The Emmaus girls' cross country team had been to states in each of the previous two seasons, finishing 17th out of 18 teams on both occassions.

With a group that includes a number of newcomers and familiar faces, the Lady Hornets were able to reach that state level once again. This time they put together their highest finish since the 2009 season.

Led by Abby Dalton's 18th-place finish, the Lady Hornets finished 15th out of the 19 participating Class AAA teams in Saturday's PIAA State Championship Meet at Hershey's Entertainment Complex.

"For this team, it was a real chore to get to this level," head coach Dan Wessner said. "They worked from the time school ended in their summer training and throughout the season. We had to beat a team in Parkland that we hadn't beaten all year. We had seen them in dual meets, invitationals and at leagues. It's always our goal to do the best we can at the end of the year. At points of the season, it was looking like we might not get to that second place [at districts]. To see that happen, I'm so happy for this group."

Katie Bacher (79), Cassidy Leight (167), Jaclyn Reinbold (168), Katrina Durrwachter (185), Kristen Bray (203) and Sneha Shankhar (215) rounded out the Lady Hornets' finishers.

"To the goals we set, we came up here and pretty much met them," Wessner said. "Everybody had solid races, if not really good races. It was an all-around game day up here."

Bacher, a junior, was a member of last season's team that made the trip to Hershey.

"I couldn't ask for a better team," Bacher said. "We're so supportive of each other, and we all push each other. It's such a great team environment."

It may be a bit of a surprise seeing Dalton, a freshman, place in the top 25 to earn a medal at the state meet. But Wessner has seen the ninth-grader imrpove tremdously throughout the season. She had her eyes set on finishing among the top 50 participants. She not only accomplished that, but she shattered what she had set for herself leading up to the meet.

"Katie is a known quantity because she has been in the program," Wessner said. "Abby has been running with her virtually all season...We had our meeting last night, and I said she can run for top 25. There's no question. She has that ability, and she went out there and did it."

"I wanted to be in the top 50 and have a strong last mile," Dalton said. "It feels really good. I'm really surprised."

After the group of 225 runners sprinted from the starting line, Dalton started moving up toward the front of pack around the half-mile mark as the first hill approached. Once she got there, she steadily positioned herself right in the middle of the medal winners.

"Everybody started to get tired out, and then I started to pass a ton of people at the first half-mile," Dalton said. "Coming up the first major hill, I was like 28th. I tried really hard to keep passing people and get into the medal group.

"I think I ran pretty well. I spent a long time planning."

Bacher was the second Lady Hornet to cross the finish line, doing so in 79th place in a time of 20:02.

"We train Katie to medal at states," Wessner said. "It's been tough the last couple of weeks because it's looking like she has an iron deficiency. Mentally, it's been hard knowing that she is a better runner than what her places have shown. The combination that she has of athletic ability and the work she puts in, you don't get that often."

Despite dealing with that obstacle throughout the postseason, Bacher was satisfied with her performance from start to finish. She improved 40 places from last year's state meet, one in which she ran a 20:47. Her finish was also 45 seconds faster this season.

"Overall, I'm pretty happy with my race," Bacher said. "Toward the end of the season, I had a little bit of trouble finishing the races. The doctors think I may have an iron deficiency or something along those lines.

"That's been really tough and something I've had to deal with the last couple of meets. I'm just happy I was able to do as well as I did given the circumstances."