Palisades’ Smigo repeats
Moravian Academy’s Kraus wins first; Notre Dame-GP girls win second straight title
The Colonial League and District 11 crowned two individual champions and one team champ at Saturday’s PIAA Cross Country Championships in Hershey.
Palisades senior Thomas Smigo secured his second-straight Class 1A title, Moravian Academy freshman Virginia Kraus won in her debut race at the state meet and Notre Dame-Green Pond’s girls repeated as the 1A team champions.
Smigo, the first boy to win four titles in both the Colonial League and District 11, crossed the finish line on the 3.1-mile Parkview Course in 16-minutes, 33-seconds to prevail over Tyler Rader of Huntingdon, who timed 16:39.
Northwestern Lehigh’s Matthew Santana was seventh in 16:40.7 in Class 2A.
Kraus added a PIAA title in Class 1A to her impressive freshman-year haul of golds. She clocked 18:54 to easily beat secondplace Chelsea Hartman, a junior from Shady Side in District 7, to the finish line by 42 seconds.
Coach Art Corrigan’s Notre Dame team compiled 78 points among their top five finishers to end up in a tie with Montrose of District 2. The Crusaders were declared champions based on tie-breaker criteria.
Freshman Ella Schweitzer paced the tight pack of Notre Dame runners in 21:04 to finish 17th overall in 1A. Sophomore Olivia Schweitzer placed 27th (21:39), freshman Breanna Hammerstone was 30th (21:49) and junior Katherine Koons 31st (21:53).
In the 2A girls race, Wilson sophomore Avery Errico, a District 11 champ and Colonial League runner-up, was 18th overall in 20:25.
Emmaus senior Hailey Reinhard was the top District 11 girl in 3A, placing 20th in 19:43.