Freedom sophomore Avaline Fihlman and Liberty junior Maddie Mumma will be heading to the PIAA State Cross Country Championships this weekend in Hershey after placing third and fourth, respectively, at the District XI Class 3A Cross Country Championships last Thursday at DeSales University.

“It’s kind of overwhelming. I wasn’t really expecting it. I was in fourth for a long time, and then when I picked up the pace I took third,” said Fihlman, “but Coach (Bob Thear) told me to take it easy when I was going toward the cornfield. He was like, ‘You need to stay right there.’ He didn’t want me to pick it up yet.”

Fihlman’s time was 20:03.66 when she crossed the finish line.

“I thought it was really, really great. Third was fantastic. I’m super pleased with that,” said Coach Thear. “I told her, ‘Let the other girls dictate the pace, let them do the work for the hills, and then come up those hills, pick your spot, and try and make a move in that last mile.’ And that’s what she did. She does have good, natural racing instincts.”

Liberty girls cross country coach Kelly Bracetty was also thrilled with Mumma’s race.

“Maddie has a calmness and confidence that works to her advantage,” Coach Bracetty said. “She’d been training at a high level through the summer and this season, and I reassured her that all the runners she was going to race (at districts) were the same girls she raced during the season. Maddie is also one who’s willing to take risks, and I’m so happy for her to see her getting rewarded for her hard work. Her improvement has been phenomenal.”

By the time district’s rolled around, Mumma had improved on last year’s time by three minutes.

“It’s crazy because I’ve come so far since last year,” said Mumma. “I didn’t even break 22:00 last year, so to come out here and do so well, it’s amazing.”

Mumma finished in 20:13.25.

“I took out the first mile pretty fast, and in the second mile, I felt really good on the hills. I felt strong,” she said. “Going into the third mile, I was trying to stay with it, but I blanked out a little bit the last half mile, and I lost it a little, which I kind of regret, but I’m still super happy with my race and to come this far.”

Emmaus’s Hailey Reinhard was the winner in 19:39.05, and Nazareth’s Caitlin Voloshin placed second in 19:59.86.

In girls team scores, Emmaus took first place with 53 points, and Southern Lehigh was second with 71 points.