Runners from Northwestern, Freedom, Palisades take gold
A fantastic and fun finish. A first-time postseason champion. And another title for a familiar face.
Freedom senior Alex Heidemann edged out Southern Lehigh senior Dominik Lisicky at the finish line in Thursday’s District 11 Class 3A boys championship race, a highlight of this season’s cross-country extravaganza at DeSales University.
Heidemann, who last week won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title, timed 16 minutes, 28 seconds. Lisicky, the Colonial League runner-up, clocked 16:35.
“Oh, my God, that was a race,” an elated Heidemann said. “He kept pushing and pushing up those hills and with about three-quarters of a mile to race he had me by at least 10 seconds. I was running for second place at that point. But with about 400 meters to go, I heard people cheering me on. I just let it go and went for it. I nipped him. I got him.”
Northwestern Lehigh junior Samuel Bower took the 2A title in 16:48, his first postseason gold medal in cross country.
Palisades’ Thomas Smigo, meanwhile, won a third district title one week after he secured his third straight Colonial crown. The Pirates junior prevailed in 16.36.
Nazareth in Class 3A, Northwestern in 2A and Moravian Academy in Class A all captured team titles.
Heidemann heroics
With less than a mile to run, Freedom’s Heidemann thought he was racing for second place. With 400 meters remaining, he figured he couldn’t lose.
Heidemann, a track and field champion in the spring, relied on his late speed to run down Lisicky.
“Of course, that track speed really helps me with my kicks and to finish the race so strong,” he said. “I love track but it’s nice to have a good cross-country season. Right as I was coming out of the forest with 400 meters to run, one of my assistant coaches was like, ‘Don’t let me down.’ And I knew in my head I was
winning that race.”
Heidemann’s triumphant time was 23 ticks faster than his winning time on the same course at the EPC championships.
He thrived on the competition provided by Lisicky.
“I knew he was my main competition,” said Heidemann, who is considering both Lehigh and Bucknell as his college choice.
The team title went to Nazareth. Coach Ken Rolek’s Blue Eagles bested Liberty 72-82 for the top spot, one week after they claimed the EPC crown over Parkland. Senior Cameron Koch (fifth), junior Adam Kollgaard (seventh) and junior Connor Murphy (ninth) all placed among the top 10 for Nazareth.
Liam Davis of East Stroudsburg South took third in 17:06.
The top two teams and top 10 individuals, not including runners on the top two teams, qualified for the PIAA championships set for Saturday, Nov. 6 in Hershey.
Bower power
Northwestern’s Bower knew his toughest competition would come from a Tigers’ teammate.
Bower and classmate Matthew Santana went back and forth for most of the season, one beating the other to the finish line in one Colonial League race and the other prevailing the next time out. Bower was the winner on Thursday. He topped Santana by a relatively comfortable 17 seconds.
“Last week I was dealing with a little bit of a hip injury. I was able to recover really quickly and get healthy,” said Bower, who finished fourth at the league meet. Santana was second. “I took it out a little too fast but I was able to settle down and get to a good pace and work the hills.
“My personal expectation, obviously, was to win and my team goal was to place all five in the top five. That was a little ambitious but we ended up with five in the top six.”
That’s right, coach Chris Stitzel’s powerhouse program put five runners among the top six to total a mere 17 points. Allentown Central Catholic was second with 97 points to also qualify for states.
Cole Chukoskie (third), Joe Chukoskie (fifth) and Nathan Vincent (sixth) completed the Tigers’ top five. They won the 2A team championship a year ago, as well
“We’re looking to win it,” Bower said of the state championships expectation. “I think we have a good shot at it.”
Super Smigo
Palisades’ Smigo is now six-for-six in league and district championship races.
He’s a three-time league champ and now a three-time district champ. Smigo’s time on Thursday was eight seconds slower than the top time of the day. Without competition to push him, Smigo looks for other goals to motivate himself.
“I definitely wanted to go out and win it. The goal time was to go out and try to get the best time of the day. I was right off of it,” he said. “Overall, I think it was a real good time especially because I really didn’t have anyone near me during the race.”
Minersville’s Landon Boyle secured second in 17:14.
Moravian Academy edged out Weatherly 72-77 for the Class 1A team title. Both teams qualified for states.
Michael Blouse is a freelance writer.
DISTRICT 11 CROSS COUNTRY Boys results (*qualified for PIAA championships) CLASS 3A Top 5 teams
1. *Nazareth 72, 2. *Liberty 82, 3. Parkland 86, 4. Emmaus 101, 5. Southern Lehigh 123.
Top 15 individuals (PIAA qualifiers)
1. Alex Heidemann (Freedom) 16:28, 2. Dominik Lisicky (Southern Lehigh) 16:35,
3. Liam Davis (ES South) 17:06, 4. Liam McLaughlin (Stroudsburg) 17:11, 5. Cameron Koch (Nazareth) 17:12, 6. Alexander Kane (Southern Lehigh) 17:14, 7. Adam Kollgaard (Nazareth) 17:17, 8. Ethan Strzempak (Emmaus) 17:19.49; 9. Connor Murphy (Nazareth) 17:19.99; 10. Andrew Huntsberger (Stroudsburg) 17:21, 11. Emrick Leshko (Liberty) 17:30, 12. Conor Fisher (Emmaus) 17:32, 13. Evan Dempsey (Northampton) 17:34, 14. Jacob Rivera (Liberty) 17:36, 15. Paul Abeln (Parkland) 17:45.
CLASS 2A Top 5 teams
1. *Northwestern Lehigh 17, 2. *Central Catholic 97, 3. Notre Dame-GP 139, 4. Blue Mountain 149, 5. Wilson 184.
Top 15 individuals (Plus PIAA qualifiers)
1. Samuel Bower (NW Lehigh) 16:48, 2. Matthew Santana (NW Lehigh) 17:05,
3. Cole Chukoskie (NW Lehigh) 17:20, 4. Jacob Huber (Saucon Valley) 17:24, 5. Joe Chukoskie (NW Lehigh) 17:27, 6. Nathan Vincent (NW Lehigh) 17:29, 7. Justin
Williams (North Schuylkill) 17:47, 8. Owen Hibell (Palmerton) 17:51, 9. Duke Ebert (Central Catholic) 17:55, 10. Cole Schaeffer (Blue Mountain) 17:56, 11. Gavin Nelson (NW Lehigh) 18:01, 12. Jordan Smith (Notre Dame-GP) 18:03, 13. Trevor Weidman (Bangor) 18:08, 14. Ryan Bailor (Jim Thorpe) 18:09, 15. James Freeman (Central Catholic) 18:17; 16. Levi Kunkel (Tamaqua) 18:19; 17. Chase Eller (Wilson) 18:31, 18. Ridge Snyder (Jim Thorpe) 18:35.
CLASS A Top 5 teams
1. *Moravian Academy 72, 2. *Weatherly 77,
3. Minersville 80, 4. Shenandoah Valley 100,
5. Palisades 111.
Top 15 individuals (Plus PIAA qualifiers)
1. Thomas Smigo (Palisades) 16:36,
2. Landon Boyle (Minersville) 17:14,
3. Alexander Hume (Lehigh Valley Academy) 17:35.62, 4. Mitchell Campbell (Palisades) 17:35.94, 5. Theo Urban (Moravian Academy) 17:53, 6. Jacob
Parker (Weatherly) 17:57, 7. Ricky Ray (Weatherly) 17:59, 8. Alex Kurtek (Minersville) 18:03.16, 9. Connor Stasulli (Shenandoah Valley) 18:03.79, 10. Sam Carter (Moravian Academy) 18:07, 11. Diego Olayo (Shenandoah Valley) 18:14, 12. Astin Daniel (Schuylkill Haven) 18:26, 13. Keegan Dube (Minersville) 18:28, 14. Michael
Berger (Weatherly) 18:32, 15. Frankie
Willis (Weatherly) 18:36, 16. Krish Gupta (Moravian Academy) 18:40, 17. Malcolm Naughton (Notre Dame-ES) 18:46.