The District 11 Cross Country Championship brings out the best in many runners. That was the case for Salisbury’s Shane Artis.

The Falcon junior finished third overall in the Class 2A boys competition with a time of 16:54 during the Oct. 24 meet held at the Bethlehem Municipal Course. Following the race, Artis conveyed his strategy.

“They have those hills in the back and I was going to take it out a little bit slow, like 5:15, 5:20,” said Artis. “Then I just had to catch up (with the pack) because I knew the kids were going to be in front of me and then just give it a good finish.”

Artis was able to kick it when it was most needed.

“I was trying to stay around third or fourth place. Luckily I got third, so I’m happy with my performance,” he said.

In the week leading up to Districts, Artis prepared by somewhat toning down his regiment.

“I took it a little bit more conservative,” Artis said. “I did like a speed workout and then an easy day before this. Nothing crazy, just keep the mileage there.”

The news at districts wasn’t all good for Salisbury. Artis’ talented running mate, junior Michal Sosnowski, was unable to reach the finish line.

“Unfortunately Mike, our number two runner, fell,” coach Teresa Bruns said.

Freshman Carver Moyer finished second on the Falcon boys squad and 71st overall with a time of 19:37.78, just an eyelash behind Tamaqua’s Christopher Osenbach at 19:37.08. Freshman Kyle Artis finished 109th, at 22:01. Freshmen Chase Fenstermach, Hunter Tenzer and Hunter Bleam finished 103rd, 115th and 116th respectively.

“My other boys were out there running with the pack,” says Bruns.

“My teammates mean like everything,” said Artis. “They help motivate you during the practices. Granted, it’s not considered a team sport. But the teams get compared against each other. So we want to always try to be somewhat competitive against the other schools even though we are a smaller school.”

As a team the Falcons finished 17th overall, with a time of 20:29. Blue Mountain won the meet with a collective mark of 18:11 The individual winner - with a mark of 16:39 - was John Koons of Notre Dame (Green Pond).

For the Falcon girls, sophomore Eliza Wiener finished 72nd in the field, while sophomore Logan Woods and senior Angela Acost-Jung finished 84th and 85th. Freshman Olivia Haas of Blue Mountain took first place overall, with a time of 18:25. Northwestern Lehigh won the team girls title.