Warren earns medal at Lion Invite
Whitehall senior Mikayla Warren hung tough among 113 competitors and heat and humidity to clinch a medal in the girls varsity race at Moravian Academy’s Lion Invitational last Friday.
“I got a good start, and I tried to stick with the front pack. I knew a bunch of the girls from previous years, so I knew who I could kind of keep up with, and we ran this course last year, so I knew where to make my moves,” Warren said. “I’m pretty decent with hills, so I tried to make some moves up the hills and get around girls, but once the sun came out, it was a little tough to keep up.”
Whitehall cross country coach Mike Lelko warned his Zephyrs to stay hydrated, something he’s been preaching all summer.
“The heat affected everybody today,” Lelko said. “We’ve been having runs all summer, and I’ve been hyping hydration all summer long. I said, ‘Don’t go out too fast today. You go out too fast, you’re gonna pay for it.’”
Warren finished the race in 14th place with a time of 22:19.54.
“I had no idea where I finished. I came down, feeling a little dizzy and laid on the grass,” she said. “Last year, I was a couple places away from getting a medal, so I knew I had to do what I could this year.”
The top 15 runners earned medals.
“She looked strong the first mile. She started having a little difficulty right before the two, but picked it up the last mile, which I think helped her get into the top 20,” said Coach Lelko. “She hung tough. She’s a gutsy kid.”
In the boys varsity race, Whitehall senior Bradley Erie ran a 20:52.88 and was the first finisher for the Zephyr boys.
“I was expecting him to be in our top four, so he was a positive surprise today,” Lelko said.
Palisades’ Thomas Smigo won the boys race in 16:33.13, and Moravian Academy’s Virginia Kraus won the girls race in 18:37.45.
Other girls who received top 15 medals were Abington Heights’ Anna Pucilowski, Freedom’s Ava Fihlman, Delaware Valley’s Ryan O’Connor, Notre Dame’s Katherine Koons, Allentown Central Catholic’s Izzy Kehoe-Buck, Abington Heights’ Reese Morgan, Nazareth’s Kylie Karavitch, Northwestern Lehigh’s Angelina Klein, Saucon Valley’s Olivia Bortz, Notre Dame’s Olivia Schweitzer, Abington Heights’ Emma Horsley, Notre Dame’s Samantha Karwacki, and Salisbury’s Emily Batten.
Boys who received top 15 medals in addition to Smigo were Northwestern Lehigh’s Matthew Santana, Abington Heights’ Tommy Walsh, Freedom’s Dylan Boyle, Nazareth’s Sean Gorman, Connor Murphy, and Adam Kollgaard, Abington Heights’ Alex Duffy, Nick Booth, and Sean Rooney, Nazareth’s Giovanni Mastromon, Jim Thorpe’s Jordan Remmel, Holy Ghost Prep’s Papakojo Danquah, Freedom’s Joe Bauer, and Holy Ghost Prep’s Ciaran Chambers.