Punxsy Boys Cross Country split dual meets with DuBois/Elk County in scorching conditions
The Punxsy boys cross country team battled a couple strong opponents and also a challenging course under oppressive conditions but still managed to run some solid times and come away with a dual meet victory against DuBois while falling short against Elk County Catholic on Dubois’ home course Tuesday afternoon. Punxsy defeated DuBois 24-31 but lost convincingly to Elk County 19-39.
“It was pretty hot, to say the least, but overall the athletes handled it well and turned in some good performances,” said Punxsy boys coach George Wehrle. “Racing on a day like today isn’t easy but it’s something you have to deal with in September.”
DuBois’ Pete Foradora won the race with a fine time of 17:17, followed by three Elk County runners who crossed the line before Punxsy’s duo of Owen Bartlebaugh and Ethan Brentham claimed the next two spots. “Owen went out hard and hung on gamely while Ethan moved up a bit more gradually, but I think they both ran very nice times considering the conditions,” said Wehrle.
Elk County clinched the wins over both teams by taking the next two places, with Punxsy senior Jake Dinger placing 9th at 18:49. “Jake is significantly ahead of where he was last year when he was a state qualifier, so I look for even better things from him in his final season,” said Wehrle.
Ethan May placed 12th overall with a good time of 19:50, with Liam Storms 24 seconds and four places behind his teammate. “Ethan and Liam are both running well,” said Wehrle. “Ethan seems to have a good sense of pace and works his way up steadily throughout the race, while Liam has made a pretty big jump from last season and actually ran his fastest 5k ever today.”
Freshman Corbin Heitzenrater ran solidly in 19th with a time of 21:01, with Alex Eberhart coming through 21 seconds and three places later. “Corbin is doing a great job, running intelligently and giving us reliable performances in the early going,” said Wehrle. “Alex ran a conservative effort in the heat but still posted a decent time. He will run faster in short order without a doubt.”
Sophomores Evan States and Kevin ingros placed 24th and 25th, respectively at 21:39 for States and 21:53 for Ingros. “Evan and Kevin looked good out there, even though the heat took a bit of wind out of their sails,” said Wehrle. “I know I can count on them both to give whatever they have for the good of the team.”
Jacob Good ran an outstanding race to place 30th in 23:20, his second-fastest time ever. “Jacob did a fantastic job in the heat, running over two minutes faster on this course than he did last year,” said Wehrle.
Freshman Samuel Rodgers placed 35th in 24:47, with Luke Poole coming in 39th at 28:17. Copeland Whitfield ran the distance in 48:05 to take the 43rd spot. “I expect Sam, Luke and Copeland to all show a great deal of improvement in the coming weeks,” said Wehrle. “Sam knows what he’s doing out there and seems to handle anything we can throw at him in practice. Luke has the right stuff to do pretty well and did a nice job in his first race, and Copeland showed on Friday that he’s capable of running quite a bit faster than he did today so that’s something to look forward to for him.”
Punxsy travels to West Middlesex on Saturday to try out the Big Red Invitational for the first time.
Complete Results:
Elk County 19; Punxsy 39
Punxsy 24; DuBois 31
Elk County 20; DuBois 41
Foradora(D)17:17; L. Hoffman(ECC)17:37; Z. Wortman(ECC)17:41; Dippold(ECC)18:08; Bartlebaugh(P)18:23; Brentham(P)18:34; B.Hoffman(ECC)18:39; I. Wortman(ECC)18:40; Dinger(P)18:49; Thompson(ECC)18:50; Fischer(D)19:44; May(P)19:50; Stevens(D)19:53; Berty(D)20:00; Thomason(D)20:10; Storms(P)20:14; Bush(D)20:47; Russell(D)21:01; Heitzenrater(P)21:01; Yarus(D)21:12; Wolfe(ECC)21:14; Eberhart(P)21:22; Wolfgang(D)21:25; States(P)21:39; Ingros(P)21:53; Fatula(D)22:11; Ingram(ECC)22:16; Fairman(D)22:17; Johnson(D)22:54; Good(P)23:20; Ritsick(DCC)23:21; Donahue(D)23:21; Chapman(D)24:28; Moate(D)24:35; Rodgers(P)24:47; Benko(D)24:50; Ingram(ECC)27:01; Norman(DCC)28:14; Poole(P)28:17; Brittain(D)28:25; Bush(D)28:34; Johnson(ECC)29:50; Whitfield(P)48:05
The Punxsy boys cross country team battled a couple strong opponents and also a challenging course under oppressive conditions but still managed to run some solid times and come away with a dual meet victory against DuBois while falling short against Elk County Catholic on Dubois’ home course Tuesday afternoon. Punxsy defeated DuBois 24-31 but lost convincingly to Elk County 19-39.
“It was pretty hot, to say the least, but overall the athletes handled it well and turned in some good performances,” said Punxsy boys coach George Wehrle. “Racing on a day like today isn’t easy but it’s something you have to deal with in September.”
DuBois’ Pete Foradora won the race with a fine time of 17:17, followed by three Elk County runners who crossed the line before Punxsy’s duo of Owen Bartlebaugh and Ethan Brentham claimed the next two spots. “Owen went out hard and hung on gamely while Ethan moved up a bit more gradually, but I think they both ran very nice times considering the conditions,” said Wehrle.
Elk County clinched the wins over both teams by taking the next two places, with Punxsy senior Jake Dinger placing 9th at 18:49. “Jake is significantly ahead of where he was last year when he was a state qualifier, so I look for even better things from him in his final season,” said Wehrle.
Ethan May placed 12th overall with a good time of 19:50, with Liam Storms 24 seconds and four places behind his teammate. “Ethan and Liam are both running well,” said Wehrle. “Ethan seems to have a good sense of pace and works his way up steadily throughout the race, while Liam has made a pretty big jump from last season and actually ran his fastest 5k ever today.”
Freshman Corbin Heitzenrater ran solidly in 19th with a time of 21:01, with Alex Eberhart coming through 21 seconds and three places later. “Corbin is doing a great job, running intelligently and giving us reliable performances in the early going,” said Wehrle. “Alex ran a conservative effort in the heat but still posted a decent time. He will run faster in short order without a doubt.”
Sophomores Evan States and Kevin ingros placed 24th and 25th, respectively at 21:39 for States and 21:53 for Ingros. “Evan and Kevin looked good out there, even though the heat took a bit of wind out of their sails,” said Wehrle. “I know I can count on them both to give whatever they have for the good of the team.”
Jacob Good ran an outstanding race to place 30th in 23:20, his second-fastest time ever. “Jacob did a fantastic job in the heat, running over two minutes faster on this course than he did last year,” said Wehrle.
Freshman Samuel Rodgers placed 35th in 24:47, with Luke Poole coming in 39th at 28:17. Copeland Whitfield ran the distance in 48:05 to take the 43rd spot. “I expect Sam, Luke and Copeland to all show a great deal of improvement in the coming weeks,” said Wehrle. “Sam knows what he’s doing out there and seems to handle anything we can throw at him in practice. Luke has the right stuff to do pretty well and did a nice job in his first race, and Copeland showed on Friday that he’s capable of running quite a bit faster than he did today so that’s something to look forward to for him.”
Punxsy travels to West Middlesex on Saturday to try out the Big Red Invitational for the first time.
Complete Results:
Elk County 19; Punxsy 39
Punxsy 24; DuBois 31
Elk County 20; DuBois 41
Foradora(D)17:17; L. Hoffman(ECC)17:37; Z. Wortman(ECC)17:41; Dippold(ECC)18:08; Bartlebaugh(P)18:23; Brentham(P)18:34; B.Hoffman(ECC)18:39; I. Wortman(ECC)18:40; Dinger(P)18:49; Thompson(ECC)18:50; Fischer(D)19:44; May(P)19:50; Stevens(D)19:53; Berty(D)20:00; Thomason(D)20:10; Storms(P)20:14; Bush(D)20:47; Russell(D)21:01; Heitzenrater(P)21:01; Yarus(D)21:12; Wolfe(ECC)21:14; Eberhart(P)21:22; Wolfgang(D)21:25; States(P)21:39; Ingros(P)21:53; Fatula(D)22:11; Ingram(ECC)22:16; Fairman(D)22:17; Johnson(D)22:54; Good(P)23:20; Ritsick(DCC)23:21; Donahue(D)23:21; Chapman(D)24:28; Moate(D)24:35; Rodgers(P)24:47; Benko(D)24:50; Ingram(ECC)27:01; Norman(DCC)28:14; Poole(P)28:17; Brittain(D)28:25; Bush(D)28:34; Johnson(ECC)29:50; Whitfield(P)48:05