Four area runners medal at PIAA meet
Northern Lehigh’s Reagan Pender takes 6th place in Hershey.
Sipping on a giant glass of chocolate milk and watching Netflix well into the evening hours, is how Northern Lehigh junior Reagan Pender said she planned to celebrate her sixthplace finish at Saturday’s PIAA Cross Country Championships in Hershey.
“I’m very excited about my race,” Pender said, “now I’m looking forward to relaxing.”
Pender, who timed 20-minutes, 21-seconds on the muddy, soft Parkview course, was one of only four PIAA state place winners — boys and girls included — from the area.
Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Grace Medei finished 10th in the Class A girls race and Crusaders teammate John Koons was 12th among 2A boys — the third state medal of his scholastic career. Isabel DeVos of Central Catholic took 24th in the 2A girls race.
Coach Chris Stitzel’s Northwestern girls placed third overall in the 2A team standings.
Pender, the Colonial League and District 11 Class A champion, acknowledged that she learned a lot from last year’s state championship meet, as well as September’s PIAA Foundation Invitational. She placed 48th in the Class 2A race a season ago and second in the Class A at the invitational.
“Last year I got out really late and I was stuck in the pack,” Pender said. “This year I didn’t want to make the same mistake. I actually felt really tired when I got out and I thought it was going to be a long race. Right about the mile, though, I snapped in and was ready to run.
“The course setup was different from last year but the same as at the Foundation race. That really helped that I knew where I was going. I could just go.”
Perhaps no runner in the Lehigh Valley improved more over the past year than Pender.
She was a top contender last season and a champion this fall. Next year, she said the goal is a top-three finish at states.
“I’m very happy,” Pender said. “I wanted to medal this year and I was really nervous about it. It’s incredible. Now, I’m seeing what my potential can be.”
Another top-10 place winner in the Class A girls’ race was Medei, the Notre Dame-Green Pond sophomore who was runner-up to Pender at leagues and districts.
She finished 10th in 20:38. “I was trying to get out fast,” Medei said. “Everyone tries to get through and it’s very narrow at one point. Then, I wanted to work the hills. The second mile is the one I was worried about because the third one is easy. I didn’t do as well as I wanted but it was OK.”
Medei said she found comfort in seeing Pender ahead of her at several points on the course.
“Reagan’s a really good runner so I felt good running close to her,” she said. “It was a really good season overall and lots of fun, too.”
Isabell Sagar of Loyalsock won the Class A girls race in 19:12.
While the Crusaders’ Medei earned her first state medal, Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Koons capped his career with a third straight top-25 finish. He was 25th as a sophomore and 14th as a junior.
This season, Koons improved on his place and time. He completed the course in 17:05.
“I’m really thankful I was able to leave it all out there. That’s the only thing I wanted,” Koons said. “I didn’t really care what my position was or what my time ended up; I just wanted to feel like I gave it my all. I’ve been blessed with three great races out here. It’s really just amazing.”
Koons called his big-race experience crucial.
“The strategy was to go out with the top pack,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if there’d be one guy way ahead or a pack like there was this year. I was able to stay with the leaders for a mile and a half. I lost touch with the top few guys but I was able to stay with most of the pack.
“Now I’m going to take a few weeks off and let my legs recover. Maybe play some basketball with my friends or something like that.”
Of the area teams to qualify for the state championships, Northwestern’s girls enjoyed the top performance.
The Tigers were third with 116 points. Central Cambria won the title with 92 and Danville took second with 105. Senior Alyssa Zack was Northwestern’s top finisher in 35th overall. Classmate Madeline Consuelos was 39th and sophomore Kailyn Jones ended up 45th.
Easton’s boys were 12th in the Class 3A team standings and the Red Rover girls took 14th.
Blue Mountain freshman Olivia Haas was District 11’s top finisher, earning a fifth-place medal in the 2A girls race.