After the District XI Class 3A boys cross country race ended and all results were tabulated last Thursday at DeSales University, Liberty boys cross country head coach Adam Syty stood staring at his phone, surrounded by Hurricane runners, having just seen a posting that the ‘Canes were second in team scores. That meant the boys team would be heading to states.

Initially, Syty thought he’d better wait for the awards ceremony, where it would be official, before spreading the word. But as soon as the Hurricanes’ number one runner Emrick Leshko, who had been in another part of the race area, approached the group, the team couldn’t hold back, and let out a roar of excitement.

“All our training was focused on this meet,” Coach Syty said. “We were on the hunt for that team in front of us.”

The news was made official with silver medals for Leshko (11th place, 17:30.55), Jacob Rivera (14th place, 17:36.16), Owen Reilly (18th place, 17:49.40), Jacob Orrico (19th, 17:49.81), Ben Pfefer (25th place, 18:01.03), Cole Ruhf (35th place, 18:26.37), and Jack Huie (36th place, 18:32.35).

“We were talking about being patient through the season,” said Syty, “and when we were seven points off Parkland last week, the conversation became, can we find seven more points?”

One of the places Liberty was able to find more points was with Rivera.

“He was our second guy today, and that was a huge point swing for us,” Syty said.

Rivera had one of those days when everything was falling into place for him, and ultimately, the Hurricanes.

“I knew I could make a difference but didn’t think I would impact it as much as I did today,” Rivera said. “This week I’ve been feeling really good running, and it paid off. I was able to keep my pace and finished really good. At first, we thought we were third or fourth but when we found out we got second, it was really cool.”

Nazareth’s boys team placed first with 72 points, and Liberty had 82 points, four points ahead of third-place Parkland.

The PIAA State Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Nov. 6 in Hershey, Pa.