Cross country season opened for Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom, and Liberty harriers on Sept. 14 when the Hurricanes hosted the Golden Hawks, the Patriots, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain East, and Pocono Mountain West at Louise Moore Park.

All three Bethlehem schools won their meets against all three Pocono schools, but it was Freedom that had the top places with Alex Heidemann and Dylan Boyle finishing in first and second, and Avaline Fihlman finishing in second behind Ella Bray from PM West.

“It was a new course for them,” said Freedom head coach Bob Thear. “Basically, it’s two, big, outer loops. It is pretty logical, but the course could have been faster. The grass was really long yet in a lot of spots.”

Heidemann took first place in the boys race.

“There wasn’t anyone around me, so Coach had me go out a little conservative and hold on and keep a good distance in front of the pack,” Heidemann said. “I really liked the course. It was pretty flat, and there weren’t too many turns, no hills.”

Heidemann, a senior, finished with a time of 17:55.

“Medaling at states is kind of the end goal. I just have to keep racing like I am. Based on the invitationals over the last week, I’m feeling pretty confident as far as the season goes and my fitness currently,” he said. “We have a lot of freshmen, but we have some injuries and lost a few to Lehigh Valley Academy’s cross country team, but we make the most of what we’ve got and hopefully have a winning record.”

Boyle is one of those freshmen.

“I just tried to keep Heidemann in my sight most of the time, not try to pace with him because he’s really fast,” Boyle said. “I went out the first mile pretty hard and I tried to stay behind the Liberty pack, and then on the second mile, I passed them all and tried to stick with Heidy. It felt pretty good and awesome to finish.”

Fihlman, a sophomore, was sidelined last year with an injury, but Coach Thear was confident in her ability to place high last week.

“I saw her running in some of the workouts with some of the boys, and I thought she would run around 21:00, so we had her run a little conservative at Moravian Academy (Lion Invitational) and she was 11th there, and she was 16th at DeSales (Invitational), so I told her, ‘You’re gonna be in the front of this race. You need to be ready for that.’ And she said, ‘You mean top 10?’ and I said, ‘No, in the very front so don’t panic if you’re in that position because that’s where you belong.’”

Fihlman’s time was 20:59, and Bray’s was 20:46.

“She was behind me for most of the race, and once we got to the finish, she caught up and passed me,” said Fihlman. “Yeah, I was [mad]. I don’t feel like I’m the fastest, but it was good competition. I think I need to review the courses more before I run them because I wasn’t sure where to kick.”

Maddie Mumma came in third for Liberty with a time of 21:12, and Aubrey Yeager placed fourth for Freedom with a time of 23:23.

“I started out pretty fast to try and get with the pack. It got me out there further, so if I had to slow down, it wouldn’t put me too far back,” said Yeager. “The course was a little challenging, especially going with two loops, but it was flat so it felt better.”

GIRLS TOP 10:

1. Ella Bray (PMW) 20:46, 2. Avaline Fihlman (F) 20:59, 3. Maddie Mumma (L) 21:12, 4. Aubrey Yeager (F) 23:23, 5. Violet Koszul (L) 23:35, 6. Emily Orrico (L) 23:43, 7. Mikailyn Matacavage (L) 23:48, 8. Margaret Burke 24:28 (B), 9. Julia Bricco (B) 24:45, 10. Kayla Lazorik (L) 24:52

BOYS TOP 10:

1. Alex Heidemann (F) 17:55, 2. Dylan Boyle (F) 18:33 3. Owen Reilly (L) 18:38, 4. Jacob Rivera (L) 18:56, 5. Daniel Smith (B) 19:00, 6. Jacob Orrico (L) 19:05, 7. Cole Rufe (L) 19:12, 8. Ryan (F) 19:16, 9. Aidan Michels (B) 19:16, 10. Ben Pfefer (L) 19:23