The Parkland boys cross country team was out for revenge last week at the East Penn Conference Championships.

The Trojans suffered just one loss this season, ending their string of three straight unbeaten regular seasons. A loss to Easton one day before the Trojans ran the Paul Short Invitational was the only blemish on their record in 2023.

Parkland returned the favor at the league meet, placing four runners in the top six places and having its entire top five finish in the top 16. The Trojans finished with 32 team points to Easton’s 63 last Tuesday at DeSales University.

“We didn’t finish undefeated for the regular season so we definitely had something to prove,” said Parkland senior Ethan Willard, who took third place overall at the league meet. “We all went out there and put together a great team performance.”

Senior Paul Abeln led the Trojans with a second-place overall finish in 16:22.0. Nazareth’s Giovanni Mastromanaco won the race in 16:10.8.

“I think I have a lot more in me for next week,” said Abeln, who has a district title to defend this week when returns to DeSales for the district championship race.

Abeln also has big plans for his team beyond districts. The Trojans took eighth place at states last year, the best in program history, and have much of the line up returning from that team.

“This is just a step in the process,” Abeln said. “A big goal is states. We want to prove ourselves, that we can compete with the big teams at states.”

Willard placed third overall at the league meet, followed by teammates Colin McGuigan (5th), Jacob Barnes (6th) and Brycen Smith (16th) to round out the scoring five. Tyler Rothrock (20th), Marcelo Castilla Castano (21st), Jorge Rinker (30th) and Luke McEvoy (42nd).

The Parkland girls team also had a successful EPC Championship race, finishing third as a team behind Emmaus and Easton.

Lana Hurtwitz led the Trojans with a fourth-place overall finish, followed by teammates Gracie Trexler (7th), Harshita Rajeshkumar Keerthi (16th), Lucy Tobia (22nd) and Juliana Varano (33rd). Parkland’s Madelyn Kruk (34th), Abbey Bender (35th), Marley Boyle (41st), Alexandra Ost (45th) and Adelaide Roy (47th) also ran in the league championship meet.

Mady McCartney (Emmaus) won this year’s girls league title, finishing in 19:08.5 with Pocono Mountain West’s Kaya Meler (19:34.30) in second place.