District 1 titles for Zubey, Cagliola
UPPER SAUCON » One runner had an encore performance Friday.
Another took the first vital step toward staging an encore one year from now.
The Pioneer Athletic Conference found itself in the unique position of having two individual champions from the District 1 Cross Country Championships. Pope John Paul II’s Gianna Cagliola repeated as the frontrunner in Class AA while Owen J. Roberts’ Claire Zubey ascended to champion status in Class AAA.
Cagliola, whose first title came last year against the backdrop of Tyler State Park in Newtown, marked the district’s return to the more-familiar Goodman Complex at Lehigh University with a 30 second-plus win. The PJP senior clocked a 19:16.1, putting her comfortably ahead of Lower Moreland runner-up Siri Hellenbrand’s 19:51.5 run.
“I would have liked to be closer to 18:45,” she said, “but there was a headwind, and I have a cold. That made breathing harder.
“But I wanted to repeat, and I did that.”
Her efforts set the tone for PJP qualifying its team for next weekend’s PIAA Championship Meet at Hershey’s Parkview Course. With Lower Moreland narrowly won the team title (80-81), the Panthers were the second of the district’s two state-qualifying teams, nosing Gwynedd Mercy Academy (83) out by two points for the honor.
Zubey, a runner-up to West Chester Henderson’s Jenna Mulhern at the 2020 districts, became the race’s favorite with Mulhern attending another school outside the district. The OJR junior ran the race’s lone sub-18 time, crossing the finish line in 17:58.5 for a 15-second lead on Bensalem’s Shana Kearney (18:139).
Like Cagliola, Zubey noted the headwind proved a challenge. Another concern was having enough kick at the end.
“It was strong,” she said. “I kept my head down because it was blowing straight in my face.
“The plan was for me to be up at the top, but I moved earlier because it felt good. Shana did a good job pushing me.”
Though Zubey was her team’s lone Top 20 finisher, Roberts still emerged as the AAA runner-up in the team standings. Finishing eight points (213) behind Strath Haven made the Wildcats one of three PAC schools to qualify teams for states. Phoenixville (242) was fifth and Perkiomen Valley (252) sixth.
In the boys AAA race, Methacton’s Vaughn Lackman flipped the 1-2 finish he had with Owen J. Roberts’ Andrew McGonigle in the PAC meet. The Warrior senior placed fourth in a schoolrecord 15:34.2, crossing the line ahead of OJR’s Thomas Damiani (15:37.1) and McGonigle (15:39.7).
“I got by McGonigle with 300 yards to go,” Lackman recalled. “Also Damiani. I tried to get the third-place guy (Caiden Leen of Downingtown East), but I ran out of room.”
His time goal was 15:30, so that remains Lackman’s target. He will have a shot for that at states, joined by his teammates by virtue of their fourth-place (220) finish in a team field that will advance six teams to Hershey.
“We never made states as a team before,” he added.
The local highlight in the boys AA competition was PJP’s Jason DiMarco finishing eighth in 17:49. It will be his third state-meet qualification for the Panther senior, whose team placed fourth (96).