CENTER VALLEY - The stage was set for the Colonial League Cross Country meet on Wednesday at DeSales University.

In addition to running a notoriously difficult course, the runners were faced with an 80-degree day - which didn't make things any easier.But the show went on.In the girls race, Wilson's Jillian Pote placed first with a time of 20:31.4. The heat was hard on Northwestern's Madeline Consuelos. She finished second and collapsed after crossing the finish line. The Tigers' sophomore gave everything she had and appeared to be OK after the race.Molly Tarvin was Northwestern's next-best finisher in sixth place with a time of 21:08.14. The junior mentioned that the course was challenging."Have you ever been in the woods here?," Tarvin jokingly began to explain. "It's a very hilly course, it goes up and down. It has very gradual hills. It's a brutal course, it's pretty tough."The girls team placed second with score of 47, behind Southern Lehigh with a winning score of 40. The Lady Tigers had seven girls finish in the top-25. Northern Lehig's Alison Lorah came in 23rd."We lost four really good seniors, and we've kind of have trouble filling their shoes," Tarvin explained. "We lost our streak (of 134 consecutive CL dual meet victories), which was disappointing. But we come out every day and we just push it. I love my team, they're my family and they're just amazing. The girls are just my best friends."The boys' race was won by Saucon Valley's Ethan Bernstein in 17:19.36. He lost just one race in the regular season.Northwestern's Robert Leiser was leading for about the first two miles. The junior finished third in 17:29.04, and agreed that the course presents many challenges."Once you come out of there (the woods), you go back into a field with a gradual uphill," said Leiser. "There's a lot of open space and it's really hot. Right at the end, I was trying to stay with them. They got a little bit of a lead in the second mile, and I was trying to pass them right at the end. But, I couldn't do it. Maybe I could have on another day."The Northwestern boys also placed second with 80 points. Southern Lehigh was won considerably with a score of 31. Palmerton's Jake Martinez finished 12th.The District 11 competition is next week, and Leiser won't be changing his approach."I'm going to try and do the same thing that I did today and just tough it out," he said. "I'm going to stay up front and pass em' at the end. We're all a big family and that's what I think is best about this sport."FRESHMAN PERSPECTIVE ... Northwestern frosh Joe Pleban agreed with the veteran runners that the course has many obstacles. On top of that, going from a 1.5K to a 5K is another enormous adjustment to get accustom to. "I ran it last year as an eighth-grader running a 1.5 K and I remember that corn hill, that's probably one of the hardest parts of it. Especially when it's hot out like this, you have the sun glaring down on you. Overall, it's one of the hardest courses we've done but I still kind of like it."BOYSSouthern Lehigh 31, Northwestern 80, Saucon Valley 92, Bangor 111, Wilson 185, Pen Argyl 189, Palisades 192, Notre Dame 210, Moravian 213, Northern Lehigh 249, Palmerton 292, Salisbury 312, Catasauqua 3581. Ethan Bernstein (Saucon Valley) 17:19.36, 2. Colin Cramer (Southern Lehigh) 17:20.61, 3. Robert Leiser (Northwestern) 17:29.04, 4. Stephen Gray (Southern Lehigh) 17:34.58, 5. Dylan McNichol (Palisades) 17:36.04, 6. Jarred Kyra (Saucon Valley) 17:40.51, 7. Thomas Matsumura (Southern Lehigh) 17:52.14, 8. Corey Welsh (Southern Lehigh) 17:52.14, 9. Phillip Castrine (Northwestern) 18:03.10, 10. Raahi Klar-Chaudahri (Southern Lehigh) 18;09.93; 12. Jake Martinez (Palmerton) 18:27.84, 18. Matthew Grim (Northwestern) 19:07.50, 24. Anthony Vennera (Northwestern) 19:29.99, 26. Isaiah Jones (Northwestern) 19:34.25, 32. Tyler Derr (Northwestern) 19:53.56, 37. Kyle Krempasky (Northern Lehigh) 20:10.19, 39. Joe Pleban (Northwestern) 20:14.59, 56. Rueben Kemmerer (Northwestern) 20:43.20, 58. Hunter Hass (Northern Lehigh) 20:55.90, 60. Richie Hrusovsky (Palmerton) 21:01.03, 69. Tim Maradeo (Palmerton) 21:29.76, 73. Carlton Davies (Northern Lehigh) 21:35.22, 75. Trent Geist (Palmerton) 21:39.86, 80. Jason Pepe (Northern Lehigh) 21:45.04, 85. Joshua Kubushefski (Northern Lehigh) 21:56.88, 86. Nathan Keller (Northern Lehigh) 22:03.29, 102. Kory Marlatt (Palmerton) 23:44.38, 103. Egan Bellesfield (Palmerton) 23:47.21.GIRLSSouthern Lehigh 40, Northwestern 47, Wilson 73, Saucon Valley 125, Palisades 134, Bangor 141, Notre Dame 189, Northern Lehigh 199, Catasauqua 272.1. Jillian Pote (Wilson) 20:31.48, 2. Madeline Consuelos (Northwestern) 20:44.99, 3. Jenna Groeber (Southern Lehigh) 20:48.67, 4. Katherine George (Southern Lehigh) 20:52.81, 5. Martina Sell (Bangor) 20:53.89, 6. Molly Tarvin (Northwestern) 21:08.14, 7. Gaby Vega (Wilson) 21:21.58, 8. Alissa VandeBunte (Southern Lehigh) 21:22.93, 9. Hannah Herzon (Northwestern) 21:29.34, 10. Amy Farese (Palisades) 21:35.02; 14. Alyssa Zack (Northwestern) 22:31.05, 16. Brooke Devers (Northwestern) 23:06.82, 18. Kristen Brown (Northwestern) 23:16.36, 22. Alison Lorah (Northern Lehigh) 23:45.05, 23. Elizabeth Fornauf (Northwestern) 23:47.36, 24. Katie Guelcher (Northern Lehigh) 24:03.82, 26. Cayden Rex (Northwestern) 24:10.08, 43. Tori Csanadi (Northern Lehigh) 25:37.85, 58. Anika Moralis (Northwestern) 27:38.32, 62. Hanna Nesfeder (Palmerton) 29:03.80, 63. Emme Reiser (Northern Lehigh) 29:28.09, 75. Megan Witczak (Northern Lehigh) 38:38.29.