Both the Emmaus and Parkland girls cross country teams remained undefeated entering last week's meet at Lehigh Valley Parkway that also included Whitehall and Central Catholic.

And the final league meet figured to come down to the Hornets and Trojans for the regular season league title.

However, despite the Hornets getting two runners in the top four Hanna Brosky (3rd 19:53) and Lindsey Bray (4th 20:03) Emmaus couldn't overcome the Trojans' third, fourth and fifth runners.

Parkland's Cassidy Newman (7th 20:27), Nicole Albertson (8th 20:31) and and Judith Skinker (9th 20:57) were the deciding factor in defeating the Hornets 23-38. The Hornets did defeat the Zephyrs (18-45) and Vikings (22-37) en route to a 10-1 record to end the season.

"We knew with what was coming back that we should be in the hunt here for a title at the end of the season," said head coach Dan Wessner. "They've absolutely performed up to expectations."

Still, Brosky believes with districts coming up and leagues slated for Tuesday, the Hornets are certainly capable of competing with the Trojans for both championships.

"I know we're a young team, and next year we're going to be just as strong," said Brosky. "I'm so proud of all of us because our top five runners are all close [and] all compact. And I know we can easily beat Parkland. So when it comes down to leagues that's when it really proves ourselves."

One of the keys in trumping undefeated Parkland will be trying to overtake their fourth and fifth runners.

"Mentally, I think it's to warm up better," said Brosky. "I think we need to talk [and] maybe form a little bit of strategy, and just like we're doing, stay compact. If we beat their five [and] four runner, that's where it's going to come down to the winner of the race."

"We were pretty even through our first three runners," said Wessner. "So I was happy with how they ran."

Katie Carney's sixth place finish put three Hornets in the top six. Sophie Trowbridge (13th) and Kristen Bray (17th) capped off the top five Hornet runners.

The boys finished with a 5-6 mark in the LVC, and have improved since the season began. Led by Luke Pukanecz who finished in 15th place with a time of 18:10 the Hornets defeated the Vikings 26-29, but fell to both the Trojans (15-50) and Zephyrs (19-36).

"They've progressed as the season has gone on," said Wessner. "I think I'll end up having two kids that will run the league and district meet that have ever run things like that. They've progressed [but] it's still a work in progress."