An offseason injury might have slowed Emily Batten’s training a bit. But it didn’t keep her from running her best at last week’s Colonial League Championships.

The Salisbury sophomore took 12th place in 21:16.89 at the league championship meet, held last Wednesday at DeSales University.

“Very happy,” Batten said of her feeling after finishing 12th. “It was better than I did last year.

“I think it’s an experience thing. Last year I was a freshman. Having experience from last year because I know this course and just improving.”

In her first trip to the league meet Batten finished 19th overall in 21:54.71. She improved seven places and over half a minute since running the meet in 2022.

After a successful freshman track season in spring, Batten suffered shin splints that limited her training over the summer.

“I didn’t get the preseason that I wanted,” she said. “I had slower times throughout the season but our last meet was a really good meet for me so it kind of prepared me. This was kind of a surprise because I wasn’t doing as well.”

Salisbury’s Soledad Lausch also competed in the girls league championship race, finishing 89th.

In the boys race Salisbury had eight runners entered and was able to score as a team. The Falcons took 10th place at the meet.

Emerson Juhasz led the Salisbury boys team with a 38th-place finish, followed by teammates Cameron Kubinsky (43rd), Gregory Tenzer (54th), Joshua Orach (68th) and Rafael Carpo (73rd) rounding out the top five places, which count toward the team score. Salisbury’s Joseph Tiao (74th), Nolan Grejda (75th) and Riley Nemitz (93rd) also competed in the meet.

Palmerton’s Connor Hibell won the boys league championship race in 17:03.18, over half a minute ahead of Notre Dame’s Jordan Smith (17:35.13) in second place. Wilson took the boys team title with 44 points. Notre Dame (Green Pond) was second at 54.

Defending Class A state champ Virginia Kraus won this year’s girls Colonial League Championship in 18:05.27, nearly two minutes ahead of second-place Avery Errico (Wilson), who finished in 20:04.85.

Notre Dame (Green Pond) won the girls team title with 35 points. Southern Lehigh (76) was second.

Runners will return to DeSales this week for the District 11 Championships. The top two teams in each class qualify for states, along with the top 10 runners who are not part of state-qualifying teams.

RESULTS

BOYS

Team Standings

1. Wilson (W) 44, 2. Notre Dame GP (NDGP) 54, 3. Southern Lehigh (SL) 80, 4. Northwestern (NW) 100, 5. Moravian Academy (MA) 179, 6. Bangor (B) 194, 7. Palmerton (Palm) 210, 8. Saucon Valley (SV) 213, 9. Palisades (Pali) 233, 10. Salisbury (S) 242, 11. Catasauqua (C) 287.

Individual Results (top 5)

1. Connor Hibell (Palm) 17:03.18, 2. Jordan Smith (NDGP) 17:35.13, 3. Jake Mattes (NDGP) 17:39.82, 4. Aiden Twist (B) 17:40.20, 5. Jeffrey Sunderlin (W) 17:43.08.

GIRLS

Team Standings

1. Notre Dame GP (NDGP) 35, 2. Southern Lehigh (SL) 76, 3. Saucon Valley (SV) 106, 4. Northwestern (NW) 108, 5. Moravian Academy (MA) 146, 6. Wilson (W) 175, 7. Bangor (B) 190, 8. Catasauqua (C) 230, 9. Palisades (Pali) 238, 10. Palmerton (Palm) 242, 11. Pen Argyl (PA) 300.

Individual Results (top 5 )

1. Virginia Kraus (MA) 18:05.27, 2. Avery Errico (W) 20:04.85, 3. Katherine Koons (NDGP) 20:06.09, 4. Ella Schweitzer (NDGP) 20:28.23, 5. Olivia Bortz (SV) 20:38.94.