The cross country course at East Stroudsburg South was unfamiliar territory for most Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom, and Liberty harriers who raced against East Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsburg South, and Stroudsburg on Sept. 26, but that didn’t stop Bethlehem’s runners from dropping time from the previous week’s meet.

“First time on this course. We walked it and jogged it today,” said Becahi coach Krystyn Fenon. “It’s cooler, so everybody’s times are going to drop consistently across the board.”

Freedom’s Ava Fihlman won the girls race (18:43), and teammate Anya Johns placed second (19:36).

Stroudsburg won the next three places: Sydney Curry (20:49), Julia Grant (21:15), and Drew Bigley (21:39).

Liberty’s Lilah McClarin came in first for the Hurricanes and sixth overall (21:45).

“I really liked the trail here, and this was a [personal record] for me,” McClarin said. “[Emma Haas and I] run together, mostly, and she’s a great person to run with. There was a Pocono girl a little bit ahead of me, and I ran in (to the finish) by myself.”

East Stroudsburg South’s Maya McDonnell was seventh (21:55), followed by Becahi’s Aliyah Brame (22:05), Liberty’s Haas (22:06), and Freedom’s Amelia Holden (22:19).

“I took an aggressive start today,” said Brame. “I tried to stick with Freedom and Liberty. I feel like I could’ve started maybe 200 before (the finish line) and picked it up faster, earlier, but I finished pretty strong today. With this short finish, it’s very fast. The trail was a bit of a mental thing because you don’t know where you are, and it’s a big second mile. Downhill, you really had to worry about the rocks. I didn’t wear spikes today, which was good.”

In team results, Freedom and Liberty beat East Stroudsburg North, and Stroudsburg defeated Freedom and Liberty.

“Overall, I thought we did a lot of good things today; a lot of good times running against good teams,” said Liberty coach Kevin Bush. “We have a pretty good group of girls- our younger girls, who are switching spots every meet, which is nice. It’s great we have that kind of competition within the team.”

Becahi and East Stroudsburg South didn’t have enough girls to compile team results, but Coach Fenon was happy with both girls and boys runners.

“I’m extremely proud of them,” Fenon said. “They’ve all done amazing. I love watching them do this.”