Local squads race to team titles

The North Penn boys cross country team completed a season-long quest, capturing the Suburban One League Colonial Division Title at Lehigh University Friday morning.

The Knights, paced by Justin Landis’ fourth-place finish, finished with 33 points, edging rival Souderton Area (36), which took the top three individual places.

Team titles were a theme for local squads.

The Central Bucks West, Lower Moreland and Upper Dublin girls all captured team glory, along with the William

Tennent and Hatboro-Horsham boys.

North Penn’s top five all placed in the first nine in the boys race, led by Landis (16:14.40), a freshman standout.

Achilles Shui (16:15.20), Sacchith Miryalkar (16:23.60), Matt Landis (16:32.70) and Brady Sweeney (16:37.10) all scored high for the Knights.

Souderton Area’s pack leaders had quite a day, grabbing the top three spots. Aidan Kearns (16:02.40), James Kuduk (16:04.50) and Aiden Maue (16:06.40) went one-two-three at Lehigh.

The Central Bucks West girls also took top honors in the Colonial.

The Bucks packed it in tight between places seven and 15, led by Cayleigh Haag (19:53.20). Rachel Folkins (20:06.90), Sofia Pocai (20:11.0), Ella Lentini (20:37.90) and Malia Mulcahy (20:41.80) all ran well for West.

Pennridge raced to the top two spots individually, with Ashley Landis (18:46.40) and Nora Ritting (19:02.60) providing quite a tandem.

West outscored arch rival CB East for the top spot in the team scoring, 52-61.

William Tennent outraced Lower Moreland in the Freedom boys race, by a 36-48 margin.

Jack Becker won the gold in 16:14.50 for Lower Moreland, but the Panthers packed it in a bit tighter, placing five in the top 12, paced by Chase Rosenfeld (16:55.30).

Over in the American girls race, it was Lower Moreland that ruled the day, running away to the title with 20 points — Tennent was second with 49.

Amelia Ogawa won the race for Lower Moreland, crossing the finish line in 19:11.30. Teammate Siri Hellenbrand was second in 19:33.20, and Savannah Zeaman grabbed third for the Panthers in 19:39.80.

Brian DiCola’s win was huge for Hatboro-Horsham, which edged Upper Dublin 40-46 in the Liberty.

DiCola won in 15:39.40, with Upper Dublin’s Matt Castonuovo (16:03.60) and Gus Platt (16:17.90) crossing second and third. Wiss’ Matt Winkowski was fourth in 16:28.

Hatboro-Horsham’s Lillian DiCola (18:12.90) and Emily Simko (18:17.90) went one and two in the Liberty girls race, but Upper Dublin’s pack prevailed.

The Cardinals had five runners in the top 13, led by Amelia Pastore, who was fourth in 20:20.80.

Upper Dublin held off second-place Quakertown, 45-58. The Hatters notched third with 64.