Whitehall’s cross country team, coached by Mike Lelko, competed in the East Penn Conference Cross Country Championships on Tuesday at DeSales University where junior Mikayla Warren placed 22nd among 104 harriers.

“I tried to stick with the girls I knew I could stick with, try to keep it up, push the hills, and keep a consistent pace,” Warren said. “I got a really hard start, one of my best starts this season. Going around the first turn, it’s always super tight there because everyone’s trying to get on the inside to the right. After the hill after the woods I really picked it up, and at that straight shot, I pushed it so I was ahead in the cornfield.”

Warren’s time was 22:09.10.

It was the third mile that was the toughest with a combination of hills and flat areas.

“No one’s back there to even cheer you on, so it’s more of a mental game back there,” said Warren. “I feel so much better that it’s over, and I’m just ready for next week at this point.”

Teammate Mackenzie Laub placed 53rd with a time of 24:09.00, Tessa Hopkins came in 64th in 24:48.50, and Kathy Chen came in 73rd in 27:23.00.

Grace Tsamutalis finished 74th in 27:37.40, Kyla Pascoe was 77th in 28:18.00, and Allison Pavone came in 81st in 30:07.30

The Zephyr girls placed 11th in team results with 285 points.

Emmaus’s girls were team champions with 51 points, and Emmaus’s Hailey Reinhard won the girls’ race with a time of 19:53.30.

In the boys race, Christian Foehrkolb placed 53rd in 19:14.00, Vincent Eggleston was 72nd in 20:18.80, Austin Hedrick was 75th in 20:27.10, and Bradley Erie finished in 79th in 20:35.10.

Gavin Hagley placed 81st in 20:36.00, Matthew Caley was 85th in 21:09.90, and Aiden Borkenhagen came in 86th in 21:14.40.

In team results, Whitehall’s boys placed 11th with 360 points.

Nazareth’s boys were team champions with 69 points, and Freedom’s Alex Heidemann won the boys race with a time of 16:51.00.