Liberty and Bethlehem Catholic’s girls cross country teams captured four individual medals at the District XI Cross Country Championships on Oct. 23 at DeSales University, Center Valley.

Liberty sophomore Katie Drabouski ran away with the silver medal in the Class 3A race.

“I narrowly missed states for track last year, so I really wanted this to happen for cross country,” Drabouski said. “The heat was definitely rough. There wasn’t a lot of shade, especially in the third mile, so it was tough to finish.”

Emmaus’s Madelyn McCartney won the gold medal with a time of 18:56.4, coming in ahead of Drabouski whose time was 19:29.8.

“[Coach Kevin Bush] had seen how close I was to Madelyn last week, so he said to stay a little bit behind her, and then in that third mile, if you can, try to start to pass her,” said Drabouski. “We went out super fast the first mile, which was tough, and then I tried to stay behind her, but today, she had a better race. I felt really proud with how I did, especially my first cross country districts, so it’s exciting.”

Third place went to Emmaus’s Payton Campbell with a time of 19:57.6.

Liberty’s Elizabeth McClarin came in fourth with a time of 20:18.3.

“We talked about being more aggressive and to try and stay close with the two Emmaus girls,” said Coach Bush. “Give a lot of credit to Mady from Emmaus. She ran a great race today. It seemed between the first and second mile, Mady was able to open it up, and at that point, they changed strategies a little bit, but they both placed really high, so they have a lot to be proud of in their first year doing this. Our girls hung tough, and now we’re hoping for good things at states.”

McClarin and Drabouski will compete in the state meet on Nov. 2 in Hershey.

Also competing for the Hurricanes were Emma Haas (22:29.4), Kendall Terefinko (23:49.0), Sierra Schmoyer (23:49.9), Zoey Sobrinski (25:50.0), and Emily Orrico (25:51.8).

Liberty’s girls placed fourth of 11 in team results.

Emmaus’s girls team came in first, and Easton came in second.

Freedom runners also competed in the 3A race, including Taylor Vidumsky (21:48.8), Amelia Holden (23:27.2), Anya Johns (24:21.7), and Ivy Johns (24:32.3).

Freedom’s girls team placed eighth.

In the Class 1A race, Bethlehem Catholic’s Rio Stoudt placed third with a time of 22:50.1 in her first cross country season.

“I think my coaches had an impact by helping us with the course, and we practice every day for three hours after school, so that really prepared me for this race,” Stoudt said. “I’m very happy with my race because it’s my first year, and I’m only a sophomore, but next year, I really want to aim for first place.”

Becahi senior Remiah Rivera took sixth place with a time of 24:07.5.

“This race, everyone was struggling going up the hills so I was like, that’s my turn to pass them,” Rivera said. “I knew it was my last race, so I pushed harder. I saw a lot of my family and coaches, and that helped me a lot. They yelled out my places and my times, so I knew what I needed to do and how many people I needed to pass. I’m very proud of myself. I did not think I was gonna make it.”

Rivera and Stoudt are advancing to the state meet, scheduled for Nov. 2 in Hershey.

“They both knew to go out strong and run the race they knew they were capable of running,” said Becahi coach Krystyn Fenon. “We’re not typically 1A, so I looked over other results real quick, and I gave them both a heads-up that they had a very, very good chance, if they went out strong and finished strong, to go to states. I knew that they could do it. I believe in them, and I just needed them to believe in themselves to achieve that.”

Skylar Husser also competed for Becahi with a time of 26:34.2.

“I was so proud of them. Very excited. I can’t be any happier than I am right now,” Fenon said.