Freedom junior Dylan Boyle earned the fourth place medal out of a field of 132 harriers at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Boys Cross Country Championships on Oct. 17 at DeSales University.

“The time, I wasn’t actually expecting, so that’s a plus. Next week, though, I’m looking for better,” said Boyle who crossed the finish line in 16:32.60. “I already knew where I was gonna kick, pass, and it was just a matter of time where to do it and how far the person was ahead in front of me.”

Boyle finished a step behind third place finisher Ethan Willard from Parkland (16:32.00).

“The start was pretty fast for me. I was in the front of the pack, and then everybody grouped together, and then the top four were together through the woods, and from the cornfield, we all started spreading apart,” Boyle said. “One by one, everybody started to gap each other. I was trying to catch up to get to Ethan, and I almost caught him at the end, but he had it. I was kind of surprised with my time because the last time I ran over here, I got a 17:00, maybe, and today I got a 16:32, which is a [personal record]. I’m already looking forward to [districts].”

Nazareth’s Gio Mastromonaco won the boys race (16:10.80) and was crowned EPC champ.

Parkland’s Paul Abeln came in second (16:22.00).

“Dylan, I hoped, would get that Parkland kid, who was third, which is where I thought he might finish. He just lost to him by half a second. He just needed to make his last push a little bit sooner,” said Freedom coach Bob Thear. “This was a little bit of a dry run. Some people, we hadn’t raced since the beginning of the season, so how are they gonna look now compared to when we raced them? I was kind of curious to see how everybody else ran.”

The top 12 finishers who received conference medals also included Parkland’s Colin McGuigan (16:50.20) and teammate Jacob Barnes (16:51.50), Easton’s James Vigilanti (16:58.70), Allentown Central Catholic’s Duke Ebert (17:01.40), Easton’s Aaron Marcus (17:07.60) and teammate Evan Guydish (17:09.10), Emmaus’s Ryan Fach (17:19.20), and Nazareth’s JT Cunningham (17:25.30).

Freedom freshman Brayden Boyle (17:39.80) completed his first conference meet with a 17th place finish, coming in second for the Patriots.

“That was a good time for him on this course and two minutes faster than the beginning of the year,” Coach Thear said.

Bethlehem Catholic’s Mekhi Britt placed 33rd (18:14.00) and first for the Golden Hawks.

Liberty’s Spencer Sabo placed 45th (18:39.60) and first for the Hurricanes.

Team scores were Parkland (32), Easton (63), Emmaus (89), Nazareth (89), Allentown Central Catholic (136), Freedom (159), East Stroudsburg North (236), Northampton (263), Stroudsburg (266),

Liberty (274), Bethlehem Catholic (294), Pocono Mountain East (311), Pleasant Valley (350), Pocono Mountain West (405), East Stroudsburg South (460), Whitehall (466).

“I thought if the boys ran really well, they could be fourth if they could beat Emmaus, but Emmaus ran great today,” said Thear, whose Patriots lost to the Hornets in a close contest during the regular season.

The District XI Boys Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Oct. 25 at DeSales University.