Liberty seniors Emily Jobes and Cole Frank competed at the PIAA State Cross Country Championships this past Saturday in Hershey, and although their races resulted in placing similarly- 27th and 24th, respectively- their stories are different.

“For Emily, it was tough this year, given the lack of ability to get high-level competition and get a sense of where we fell,” said Hurricane coach Adam Syty. “The heat got to her [on Saturday]. It was the hottest race of the day, and there wasn’t enough we could do to get her body adjusted.”

The Class 3A girls ran in four different heats midafternoon, when the temperature was 75 degrees. But four heats meant less competition per race, and less of a sense of what Jobes was accomplishing.

“Of course, she could have run a little faster, but she wasn’t really pushed, trying to run smart and not go out too fast at the start,” Coach Syty said.

The Class 3A boys also ran in four different heats, but in Frank’s heat, there was less of a sense of how he was doing and how hard he was needing to push.

“Cole went out smart, moved up a little on the hills, there were two guys maybe 20 seconds ahead, and a guy 10 seconds ahead of that, so he was fourth for the majority of the race,” said Syty.

But there were three other heats that were also competing, and some of those runners, specifically from District 1 and District 7, had opportunities to compete against more teams within their district during the regular season than District 11, giving them a better feel for high-level competition.

Frank’s 24th place finish with a time of 16:57 earned him a medal, and Jobes’ 27th place time was 20:17.

“I would say I was satisfied, given all the circumstances,” Syty said, “but I think we left there wanting just a little bit more.”