Results from boys and girls MCT race
MONROE » Devon Hoernlein thinks about all of her accomplishments running cross country and can’t help but smile, especially considering the perseverance her journey has required.
Three years ago, the Allentown High student admittedly had doubts about her potential. She suffered two stress fractures in her shin and could not run her entire freshman season.
“It really hit me hard because it was my first week of high school,” Hoernlein said. “Going in as a freshman, I had no idea where I was going and just being weightless and on crutches, it was just a really bad situation. I trained all season with the girls, I went to every single summer practice. So it just kind of hurt my confidence a little bit and just made me feel like, ‘Oh, I’m scared to put myself back out there,’ and seeing if this is going to happen again.”
But her persistence and determination have paid off.
Hoernlein, now a senior, captured her first Mercer County individual girls championship Friday at Thompson Park with a personal-best 5K time of 18:54.56 — 47 seconds faster than any other competitor in the field.
Hoernlein went a perfect 4-for-4 in CVC regular-season races this year and posted the sixth-fastest time (19:08) among nearly 1,000 girls at the New Balance Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel Park 10 days ago.
She also won a sectional title at Thompson Park last year.
“It’s just adding to it all,” Hoernlein of Friday’s win. “Knowing that I was hurt freshman year and I was out for my first cross country season really is helping me and helping explain to my teammates that the lowest points in any season can help you rise and overcome in any way. That even if you’re out for an entire season, that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything in future years to come. So just coming out and winning sectional titles and county titles, I’m just so happy and it makes me excited to show girls that you can do anything that you set your mind to.”
Meanwhile, West Windsor South won a record sixth-straight team title. Four Pirates finished in the top eight including Kelsey Kobus (19:46.69), Julia Mao (19:49.01), Kavya Tummalapalli (20:22.02) and Liz Petrov (20:27.85).
Princeton, which came in third behind Allentown, placed two girls in the top six. Chloe Taylor (19:41.22) came in second and Siena Moran (20:18.13) took sixth.
Notre Dame’s Bridget Carrezola rounded out the top five with a time of 19:51.37.
“I was actually really excited because I know that Princeton and West Windsor South, they all have really good girls,” Hoernlein said. “I was excited to get pushed today.”