The streak continues … let the good times roll!

Tamaqua’s fiercely competitive girls’ cross country team wasn’t ceding a championship or a streak of victories that now has reached 74 consecutive dual meets on Wednesday afternoon when it raced by its chief competitor North Schuylkill. The victory preserves the undefeated mark that stretches back four years and clinched the Schuylkill League Division 1 championship.

Scoring winning points by grouping its runners to capture places 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 was the key to the narrow 27-30 victory over the Spartans.

The win was part of a banner day for the Tamaqua, which also outraced host Marian 19-42.

“A lot of these girls have been part of this streak from freshmen year to senior year,” said the engineer of the Tamaqua program, coach Tom Kanger.

Even though North Schuylkill’s top two runners – Cori McCormick (17:41) and Rylee Schwalm (19:03) – hit the tape first, it was all Blue Raiders thereafter. Sarah Maue hit the finish line at 19:06, followed by teammates Frances Kabana (19:31), Brianna Dumond (19:36), Grace Stegemerten(19:54) and April Gerber (22:20).

Perhaps North Schuylkill’s head coach Franklin Briggs described it best when he said, “They just pound you with that depth. They’re so good at making it work. They’re a very good team and my hat goes off to them.”

Kanger gets his runners to run in packs and said that is the key to the success. “North Schuylkill has a great team, and they make it tough on you. Blue Mountain had another great team, and for us to keep this going is amazing.

“We knew coming in to this year it was going to be tough. The first time (this year) we beat them at their place by three points, and again today we beat them by three points.”

The Tamaqua coach knew that his runners would have to run both smooth, and smart.

“Because we were so close in the first meet, we knew making a mistake either way could be the difference,” continued Kanger as he thought back to the first meeting three weeks ago. “Coming here (to Marian) was good. It was a nice, neutral site.”

While Maue has been the leader all season for the Raiders, Kanger thought the return of Dumond was very significant after missing last season with an injury.

“Brianna is a really good story,” said Kanger. “She tore her ACL as a freshman and just came back determined. She was really good in junior high, now comes back and everything is really healed up.”

With the win, Tamaqua finishes the Schuylkill Cross Country League Division I undefeated at 14-0. North Schuylkill finished 12-2.

Meanwhile, Marian capped a successful regular season in Division where it finished as runner-up to undefeated Tri-Valley.

“Our goal was to always get better, and our girls did that,” said Marian coach Tom Kostic as he watched his ladies finish 12-2 in the division with yesterday’s 15-50 shutout of Nativity.

Nikki Capparell completed another top-flight season for the Fillies, pacing her team with a fourth-place finish in a time of 19:17.

Kostic likes the way his girls are running.

“I think we’re going to be a contender at districts, not to overlook the league meet; but we’re pointing to the districts and I think we can send several to the states,” he said. “Nikki’s running very well now.

“She’s strong, and I expect her to make her fourth-straight state meet. She ran behind her sister (Tina) for the first three years. This is her year to shine, and I’m excited for her.”

On the boys side of the ledger, the North Schuylkill boys had a successful day, beating back Tamaqua 21-36 to finish in third place in the Division 1 with a 10-4 record. The Raiders ended the league season 8-6.

The Spartans had runners take the top three spots, led by Sean McCabe (17:08,), Jack Flynn (17:25) and Jake Nahas (17:51). Tamaqua had three runners in the top 10, with Brandon Fogerty (17:52) taking fourth overall, Derian Stianche (18:30) fifth, and Christopher Osenbach (19:04) seventh. Marian’s Joe McGinley (19:42) came in 10th.

HEATING UP

… The times were good when you consider it was a muggy and humid afternoon. Kanger said the course modification allowed the runners to run a little more on the road.

DUAL THREAT

… Tamaqua’s Stianche hustled home after his run for the Blue Raiders to get ready for a big soccer match with Jim Thorpe.

GIRLS

North Schuylkill 21, Marian 35

Tamaqua 19, Marian 42

Marian 15, Nativity 50

Tamaqua 27, North Schuylkill 30

Tamaqua 15, Nativity 50

1. Cori McCormick (NS) 17:41, 2. Rylee Schwalm (NS), 3. Sarah Maue (T), 4. Nikki Capparell (M), 5. Frances Kabana (T), 6. Brianna Dumond (T), 7. Grace Stegemerten (T), 8. Katie McCormick (NS), 9. Brianna DeAngelo (NS), 10. April Gerber (T), 11. Carolyn Mihallo (M), 12. Lottie Mateyak (T), 13. Toahlana Najunas (N), 14. Natalie Hydro (T), 15. Julia Kreisl (M).

BOYS

North Schuylkill 19, Marian 37

Tamaqua 21, Marian 36

Marian 25, Nativity 27

North Schuylkill 22, Tamaqua 33

Tamaqua 21, Nativity 28

1. Sean McCabe (NS) 17:08; 2. Jack Flynn (NS); 3. Jake Nahas (NS); 4. Brandon Fogarty (T); 5. Derian Stianche (T); 6. Matthew O (N); 7. Christopher Osenbach (T); 8. Mason Kline (N); 9. Bobby Oravitz (NS); 10. Joe McGinley (M); 11. Gavin Vercusky (M); 12. Detrick Borden (T); 13. Ean Chelak (M); 14. Aiden Cassidy (N); 15. Daniel Holincheck (M).