Freedom harrier Ava Fihlman’s choice to be uncomfortable led the Patriot senior to clinching the silver medal at the District XI Class 3A Girls Cross Country Championships on Oct. 25 at DeSales University.

“Ava ran about 20 seconds faster. She probably ran the middle section a little bit better,” said Freedom coach Bob Thear. “Going on the hills, she was in a really good spot, so we were happy.”

District champ Madelyn McCartney (19:13.53) from Emmaus was far enough ahead that Fihlman could focus on the race between herself and Pocono Mountain West’s Kaya Meler.

“I was nervous for most of the race,” Fihlman said, “because everyone who was cheering, it was like, ‘Go Avaline. Go Kaya.’ It wasn’t like there was a huge gap if there was a gap. I worked on it and made it bigger, but for a lot of the race, it was pretty close.”

Fihlman’s time was 19:42.37, and Meler’s time was 19:51.84.

“I felt like we were all together for the first mile and then around a mile and a half-ish, close to the two mile mark, Maddy from Emmaus took off. She was within sight, but she wasn’t super close,” said Fihlman. “Kaya and I were pretty close together, and we were kind of working with each other for a lot of the race. She pushed me up the hills for the first mile, and then once we were out of that, I was like, I’m just gonna go. I chose to be uncomfortable, and I just kept working my way up. I tried to keep my pace pretty fast and tried to build.”

Emmaus’s Payton Campbell placed fourth in 20:22.33, Parkland’s Lana Hurwitz came in fifth in 20:29.18, Easton’s Sidney Hutt was sixth in 20:36.49, and Easton’s Faith Belote was seventh in 20:41.12.

Parkland’s Harshita Rajeshkuma finished in eighth place in 20:47.68, Easton’s Lama Mahmoud came in ninth in 20:59.42, and Northampton’s Liv Jusinski was 10th in 21:01.98.

The top 10 girls received district medals and will compete at the PIAA Class 3A State Cross Country Championships on Nov. 4 in Hershey along with the teams from Emmaus and Easton.

Liberty’s Lilah McClarin placed 29th of 76 runners with a time of 22:32.76 and came in first for the Hurricanes.

Freedom junior Anya Johns was projected to medal but did not complete the race about two minutes from the finish line.

“Unfortunately, she ran out of steam a little bit early from dehydration,” Coach Thear said. “I’m disappointed for her. I told her it was unfortunate she finished this way, but she had a great season and did a lot of really great things. It’s difficult when you end on a negative note, but I said, ‘You did so many positives this year. Just try and remember those things.’ She does have another year left, so at least there’s that.”

Team results were Emmaus 43, Easton 46, Parkland 89, Southern Lehigh 93, Stroudsburg 154, Nazareth 163, Northampton 173, Liberty 194, and Whitehall 282.

In the Class 2A girls race, Bethlehem Catholic’s Aliyah Brame placed 17th of 83 runners with a time of 23:10.92 and came in first for the Golden Hawks.