Johns wins girls race
The Liberty Hurricanes were host to Freedom, Bethlehem Catholic, Parkland, and William Allen for the season’s second-to-last cross country meet on Oct. 3 at Louise Moore Park in Easton.
Freedom junior Anya Johns out ran 42 competitors to win the girls race in 20:44.
“I knew [Parkland’s] top girl (Lana Hurwitz) was not running today, but I knew Anya could hang with her because she was only a few seconds behind her at Paul Short (Invitational),” said Freedom coach Bob Thear.
In the absence of Hurwitz, Parkland’s Gracie Trexler placed second in 21:35.
“I didn’t expect that much of a gap,” Thear said. “This was Anya’s third race in eight days, and she looked really good. She’s had a lot of instances where there haven’t been a lot of people for her to run with, but she’s done well despite that. As you’re new to it, and at the same time you’re racing and there’s nobody around, it makes it much more difficult. I’m looking forward to leagues and districts and seeing how she does once everyone’s together, and once she has a full season. She’s only going to get better.”
The next eight runners, all under 23:00, were Parkland’s Lucy Tobia (21:59), Parkland’s Harshita Keerthi (22:18), Liberty’s Lilah McClarin (22:40), Freedom’s Amelia Holden (22:46), Parkland’s Marley Boyle (22:50), Bethlehem Catholic’s Aliyah Brame (22:52), Parkland’s Abby Bender (22:52), and Parkland’s Addie Roy (22:53).
Oct. 3 was also Senior Night for Hurricane harriers Katelyn Mast, Rhianna Eppler, and Briana Bean.
“It’s definitely more emotional than the rest because it’s Senior Night, so I wanted to do my best,” said Liberty senior Katelyn Mast. “It was definitely tough because it’s been cooler the past week, and now that it’s hot and a little buggy, it was a little challenging, especially after running Paul Short on Saturday, but I tried my best and gave it my all. I went out fast and tried to stick with some of the front Parkland girls. I’m exhausted but happy I finished and didn’t stop.”