BETHLEHEM – Next stop, Hershey.

The District 11 Cross Country Championships marks the penultimate destination for area runners seeking to make it to next week’s state meet.

Wednesday’s annual event at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course produced several standout performances, highlighted by Northern Lehigh’s Reagan Pender capturing the Class 1A title and the Northwestern girls winning the team championship in the Class 2A event.

“I’m really happy, really excited and I’m really thankful,” said Pender. “My team is so great, my coaches are so great, my parents are so great to be here supporting me, so I’m really happy.”

Four other area athletes will join Pender and the Tigers at the PIAA Championships next Saturday.

Palmerton’s Jake Martinez grabbed a runner-up finish in the boys’ Class 2A race, while Weatherly’s Scotty Zoscin and Frankie Willis advanced with fourth- and seventh-place results, respectively, in the Class 1A event.

Marian’s Nicole Capparell finished third in the girls’ Class 1A race to move on.

GOLDEN AGE

Pender built on her win at last week’s Colonial League meet with another impressive performance Wednesday. The junior crossed the line in 19:14, well ahead of runner-up Grace Medei (19:29) of Notre Dame Green Pond.

“I was definitely nervous,” said Pender. “I just knew that I needed to kick it in if I wanted to go to Hershey next week, I just had to go.

“Since it ended with a first place, I was really happy about that. I never really know how it’s going to play out. I try not to plan them out too far in advance. I just know where I need to go, when I kind of need to chill, and when I need to just kind of run it.”

The plan worked to perfection for Pender, who appears to be peaking at the right time.

While mostly laid back and content to go with the flow, Pender couldn’t help but feel some anxiety heading into the race.

“I put some pressure on myself,” said Pender. “A lot of people don’t put it on me, but just when I hear things, I’m like, ‘OK, I feel like I need to live up to their expectations.’

“But I know that it’s in a way good for me, because it pushes me to do the best I know I can do.”

Pender does it with a strong supporting cast.

“Everyone in my school was just so warm, and telling me I was going to do great today, and how happy they were for me,” Pender said. “It means a lot to be in a school, and on a team that’s so supportive.

“When I know when I have their affirmation, I know I can; if they believe in me I can.”

Northwestern edged Tamaqua, 59-64, to win the Class 2A team title. With only one Class 2A girls team qualifying instead of two as has been the case in past years, Tigers’ head coach Chris Stitzel knew his team would have to run a perfect race to move on.

“I knew it was going to be close,” said Stitzel. “I’ve been following Tamaqua, but the only thing was, we didn’t get to see them this season. I thought they would be at one of the invitationals we ran at, but I saw the times, and I knew it was going to be tough. They put four girls up with ours … but our pack won it for us. They did have four girls up there, and it’s a shame because they are a quality team, and they’re only taking one team to states.

“But we had to win it this year to go. Hats off to Tamaqua, they gave us a battle, but our girls were ready for the challenge, and they came through for us today. Our senior class wanted this. The last couple years we’ve been finishing second. We’ve been going to states, but we’re always that second team. I knew they wanted this, and I wanted it for them.”

Northwestern was led by senior Alyssa Zack, who finished sixth in 19:59.

“It means everything,” said Zack. “I’ve been on teams before when we have made it to states, but we’ve been a runner-up. I’ve never been on a team to place first at districts.”

The Raiders put three runners – Grace Stegemerten (seventh), Sarah Maue (eighth) and Frances Kabana (ninth) – between Zack and the Tigers’ next runner, freshman Molly McGorry, who finished 11th.

Brianna Dumond slotted into the 12th spot for Tamaqua, but Northwestern had Kailyn Jones (14th), Madeline Consuelos (15th), Sarah Supplee (18th), Allison Costa (22nd) and Roselyn Bernhard (31st) in before the Raiders’ fifth-place finisher.

“It makes me feel like I’m a part of something, and like I’m really helping out the team,” said McGorry. “We were all very nervous, but I think that’s one of the reasons we got through it so well.”

While certainly wishing his team’s season was extended another week, Tamaqua head coach Tom Kanger couldn’t have been happier with what the group was able to accomplish together.

“We talked about it coming in here, I just wanted them to run their best race,” Kanger said. “We knew that was a really good team. We thought we could push them, and I think we pushed them.

“I’m really happy with them. They really ran hard. I can’t say anybody faltered.”

Capparell’s third-place finish came with a time of 20:16, more than enough to advance to Hershey for the fourth-straight year.

“It was my last year, so I really wanted to do well,” said Capparell. “I wanted to get back to states; that was the ultimate goal.”

What makes the accomplishment even more remarkable was the fact that Capparell missed the track season and much of the summer due to surgery to address slipping rib syndrome, something she’s been dealing with the past two years.

Back to full strength, Capparell can’t wait to finish out her high school career with one more trip to Hershey.

“It’s very exciting. I’m happy to be going back for a fourth straight year,” she said.

READY FOR MORE

Martinez won the Class 1A title a year ago, but was unable to knock off defending 2A champion John Koons this season. Koons crossed the line in 16:39, while Martinez finished in 16:46.

After placing third at last week’s Colonial League meet, Martinez, who was out of action early in the season dealing with a back injury, is pleased with his form heading into the state meet.

“I am so happy,” said the senior. “This season has really been full of a lot of ups and downs. Like I said last week, that injury really threw me for a loop. I finally feel like I’m back to fitness, and it’s a great feeling.

“Last week was really disappointing, but I really wanted to get back, and I feel like today I finally did that. It was a big motivator for states.”

Martinez praised Koons for helping him take another big step forward ahead of his final trip to states.

“We’ve been competing for the past four years,” Martinez said of Koons. “He’s such an awesome competitor. I executed (my race) perfectly, and I had a great race. He was able to outrun me, and good for him. I’m so happy with my performance today.”

A state qualifier a year ago, Zoscin will have a teammate by his side this season. Zoscin qualified for the second straight year with a solid third-place finish in 18:16, while Willis, a freshman, took seventh and grabbed the fifth and final qualifying spot with a time of 18:31.

“It means a lot to be able to make it. Our team has been doing amazing,” said Willis.

“It’s great, because not many people get to experience that,” added Zoscin. “It’s great, and to have someone there with me is incredible.”

Zoscin admitted to being overwhelmed in his first trip to states as a freshman, an experience he will lean on this time around.

“It helps big time,” said Zoscin. “Last year, it was just surreal. All the people there … I never experienced anything like that.”

The Wreckers, who clinched a Schuylkill League Division 2 title a week ago, were fourth in the team standings.

CLOSE CALL … Jim Thorpe senior Sam Hydro narrowly missed qualifying for states, placing 16th in a deep Class 2A field. Pen Argyl’s Anthony Coppolella earned the last qualifying spot for non-team members in 13th.

REPEAT … In addition to Koons, the Easton boys and girls repeated as district champions, capturing Class 3A team titles.

The District 11

BOYS

CLASS A

Team scores and legend

1. *Shenandoah Valley (SV) 65, 2. Moravian Academy (MA) 67, 3. Notre Dame-ES (NDES) 87, 4. Weatherly (Wea) 100, 5. Minersville (Min) 142, 6. Mahanoy Area (Mah) 182, 7. Catasauqua (Cat) 202, 8. Nativity (N) 205, 9. Tri-Valley (TV) 222, 10. Marian Catholic (MC) 224, 11. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 264.

Individual results

(Top 5 plus other locals in top 50)

1. *Wayne Reilly (TV) 17:16, 2. *Cole Striesel (Mah) 17:42, 3. *Brandon Stasulli (SV) 17:49, 4. *Scotty Zoscin (Wea) 18:16, 5. *Luis Velazquez (SV) 18:19, 7. *Frankie Willis (Wea) 18:31, 14. Anthony Maguschak (Wea) 19:03, 28. Gavin Vercusky (MC) 19:50, 29. Brady Walters (Wea) 19:57, 30. Joseph McGinley (MC) 20:06, 46. Ricky Ray (Wea) 21:06, 50. Kevin Earley (MC) 21:31.

CLASS 2A

Team scores and legend

1. *Blue Mountain (BM) 104, 2. *Notre Dame-GP (NDGP) 163, 3. Jim Thorpe (JT) 167, 4. Northwestern (NW) 168, 5. Central Catholic (ACC) 168, 6. Bangor (B) 177, 7. Saucon Valley (SV) 179, 8. Palisades (Palis) 224, 9. Wilson (W) 226, 10. Pen Argyl 232 (PA), 11. North Schuylkill (NS) 239, 12. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 296, 13. Northern Lehigh (NL), 14. Tamaqua (T) 338, 15. Palmerton (Palm) 352, 16. Pine Grove (PG) 382, 17. Salisbury (Sal) 401, 18. Lehighton (L) 430.

Individual results

(Top 5 plus other locals in top 50)

1. *John Koons (NDGP) 16.39, 2. *Jake Martinez (Palm) 16:46, 3. *Shane Artis (Sal) 17:54, 4. *Kevin Haas (BM) 17:04, 5. *Matthew Chaikowsky (SV) 17:05, 16. Samuel Hydro (JT) 17:53, 18. Preston Kemery (NL) 18:09, 19. Randal Zack (NW) 18:12, 21. Joseph Pleban (NW) 18:23, 23. Cole Chukoskie (NW) 18:26, 29. James Schwartz (JT) 18:45, 36. Blake Killmer (JT) 18:52, 41. Jared Thomason (NL) 18:56, 42. Jacob Lippincott (JT) 18:57, 43. Brandon Fogarty (T) 18:58, 44. Marc Waslesyn (JT) 19:00, 46. Trent Geist (Palm) 19:01, 48. Joe Chukoski (NW) 19:04.

CLASS 3A

Team scores and legend

1. *Easton (Eas) 55, 2. *Parkland (Par) 67, 3. Stroudsburg (Str) 74, 4. Emmaus (Emm) 98, 5. Southern Lehigh (SL) 131, 6. Nazareth (Naz) 135, 7. Liberty (Lib) 154, 8. Northampton (Nor) 207, 9. Freedom (Fre) 276, 10. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 301, 11. Pleasant Valley (PV) 324, 12. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 377, 13. Whitehall (W) 402, 14. Pottsville (Pott) 451, 15. Pocono Mountain West (PMW) 452.

Individual results

(Top 5 plus other locals in top 50)

1. *Cosmo Cardone (Eas) 16:17, 2. *Joseph Ozgar (Eas) 16:26, 3. *Darlyn Fermin (Lib) 16:30, 4. *Zachary Landvik-Larsen (Str) 16:31.5, 5. *Nicholas Bower (Par) 16:31.8, 43. Evan Fisher-Perez (PV) 17:53.

GIRLS

CLASS 1A

Team scores and legend

1. *Notre Dame-GP (NDGP) 42, 2. Tri-Valley (TV) 90, 3. Northern Lehigh (NL) 94, 4. Marian Catholic (MC) 98, 5. Catasauqua (Cat) 114, 6. Moravian Academy (MA) 118, 7. Mahanoy Area (Mah) 188, 8. Weatherly (Wea) 193, 9. Notre Dame-ES (NDES) 222, 10. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 273, 11. Palmerton (Palm) 283.

Individual results

(Top 5 plus other locals in top 50)

1. *Reagan Pender (NL) 19:14, 2. *Madei Grace (NDGP) 19:29, 3. *Nicole Capparell (MC) 20:16, 4. *Samantha Masser (TV) 20:51, 5. *Brooke Adams (TV) 20:54, 14. Katie Guelcher (NL) 22:09, 16. Carolyn Mehallo (MC) 22:29, 21. Alison Lorah (NL) 23:09, 24. Julia Kreisl (MC) 23:42, 26. Nicole Gordon (Wea) 24:04, 28. Grace Curnow (MC) 24:19, 31. Kristen Guelcher (NL) 24:31, 32. Elizabeth Marshman (Wea) 24:33, 34. Kaitlyn Lowery (MC) 24:36, 36. Emily Hunsicker (NL) 25:21, 39. Madison Martinez (Palm) 25:31, 46. Natalie Keller (NL) 25:51, 48. Abby Hernandez (Wea) 26:28.

CLASS 2A

Team scores and legend

1. *Northwestern (NW) 59, 2. Tamaqua (Tam) 64, 3. North Schuylkill (NS) 111, 4. Central Catholic (CC) 115, 5. Lehighton (L) 150, 6. Blue Mountain (BM) 156, 7. Palisades (Palis) 159, 8. Wilson (W) 191, 9. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 195, 10. Saucon Valley (SV) 228, 11. Jim Thorpe (JT) 279.

Individual results

(Top 5 plus other locals in top 50)

1. *Olivia Haas (BM) 18:25, 2. *Cori McCormick (NS) 18:43, 3. *Christina DiFalco (PG), 4. *Isabel DeVos (CC) 19:45, 5. *Ryley Schwalm (NS) 19:50, 6. *Alyssa Zack (NW) 19:59.1, 7. Grace Stegemerten (Tam) 19:59.3, 8. Sarah Maue (NS) 20:00, 9. Frances Kabana (Tam) 20:05, 11. *Molly McGorry (NW) 20:13, 12. Brianna Dumond (Tam) 20:19, 13. Kelsey Gaston (Leh) 20:21, 14. *Kailyn Jones (NW) 20:25, 15. *Madeline Consuelos (NW) 20:27, 18. *Sarah Supplee (NW) 20:38, 22. *Allison Costa (NW) 21:12, 28. Madison Cressley (L) 22:01, 30. Asia Ahner (L) 22:08, 31. Roselyn Bernhard (NW) 22:10, 33. April Gerber (Tam) 22:20, 34. Lottie Mateyak (Tam) 22:31, 35. Tinaya Klotz (L) 22:36, 46. Isabella Acker (JT) 23:09, 48. Olivia Renode (JT) 23:15, 49. Alyssa Williams (L) 23:18.

CLASS 3A

Team scores and legend

1. *Easton (Eas) 72, 2. *Emmaus (Emm) 94, 3. Stroudsburg (Str) 95, 4. Parkland (Par) 109, 5. Liberty (Lib) 112, 6. Northampton (Nor) 133, 7. Freedom (Fre) 176, 8. Nazareth (Naz) 196, 9. Southern Lehigh (SL) 222, 10. Whitehall (W) 242, 11. Bangor (B) 334, 12. Pleasant Valley (PV) 341, 13. Pottsville (Pott) 384, 14. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 411

Individual results

(Top 5 plus other locals in top 50)

1. *Meghan Vizian (Eas) 19:19, 2. *Ciara Conboy (Str) 19:20, 3. *Maddie Zaun (Par) 19:26, 4. *Amber Kelly (Str) 19:38, 5. *Lauren Charboneau (Fre) 19:40, 43. Juliana Lopez (PV) 21:44

* - state qualifier.