Clearfield Cross Country Teams Compete in Triangular at Penns Valley

SPRING MILLS — Despite having the number one and two finishers overall, the Clearfield girls’ cross country team didn’t get to pick up any team victories during Tuesday’s meets against Penns Valley and Central. Because they were unable to fill a full 5-team squad, the Lady Bison’s were forced to forfeit to both league foes.

Juliana Mellgard picked up her first career victory by crossing the tape in 22:10 to beat teammate Johanna Ryan’s 22:43.

Head coach John Jacob talked about the battle between his top two runners afterwards by saying,” Both girls fought each other through mile two when Juliana opened up a slight lead. From there Juliana continued to widen the gap…”

Coach Jacob also commented on the team, “With both girls finishing one-two and Abby (Jury) and Becca (Ward) finishing ahead of Penns Valley and Central’s fourth place girl, the team could have pulled out two nice victories – but with a runner down we had to forfeit to both schools.”

The lone Curwensville runner, Becca Johnson finished fifth overall with a time of 23:21.

The other Clearfield finishers were Abby Jury, who ran a 26:05, and Becca Ward, who ran a 26:45.

The boy’s team dropped to 0-5 on the year with Adam Jury being the top finisher when he placed eighth overall with a time of 19:48.

Coach Jacob was able to comment on the state of the boys team, “… four races in eight days began to wear our runners down. Adam and Alec (Coble) ran nice races to keep at or near the 19 minute range, but some of the other runners time’s suffered due to lack of rest.”

The top finisher on the day was Penns Valley’s Ryan Brown who ran a 17:23.

Other Clearfield finishers were 12. Alec Coble 20:16, 14. Jesse Neyman 21:22, 19 Caleb Bass 23:19, Andrew Hill 21:54, Matt Bell 25:29, Kyle Thompson 26:46.

Clearfield gets some much needed time off, as their next race isn’t until September 21 when they face off with Lewistown and Bellefonte in Mountain League action.