As far as the eye could see, Freedom junior Alex Heidemann was nowhere to be found about a quarter mile before the finish line in the first heat of the District XI Class 3A Cross Country Championships last Wednesday at Blue Mountain Ski Resort.

What spectators could see were Northampton’s Zeke Colyer and Southern Lehigh’s Alex Kane fighting it out for first place.

“I came down the hill, Zeke and Alex were eight to 10 seconds ahead, and I went for it,” Heidemann said.

On a wet, rocky, hilly course, Heidemann’s push paid off as he edged Kane, came in second to Colyer, and placed third overall, winning the bronze medal and a trip to the PIAA State Cross Country Championships Nov. 7 in Hershey.

“I was so happy. I didn’t expect to be anywhere near Alex,” said Heidemann. “I had no feeling in my body. I couldn’t raise my arms. I leaned against a fence until my dad came over.”

The start of the race was also faster than Heidemann expected, clocking 5:23 in the first mile. Colyer paced a pretty sizable pack of front runners from Northampton, Freedom, Southern Lehigh, Easton, and Pocono Mountain East.

After the first hill in the first mile, the pack began to break up, and Kane made a break for it, creating a decent-sized gap.

“Zeke picked it up on the second hill and had a pretty good distance on me going up,” Heidemann said.

After the second hill, Southern Lehigh’s Dominik Lisicky gained on Heidemann, who had passed Easton’s Oliver Fairchild. Soon after, Heidemann began his surge.

“It was crucial to see the course [beforehand] or you would be running blind,” said Heidemann. “I blew away my own expectations. It was fantastic, but I really wish we could’ve won as a team.”

Freedom sophomore Alex Hume was a medalist, placing 10th in 18:45.26. Joe Bauer was 19th in 19:11.77, and Eli White placed 20th in 19:14.64.

Also competing for the Patriots were Eric Mann and Dan Bauer.

“Going in as a team, if everyone ran well, we would have a good shot at winning districts,” Heidemann said.

Once the team scores were tallied, Freedom missed first place by a handful of points. Parkland won the team trophy with 84 points, Southern Lehigh had 85, and Freedom and Nazareth had 87 points.

“I’m glad we had a season,” said Heidemann, “and that we were able to compete at districts.”