SPRING MILLS — The Clearfield Area High School girls cross country team capped off their undefeated Mountain League season with a team title at the league championship race on Wednesday at Penns Valley HIgh School.
The Lady Bison easily defeated runner-up Penns Valley by a 41-73 margin. Following behind were Tyrone – 80, Bellefonte – 94, Philipsburg-Osceola – 96, Central – 104, and Bald Eagle Area, who did not have enough runners to score as a team.
The Clearfield boys team was fourth in the league during the regular season, but ran well enough to claim the number three spot behind league champ Bellefonte – 25 and Penns Valley with 64. Clearfield’s 75 points was enough to beat Tyrone – 88, Bald Eagle Area – 137, Philipsburg-Osceola – 148, and Central, who also did not have enough runners to score in the meet.
The top finisher for the Clearfield girls was Kristi Fox who ran a 21:18 to place third overall. The league champion was Jordan Wiser of Tyrone who ran a 20:23.
The top finisher for the Clearfield boys was Jon Sponsler who ran a 17:57 to place fifth overall. The league champion was Mitchell Smith of Bellfonte who ran a 16:45.
Clearfield Head Coach John Jacob couldn’t have been happier with both squad’s performances, “The girls went into the meet seeded first, so our goal was to remain on top, while trying to improve each of the girl’s individual standings. Each of the girls was able to step up to the challenge. The surprise of the day was Kristi Fox. Kristi had several good weeks of practice and has mad huge improvements over the past couple of meets. Her times and places have Kristi in very good position to qualify for the PIAA State Championship Meet.”
“Courtney Smith was not far behind Kristi and again posted a very good time. She was also able to move up in the individual standings by placing fourth here. Claire Mikesell also battled through some tough spots in the race, but was able to maintain her focus and finish ahead of several teams top runners. We were the only team to place two girls in the top five and to have three in the top 10. All three girls continue to make us a stronger team and continue to make each other stronger in practice and meets.”
“Emily Aveni and Macy Forrest also moved up in the standings by finishing ahead of many other teams third place runners to round out our top five. Next on the team were Morgen Turner and Emily Hoover. Both girls also made huge improvements from the regular season and placed ahead of every fifth place runner from the other teams and were able to beat all but one of the fourth place runners.”
According to Coach Jacob the boys team continued their improvement and performed very well also, “Jon Sponsler had a season best 17:57, his second race in a row below 18 minutes – quite an accomplishment for a sophomore.”
“Next to cross the line was freshman Josiah McClaren, who also achieved a personal best time of 19:17. Josiah had a few up and down weeks adjusting to the training and the miles but he was able to maintain his focus throughout the whole season and is now working towards lowering his times even further. The trio of Vince Kovach, Jacob Ryan and Kenton Climie were all able to stay under the 20 min barrier and were able to pick up some very key spots that helped us move up in the team standings. Matt McKenzie and Kyle Thompson rounded out the varsity squad and picked up more key points that kept us in third place. The boy’s team has progressed beyond my expectations this entire year. Coach Todd Winters and I have been constantly setting goals with the boys all year and each time the boys have responded and exceeded both team and individual expectations.”
Next up for both teams will be the District 9 Championships on October 27, which will be held at Ridgway Elementary School.
Coach Jacob summed up the post-season with this, “This meet was a great end to the regular season and will be a nice boost as we enter the District Championship. Coach Winters and I are looking forward to seeing how close our girls can get to a very strong Punxsutawney team, and remain ahead of St Marys and Bradford. With the boys, we’ll be looking forward at how far they can move up in the team standings.”
MOUNTAIN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:
Girls Results:
1) Jordan Wiser T 20:23
2) Alyssa Limbaugh PV 20:42
3) Kristi Fox CL 21:18
4) Courtney Smith CL 21:21
5) Alexis Franks B 22:09
6) Claire Mikesell CL 22:14
7) Emma Federinko PV 22:15
8) Anya Hoaglund B 22:31
9) Tesha Harried PO 22:57
10) Alyssa Clark Cen 22:58
Other Clearfield Finishers:
12) Macy Forrest 23:21
16) Emily Aveni 24:00
20) Morgen Turner 24:50
22) Emily Hoover 25:02
Boys Results
1)Mitchell Smith B 16:45
2) Michael Decker PV 17:06
3) Andrew O’Dell B 17:47
4) Sach Moody BEA 17:56
5) Jon Sponsler CL 17:57
6) Mike Lewis B 18:16
7) Sean Gibson B 18:21
8) Garret Pensak B 18:25
9) Matt Dabiero B 18:28
10) Andrew Brumbaugh Cen 18:31
Other Clearfield Finishers:
16) Josiah McClaren 19:17
17) Vincent Kovach 19:20
20) Kenton Climie 19:44
21) Jacob Ryan 19:50
24) Matt McKenzie 20:20
26) Kyle Thompson 20:40
JV Race:
1) Manny Meinen Bel 19:31
Clearfield Finishers:
8. Logan Gilbert 20:50
9. Malav Patel 20:52
11. Matt Beichner 21:12
12. Shane Graham 21:28
16. Tyler Pike 22:42
17. Matt Bell 23:19
21. Jessica Shomo 26:35
22. Jill Heichel 26:55
23 Devan Sponsler 26:58
26. Sam Evans 28:07