It might be redundant to say a cross country season is more marathon than sprint. But it rings true for this year's Emmaus High School harrier teams, both of which have been improving all year and gearing up for the postseason.

The girls team headed into Tuesday's final regular season meet with a 7-1 record.

"We are where I expected to be," said head coach Dan Wessner.

Emmaus has a solid top two with sophomore Kate Bacher and senior Hannah Brosky, who finished 33rd and 42nd in last week's PIAA Foundatoin Invitational. Either can be the team's top runner on a given day.

"They are 1A and 1B," said Wessner. "They're always within a couple seconds of each other."

The rest of Emmaus' top seven includes senior Katie Carney, juniors Jaclyn Reinbold, Kristen Bray and Sophie Trowbridge and sophomore Cassidy Leight.

"Three through seven have gone back and forth," Wessner said. "If we're going to make our goals at the end of the season, we're going to have to close the gap from second to the next runner."

The goal for Emmaus girls is to finish in the top two at districts and return to the state championship meet as a team.

At the Foundation Invitational, held in Hershey on the same course as the state meet, Reinbold was Emmaus' third runner in 83rd place. The junior was the team's alternate at last year's district meet and has moved into a solid spot in the team's top five.

Emmaus put three runners in the top 100 at the invitational, as Bray finished 89th, followed by Leight (101st), Carney (109th) and Trowbridge (119).

The effort got the team 10th place. Emmaus finishes its invitational schedule this weekend at the Paul Short at Lehigh University.

The Hornets boys team had a 5-3 record heading into its final regular season meet.

Senior Jordan Frank has been the team's top runner all season with senior Kile Vierling and sophomore Luke Pakanecz not far behind.

"I'm pleased at this point," said Wessner of the boys team's progress.

Emmaus' top three boys all placed in the top 100 in Class AAA in Hershey. Frank was 58th, followed by Vierling (64th) and Pukanecz (88th).

Frank, who also swims and runs track, is in his first year with the Hornet cross country team, but he did run as a freshman at Tamaqua High School.

"He practiced with us in the summer," said Wessner. "I knew he was going to be one of our top runners, but I didn't know he was going to be this good."

Junior Darren Labenberg has been's the team's No. 4 runner this season.

After the top four, the boys team could have any one of six different finishers in the next three places.

Freshman Todd Moxey is a staple in one of those places. Other runners who have been there include seniors Matt Kohls and Matt Beck, juniors Mason Trinkle and Barry Seng and freshman Tyler Corpora.

After this weekend's invitational, Emmaus will look forward to the Lehigh Valley Conference Championship Meet, October 15 and the District 11 Championships on October 23.