TUSCARORA – The Wednesday rains turned into Friday sunshine for Schuylkill League Cross Country runners.

A mid-week torrent of rain was never going to be the ideal conditions for even the hardest runners here at this tradition-rich setting — a place where high school runners look forward to culminate their seasons, and for some, their careers over a 3.1-mile course.

Surely, Tuscarora State Park makes this a special place, a venue that creates an air of excitement for the runners, and to some extent, the fan followers. So when Weatherly’s superb junior Scott Zoscin came racing through the finishing gauntlet, it marked a big afternoon.

Though Zoscin finished second overall to pre-race favorite Travis Anderson of Pine Grove, it set the bar for 2020 for Zoscin. It also set the standard very high for the Wreckers, who have been scuffling all season with a Shenandoah Valley squad that could very well be on the verge of greatness under long-time coach John Brennan.

You see, the Blue Devils and those Wreckers have been pounding away throughout the league all season long. Shenandoah completed a sweep against the Wreckers for the third time this season.

“They’re a very tough team to match up against,” said Weatherly coach Paul Schertrumpf. “They’ve got some excellent runners, and they run (in packs) very well.”

It was an impressive run by both the Wreckers and Shenandoah, with both teams trying to compete with the big school Division I squads and the overall winner — Blue Mountain.

“I’ll tell you, I’m impressed with that Shenandoah Valley team,” said Tamaqua veteran coach Tom Kanger, who’s had his share of great runners over the years. “I think they can win (districts) and make some noise in the states, too.”

Though the Tamaqua boys placed fifth overall, just behind fourth-place finishers Jim Thorpe with both accumulating 159 points (spread 1:40-2:34), the Lady Raiders were impressive against the North Schuylkill juggernaut.

“I’ll tell you (North Schuylkill) has some great, great runners,” said Kanger. “Their depth is impressive. We’ve been (chasing) them all season.”

How impressive were the Spartans? They had three runners finish in the top six. Led by junior Cori McCormick, a sure-bet Division I prospect, she blitzed the field in a time of 17:39. Tamaqua’s up-and-coming sophomore Grace Stegemerten had an overall fourth-place finish.

“We’re a pretty young team,” pointed out Kanger as he watched junior Francis Kabana add a seventh place, followed by senior Brianna Dumond, who Kanger called the most improved runner on his team. Juniors Makenna Carroll and Madelyn Jones followed after them.

Also having an impressive outing were the Lehighton and Jim Thorpe ladies. Both finished with solid runs. The Lady Indians were right behind third-place Blue Mountain (81) with a score of 93, Thorpe complied 129 points.

For the Indians, juniors Kelsey Gaston and Paige Wehr came in 11th and 16th, respectively. Seniors Asia Arner (19th), Madison Cressley (22nd) and Alyssa Williams (31st) added to the point production.

Marie Rosahac, a one-time standout runner at Shenandoah Valley, found her girls coming on strong as the season moved forward. The Olympians were riding the crest of sophomores Katelynn Bos (ninth), Megan Rosahac (17th), freshman Nicole Carrol (29th) and sophomore Olivia Renode (38th).

“We really got better with each meet,” smiled Rosahac. “We’re going to districts and it will be exciting for our team to maybe get a player or two to the state (meet).”

Solid Wreckers

Shenandoah Valley knew it was in for another battle with the Wreckers, and Brennan felt that his team was going to have to come with their A-game.

“Their top three guys ran better times this year than last year,” said Brennan, whose team won the Division 2 championship. The difference, mentioned the coach, was the groupings and the depth.

With Zoscin cranking out a time of 16:44 (seven seconds behind Anderson), his teammates were driving hard as well. Sophomores Frank Willis (13th) and Ricky Ray (24th), along with freshman Jacob Parker (27th) and another tenth-grader Brady Walters (50th) enabled their team to stay in the hunt against Shenandoah.

“I was surprised I got second,” said Zoscin. “They’re so many great runners here and I was happy to go second. Hopefully I’ll get first (next year).”

The Tamaqua boys were led by senior Brandon Fogarty who turned in an eighth-place overall finish with a time of 17:29.

“Yeah, we were all ready to go Wednesday, but today was just ideal to run in these conditions,” said the Tamaqua runner, who was looking to finish higher. “I’ve got to look at the positive side and (now) get ready for the next run.”

HIGHS AND LOWS … Marian boys had a sixth overall finish led by five juniors — Kevin Earley (19th), Gavin Vercusky (23rd), Justin Arriaga (34th), Daniel Hollincheck (37th) and Ean Chelak (59th). The Fillies were led by Grace Curnow (25th) and Carolyn Mehallo (40th).

TWO DAYS LATER … League officials called off the Wednesday run and were trying to juggle times before the heavy rains.

WHERE TO NEXT … DeSales University is where the District 11 will host the meet on Wednesday.

SCHUYLKILL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

AT TUSCARORA STATE PARK

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES AND LEGEND

1.North Schuylkill (NS) 46, 2. Tamaqua (T) 68, 3. Blue Mountain (BM) 81, 4. Lehighton (L) 93, 5. Jim Thorpe (JT) 129, 6. Tri-Valley (TV) 135, 7. Pottsville (P) 164, 8. Marian Catholic (MC) 207, 9. Mahanoy Area (MA) 236. Other participating teams: Gillingham Charter (GC), Minersville (M), Panther Valley (PV), Pine Grove Area (PG), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Shenandoah Valley (SV), Weatherly (W).

Individual top 5

1. Cori McCormick (NS) 17:39, 2. Olivia Haas (BM) 18:17, 3. Ryley Scwalm (NS) 19:24, 4. Grace Stegermerten (T) 19:48, 5. Melanie Love (PG) 19:50.

Other locals in the top 50

7. Frances Kabana (T) 20:09, 9. Katelynn Bos (JT) 20:32, 11. Kelsey Gaston (L) 20:47, 12. Brianna Dumond (T) 21:00, 16. Paige Wehr (L) 21:48, 17. Megan Rosahac (JT) 21:51, 19. Asia Arner (L) 21:59, 20. Makenna Carroll (T) 21:59, 22. Madison Cressley (L) 22:15, 25. Grace Curnow (MC) 22:27, 28. Nicole Carroll (JT) 22:39, 29. Madelyn Jones (T) 22:40, 30. Alyssa Williams (L) 22:42, 31. Katie Wojton (L) 22:52, 34. Danielle Gordon (W) 22:53, 35. Lottie Mateyak (T) 22:55, 37. Mia Jones (T) 23:12, 38. Olivia Renode (JT) 23:15, 40. Carolyn Mehallo (MC) 23:30, 44. Lisa Napeltano (MC) 23:42, 50. Brooke McKeon (JT) 23:59.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES AND LEGEND

1. Blue Mountain (BM) 50, 2. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 103, 3. Weatherly (W) 116, 4. (tie) Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua (T) 159, 6. Marian Catholic (MC) 172, 7. North Schuylkill (NS) 176, 8. Lehighton (L) 177, 9. Pine Grove Area (PG) 179, 10. Minersville (M) 201, 11. Nativity (N) 284, 12. Mahanoy Area (MA) 311, 13. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 319, 14. Pottsville (P) 358. Other participating teams: Panther Valley (PV), Tri-Valley (TV).

Individual top 5

1.Travis Anderson (PG) 16:37, 2. Scotty Zoscin (W) 16:44, 3. Kevin Haas (BM) 16:53, 4. Cole Steisel (MA) 17:00, 5. Jack Flynn (NS) 17:05.

Other locals in the top 50

8. Brandon Fogarty (T) 17:29, 13. Frankie Willis (W) 17:52, 14. James Schwartz (JT) 17:53, 19. Kevin Earley (MC) 18:07, 20. Collin Wentz (L) 18:09, 23. Gavin Vercusky (MC) 18:39, 24. Ricky Ray (W) 18:43, 26. Tait Ehrig (T) 18:49, 27. Jacob Parker (W) 18:53, 28. Charles Kabana (T) 19:04, 29. Ridge Snyder (JT) 19:06, 33. Maximus Hoffman (L) 19:15, 34. Justen Arriaga (MC) 19:17, 35. Ben Seachrist (JT) 19:18, 37. Daniel Holincheck (MC) 19:21, 38. Mitchell Nailor (L) 19:23, 39. Bradyn Thompson (JT) 19:24, 41. Logan Lichtenwalner (L) 19:29, 42. Jasper Disanto (JT) 19:32, 44. Alec Humes (T) 19:38, 45. Nicholas Zeigenfuss (L) 19:40, 50. Brady Walters (W) 19:56.