boys) was completed, dozens of runners danced in the nearby Unionville High School parking lot to the energetic sounds of a DJ.

“Having a DJ here, as well as shirts [sales] and concession stands were part of our vision for this event,” said Lacianca. “I’m proud of this race.”