BETHLEHEM - The District 11 Cross Country Championships did not end with a gold medal for Jim Thorpe's Dylan Bucior.

Bucior and Wilson's Joe Espinal turned in an instant classic in the boys' Class AA race. The two battled to the line, stride-for-stride, in what was a photo finish and everything a fan of the sport could have hoped for. But it was Espinal that was able to take advantage of a late surge and a timely lean to claim the win in 17:01.54, while Bucior came through at 17:01.82.While admittedly disappointed with the loss, Bucior wasn't about to be defined by it."It was really tough. I was giving it my all and I tried to break away at the end, but I just didn't have anything left in me," an exhausted Bucior said afterward. "I gave it everything I had. That was definitely the toughest race I ever ran in my entire life, honestly."After not really being pushed last week at the Schuylkill League meet - winning by over 30 seconds - Bucior knew that he would get everyone's best shot Thursday at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.And it came from Espinal, who did not run a week ago at the Colonial League meet due to an illness.But the two have seen each other before this season, with both competing at Moravian Academy's Lion Invitational during the first weekend of September where Espinal took first in 16:17 and Bucior third in 16:27."He's an amazing runner," Bucior said. "It really helps (having him) to push me and make me give it my all."It makes me a better runner, and it probably makes him a better runner."The same could be said for Pleasant Valley's Seth Slavin, who narrowly missed out on winning the Class AAA race.In another down-to-the-wire finish, Easton's Kevin Lapsansky took the top spot by just three seconds, winning the individual crown in 16:16 to Slavin's 16:19.Unlike Bucior and Espinal, Slavin and Lapsansky are somewhat familiar foes, with the two having competed against each other just a week ago in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference meet, which is also held at Bethlehem Municipal's Executive Course.In that contest, Lapsansky also took first (16:09), with Slavin again close behind (16:22).Though the result was the same, Slavin acknowledged that the races had little in common."Last week was more about guts and just hanging on and just seeing what I could do," he said. "This week was definitely more strategic, and I knew that's how it was going to be coming into it."I knew the wind would be hard and that the course was going to be a little bit wet from all the rain we had (Wednesday) so I knew that would play a factor."As Slavin and Lapsansky pulled away from the field, the junior knew the race would come down to who could kick at the end."After about two miles, we really started pushing. That last mile was where the race really began," Slavin said. "Once you're at that part of the race, if you don't go with him. … that's what you train for; that's what we ran five months for in preparation for this, those five seconds where you have to decide whether you're going to go with him or not."Where Slavin will be headed now is to Hershey for his third straight appearance at the PIAA Championships. He won't be alone, as teammate Gabe Sullivan also qualified with an impressive fifth place finish (17:19).Bucior will also have company in the AA field, as a trio of runners will be making return trips to the state meet, while another will be making his first appearance.Northern Lehigh's Gavin Kemery (third, 17:26), Lehighton's Michael Blacketter (eighth, 17:58) and Palmerton's Zach Svetik (14th, 18:13) all qualified for the second consecutive year. Northwestern sophomore Robert Leiser (seventh, 17:57) will be going for the first time.Kemery, who was fifth a year ago at the district meet and second last week at the Colonial League event, was happy with his improvement."I'm very pleased with today," said Kemery. "Getting bronze at a district meet. … I'm very proud of that."Weatherly's Jared Hinkle also took bronze in the Class A race, finishing in 18:38.Being relatively new to the sport, the opportunity to compete at the state meet is one Hinkle wasn't expecting."It's definitely pretty exciting. This is my first year running; I only started in the spring because my sister wanted to do a 5K," the senior said. "I wasn't expecting much, but it's such a great feeling."District 11Cross Country ChampionshipsBoysClass AAATeam scores and legend1. *Parkland (P) 37, 2. *Easton (E) 74, 3. Pleasant Valley (PV) 131, 4. Emmaus (Emm) 145, 5. Stroudsburg (S) 148, 6. Southern Lehigh (SL) 148, 7. Freedom (F) 179, 8. Liberty (L) 192, 9. Bangor (B) 272, 10. Northampton (N) 299, 11. Nazareth (Naz) 306, 12. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 307, 13. Whitehall (Whi) 349, 14. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 378, 15. East Stroudsburg North (ESN) 416, 16. Pocono Mountain West (PMW) 497.Top 5 plus other locals in the top 50 and all state qualifiers1. *Kevin Lapsansky (E) 16:16, 2. *Seth Slavin (PV), 3. *William Alpaugh (F), 4. *Daniel Kyvelos (P), 5. *Gabe Sullivan (PV), 6. *Steven Kaleycik (P), 7. *Ryan Paradise (Emm), 8. *Nicholas Bower (P), 9. *Hailemichael Geiger (P), 10. *Sam Morgan (P), 11. *Teddy Mostellar (S), 12. *Thomas Matsumura (SL), 13. *Jonah George (L), 14. *Stephen Gray (SL), 15. *Cosmo Cardone (E), 16. *Joseph Ozgar (E), 17. *Morgan O'Brien (B), 18. *Riley Williamson (P), 19. *Matt Bodon (S), 20. *Greg Sherman (E), 22. *Logan Koch (E), 24. *Sheamus Hammerstone (E), 25. Billy Milburn (PV), 29. *Mat Bianco (P), 40. *John Griffiths (E), 49. Keith Staats (PV), 50. Bryan Iadisernia (PV).Class AATeam scores and legend1. *Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 62, 2. *Notre Dame Green Pond (NDGP) 83, 3. Lehighton (L) 128, 4. Wilson (W) 135, 5. North Schuylkill (NS) 136, 6. Northwestern (NW) 191, 7. Saucon Valley (SV) 201, 8. Tamaqua (T) 241, 9. Northern Lehigh (NL) 242, 10. Palmerton (P) 255, 11. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 258, 12. Jim Thorpe (JT) 262, 13. Blue Mountain (BM) 265, 14. Palisades (Palis) 358, 15. Pen Argyl (PA) 397, 16. Salisbury (S) 408.Top 5 plus other locals in the top 50 and all state qualifiers1. *Joe Espinal (W) 17:01, 2. *Dylan Bucior (JT), 3. *Gavin Kemery (NL), 4. *Chris Vaughan (ACC), 5. *Michael Grapsy (ACC), 6. *John Koons (NDGP), 7. *Robert Leiser (NW), 8. *Michael Blacketter (L), 9. *Ethan Bernstein (SV), 10. *Tim Grib (ACC), 11. *Austin Roseberry (NS), 12. *Devon Fogel (NDGP), 13. *Jarred Kyra (SV), 14. *Zach Svetik (P), 15. *Kyle Zingales (W), 16. *Thomas Koons (ACC), 17. *Conner Miller (ACC), 18. Adam Melnick (T), 19. TJ Dooley (NL), 21. *Anthony Pacchiolo (NDGP), 22. Trent Frey (L), 23. Luke Fisher (L), Anthony Tavella (L), 26. *Tim Susko (ACC), 27. Phillip Castrine (NW), 28. *Charles Hohl (NDGP), 29. Carter Waibel (P), 39. Anthony Vennera (NW), 40. Ben Saxon (JT), 41. Joseph Nortavage (T), 43. *Evan Busher (NDGP), 44. Matthew Grim (NW), 45. Jacob Martinez (P), 46. Brad Clemson (T), 47. *Michael D'Agostini (ACC), 61. *Nick Carolan (ACC), 63. *Joe Gubernot (NDGP).Class ATeam scores and legend1. *Notre Dame East Stroudsburg (NDES) 45, 2. Mahanoy Area (M) 70, 3. Moravian Academy (MA) 82, 4. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 119, 5. Minersville (Min) 143, 6. Marian Catholic (MC) 158, 7. Weatherly (W) 161, 8. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 162, 9. Catasauqua (C) 207.Top 5 plus other locals in the top 50 and all state qualifiers1. *Michael Sheptuk (NDES) 18:02, 2. *Samuel Li (MA), 3. *Jared Hinkle (W), 4. *Owen Pothering (SH), 5. *Andrew Beers (NDES), 6. *Conor Naughton (NDES), 7. *Steven Ritter (C), 8. *Matt Derr (M), 16. *Kyle McCarthy (NDES), 17. *Zane Wicki (NDES), 18. Eddie Pulaski (MC), 19. *Jhonson Francis (NDES), 21. *Brendan Meduri (NDES), 24. Aaron Srinivasan (MC), 25. Zaccary Roberts (MC), 28. Joel Hinkle (W), 39. Henry Kreisl (MC), 41. Nick Berger (W), 42. Tharon Brewer (W).* Denotes state qualifier.AdvancementClass A - 1 team, five other individuals not on that team; Class AA - 2 teams, 10 other individuals; Class AAA - 2 teams, 10 other individuals.