Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom, and Liberty’s boys cross country teams competed in their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference season opener on Sept. 10 at Parkland where six harriers placed in the top 12.

Freedom sophomore Brayden Boyle came in second to meet winner Jorge Rinker from Parkland.

“It felt good. I’m excited for the season now. It definitely boosted my confidence,” said Boyle. “I took an aggressive start. I didn’t know how the race was gonna be because it was so hilly. It was me, a Parkland kid, and a Liberty kid, and we kept going back and forth till the mile mark. Then the Parkland kid took off, and I went with him, and then he gapped around the two mile.”

Rinker’s time was 17:53.04, and Boyle recorded a time of 18:12.47.

“Probably around 2.3 was the hardest part because the hills coming back, you thought they were done and then they came back,” Boyle said. “At a point, on the last one, I don’t know if I was speeding up or slowing down, but I think I kept a pretty good pace for all the hills that were there.”

Bethlehem Catholic senior Mekhi Britt took fifth place in 18:34.90 behind Parkland’s Luke McEvoy and Marcelo Castilla.

“I was just happy I finished the race. I think it was a big mental battle. As an 800 guy, I’m used to being in a faster environment, so this definitely is an adjustment for me, even in my third year doing it,” said Britt.

“I just wanted to keep up with the top Parkland kids for at least a mile and see what happens. This place is terrible, though. I’ll tell you that. There’s this big hill that you go out and down and back up, and that hill killed me today. It was really bad. I was basically walking. It was terrible.”

The course’s difficulty was not lost on Bethlehem Catholic coach Krystyn Fenon.

“It was challenging. A lot of hills. A lot of ups and downs. We do hill repeats on a weekly basis,” she said. “I’m just glad everyone came out injury-free. There were a lot of loose rocks and gravel, so the footing was tough.”

Freedom’s Ryan Haas placed eighth in 19:07.81 and teammate Eric Wu outstepped Liberty’s Joshua Cazares at the finish line for 10th place with a time of 19:29.41.

“Collectively, we ran pretty good,” said Freedom coach Bob Thear. “It’s only the second race of the year for some people. The course is difficult. There’s a lot of short, steep hills, so I think we were ready for them, but the course is not a fast course. It’s hard to get a lot of stretches where you’re just going straight to build up some momentum. There’s a lot of short turns, sharp little uphills and downhills and twists, so it’s hard to get a fast time because of that.”

Cazares recorded a time of 19:30.16, and teammate Ethan Caine placed 12th in 19:37.59.

“The final score won’t show it, but the boys are making significant improvements,” said Liberty coach Kevin Bush. “They ran on Saturday as well, so they had another race on their legs, but the boys are continuing to get better. They’re still a really young team.”

In overall team results, Becahi, Freedom, and Liberty’s boys defeated William Allen and Dieruff but lost to Parkland.