For Alivia Bear, it’s about getting to the big moment and not necessarily about a great finish.

The Catasauqua junior will be in the 1A bracket of the PIAA Cross Country championships at Hershey Saturday.

Bear recently finished ninth overall in the District 11 meet in a time of 21:59, and she helped pace the Rough Rider girls’ unit to an overall fourth place in their bracket.

“Districts was a tough race, and I was happy to come away with a medal and to qualify for states,” she said. “Our girls’ team had a good finish to the season.

“It was a great meet for the girls, and we really had to push ourselves. I am really looking forward to states. I know it will be a good race with good competition, and I am excited to see what I can do.”

Head coach Kyle Rusnock had a good inkling about feeling about Bear making the trip to Chocolate Town,

“Alivia ran a fantastic race at districts,” he said. “All of her hard work and dedication paid off.

“She reached two goals of placing in the top 10 and qualifying for states. Coach Gerhard and I are proud of her accomplishment. We were also proud of all of our runners.”

Junior Ava Smith finished 24th overall in 24:24, and senior Kaylee Weidaw was right behind her in a time of 24:35.

Sophomore Caroline Rodriguez was 45th (27:00) and senior Madelyn Gonzalez was 58th (29:57).

SeniorJacob Dove led the boys’ field with a 42nd place finish in 21:42, and fellow seniorTrevor Rigits was 46th in 21:56.

Junior William Aguirre was 58th (22:49) followed by senior Gavin Cunningham (75th, 24:11), sophomore Jonathan Rizzo (80th, 25:27), senior Jaydon Reynolds (83rd, 25:58), and junior Mikhail Hartranft (88th, 26:41).

“Kaylee Weidaw and Ava Smith were close to qualifying,” added Rusnock. “The boys also gave it their all and ended on a high note.”