ORWIGSBURG - There’s a new king among Schuylkill League boys’ cross country teams.

Weatherly has been knocking on the door at the all-league meet with impressive performances the past two seasons.

The Wreckers kicked it in on Monday.

Weatherly ended Blue Mountain’s two-year reign as league meet champions, edging the Eagles 46-52 to take the team crown.

“It means everything,” said first-year Weatherly head coach Ryan Kately. “These guys put in the work in the beginning of the season. They deserve everything they get.

“It seems like every meet a different guy steps up to the challenge. If someone has a bad race, there’s always someone stepping up to pick up those places. To win a championship is just all that hard work paying off.”

The Wreckers haven’t had many bad races this year, going 13-0 and standing atop the Division 2 standings during the regular season.

Weatherly was led by Scotty Zoscin, the District 11 Class 1A champion a year ago. The senior finished fourth in 17:52.

Individual success is nothing new for Zoscin, who has been a state qualifier the last three years, and was a runner-up at the league meet last season. But nothing can top what the program accomplished Monday.

“I’ve never seen anyone put in the amount of work that these guys have put in,” Zoscin said about his teammates. “We were all putting in that work because we all saw the amount of potential we had as a team.

“Coming in here, and winning the whole thing ... it’s more surreal than doing it by yourself. It’s unbelievable.”

It was the Wreckers’ depth that earned them the title.

Blue Mountain’s Colin Phipps won the boys race in 17:01, while teammate Justice Scheidel ran third in 17:28.

Including Zoscin, Weatherly had five runners cross the line before the next runner for the Eagles finished.

Ricky Ray (18:09), Frankie Willis (18:13), Jacob Parker (18:14) and Michael Berger (18:15) held ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively, for the Wreckers.

Blue Mountain’s Colby Petrizzo (18:33), Chase Wargo (18:34) and Shane Dasilva (18:38) were 15th, 16th and 17th, respectively.

But as excited as Zoscin was about Monday’s result, he said the Wreckers aren’t finished yet.

“The mindset now is definitely districts,” said Zoscin. “We want to come in there with the same A-game we had today. We’re still going to come in with the same mindset that we’re still those small kids on the block trying to get what’s ours.

“We’ll be running against some bigger schools there, too, and hopefully everything will go well and we can get another (gold medal) one around our necks. I really can’t wait for it.”

In the girls race, North Schuylkill’s Cori McCormick and Blue Mountain’s Olivia Haas put on another dominant display, finishing 1-2 for the third straight season.

McCormick’s third straight title came with a time of 17:49, well ahead of Haas (18:27). Haas was fourth and McCormick fifth at the Class 2A state meet a year ago.

Lehighton’s Kelsey Gaston finished third with a time of 19:38, using the same strategy that has generated quite a bit of success for the senior.

“In the beginning, everybody takes off fast, and I stay in the back, usually 20-something or 30-something,” said Gaston. “I gradually increase my pace and make sure that I don’t waste my energy, but as soon as we hit the hills, that’s where I take off. The last 800 meters is when my adrenaline kicks in and I just take off.”

With the meet moved away from its traditional location at Tuscarora State Park to Schuylkill Country Club, Gaston seemed to enjoy the change of scenery.

“I am really happy,” said Gaston. “I almost hit my PR, and where my PR is it’s way flatter. So it feels amazing.”

Tamaqua’s Grace Stegemerten was fifth with a time of 20:06.

Stegemerten has plenty of big meet experience under her belt, and placed 50th in the 2A race at states a year ago. It’s that experience she’ll lean on heading into the postseason once again.

“Just knowing that I’ve done it before, and I’ve run with this many people before,” said Stegemerten, “just gives me more confidence to know that I have done this, and I can do it.”

Jim Thorpe’s Kate Bos placed seventh (20:42). The junior made nine saves for the Olympians in a 1-0 win over Blue Mountain in a Schuylkill League girls’ soccer tiebreaker just a few hours later.

“I just try to focus on the meet, and then the game,” said Bos. “I try to take it one thing at a time. I don’t want to overwhelm myself and think about it too much.”

Bos has also overcome injury, dealing with a bone bruise on her patella during a soccer tournament that sidelined her near the beginning of September.

“To come back and do this, I’m proud of myself and proud of my team,” said Bos. “I’m just super happy with the season.”

The Olympians were third overall in the team standings with 119 points, behind Blue Mountain (52) and North Schuylkill (74).

Tamaqua (140) was fifth.

After both Marian (12-0) and Tri-Valley (4-0) finished the regular season unbeaten, the Fillies claimed the Division 2 title by topping the Bulldogs 27-28 in a tiebreaker Monday.

“It’s been such a whirlwind of a year,” said Marian head coach Justin Huegel. “I cannot say enough about our girls for how proud I am of their heart and determination.

“We have a couple of girls that are running through some light injuries, but they would not let their team down. They always had my respect, but they definitely earned it today.”

The Fillies (164) finished seventh overall, and were led by Grace Curnow, who finished 19th (22:09).

YEARS IN THE MAKING ... The Wreckers’ 2019 team finished with 14-3 record - the best ever in program history - and placed third at the league meet. In 2018, Weatherly was the runner-up to Blue Mountain.

ALL STARS

... The top-nine finishers in each race from Divisions 1 and 2 were recognized as Schuylkill League All Stars. For the boys, Zoscin, Ray, Willis, Parker, Berger and Marian’s Gavin Vercusky - who was 22nd overall and the ninth D2 finisher - earned all-star honors. In the girls race, Gaston, Stegemerten and Bos earned Division 1 All Star honors. Marian’s Curnow, Maddie Dando (23rd overall), along with Weatherly’s Danielle Gordon (25th) and Kendall Gerhart (28th) were D2 All Stars.

SCHUYLKILL LEAGUE

CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Boys

Team scores and legend

1. Weatherly (W) 46, 2. Blue Mountain (BM) 52, 3. Minersville (Min) 89, 4. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 101, 5. North Schuylkill (NS) 157, 6. Marian (M) 161, 7. Jim Thorpe (JT) 222, 8. Tamaqua (T) 224, 9. Nativity (N), 10. Pottsville (P) 244, 11. Lehighton (L) 250, 12. Tri-Valley (TV) 281, 13. Mahanoy Area (MA) 319.

Individual results

(top-10 plus other locals)

1. Colin Phipps (BM) 17:01, 2. Justin Williams (NS) 17:08, 3. Justice Scheidel (BM) 17:28, 4. Scotty Zoscin (W) 17:52, 5. Landon Boyle (Min) 17:55, 6. Jack Flynn (NS) 17:57, 7. Joelvi Nunez (SV) 17:57, 8. Connor Stasulli (SV) 18:08, 9. Ricky Ray (W) 18:09, 10. Frankie Willis (W) 18:13, 11. Jacob Parker (W) 18:14, 12. Michael Berger (W) 18:15, 18. Ryan Bailor (JT) 18:39, 22. Gavin Vercusky (M) 18:54, 24. Tait Ehrig (T) 19:03, 27. Stephen Keiffer (T) 19:14, 28. Albin Petschauer (M) 19:26, 31. Kevin Earley (M) 19:30, 34. Johnny Malarkey (M) 19:31, 39. Owen Serfass (L) 19:44, 42. Jordan Remmel (JT) 19:49, 46. Ridge Snyder (JT) 20:06, 49. Brady Walters (W) 20:17, 50. Jesse Gormley (T) 20:18, 52. Alex Porambo (M) 20:40, 53. Mitchell Nailor (L) 20:48, 56. Brandon Hall (L) 20:55, 58. Nicholas Zeigenfuss (L) 21:02, 59. Bradley Yenser (L) 21:03, 60. Levi Monk (L) 21:06, 61. Nikolas Cinicola (JT) 21:07, 64. Daniel Holincheck (M) 21:17, 67. Alec Humes (T) 21:41, 69. Ethan McClure (JT) 21:43, 71. Jathan Krall (T) 21:46, 75. Alex Commesser (M) 22:00, 77. Matt Kokinda (Panther Valley) 22:06, 78. Nathan Tripp (W) 22:15, 84. John O’Toole (JT) 22:48,

Girls

Team scores and legend

1. Blue Mountain (BM) 52, 2. North Schuylkill (NS) 74, 3. Jim Thorpe (JT) 119, 4. Pottsville (P) 124, 5. Tamaqua (T) 140, 6. Tri-Valley (TV) 158, 7. Marian (M) 164, 8. Minersville (Min) 175, 9. Mahanoy Area (MA) 188, 10. Lehighton (L) 226, 11. Weatherly (W) 229.

Individual results

(top-10 plus other locals)

1. Cori McCormick (NS) 17:49, 2. Olivia Haas (BM) 18:27, 3. Kelsey Gaston (L) 19:38, 4. Ryley Schwalm (NS) 19:44, 5. Grace Stegemerten (T) 20:06, 6. Katie McCormick (NS) 20:20, 7. Kate Bos (JT) 20:42, 8. Adra Schell (P) 20:56, 9. Samantha Masser (TV) 20:59, 10. Cecilia Chipriano (BM) 21:08, 13. Megan Rosahac (JT) 21:49, 15. Francis Kabana (T) 22:02, 19. Grace Curnow (M) 22:09, 20. Aubrey Bonner (JT) 22:11, 23. Maddie Dando (M) 22:30, 25. Danielle Gordon (W) 22:54, 28. Kendall Gerhart (W) 23:15, 31. Isabella Acker (JT) 23:26, 38. Mia Jones (T) 24:22, 39. Isabella Genao (M) 24:26, 40. Emma Ashfield (M) 24:32, 43. Makenna Carroll (T) 24:53, 44. Ashley Jones (T) 24:56, 47. Hailey Curnow (M) 25:21, 48. Elizabeth Marshman (W) 25:43, 50. Gianna Sube (L) 25:51, 51. Brooke McKeon (JT) 25:55, 54. Katie Wojton (L) 26:12, 56. Hailey Williams (T) 26:25, 58. Alexandra Janner (Panther Valley) 26:47, 61. Natalie Hydro (T) 27:31, 63. Elizabeth Troutman (L) 27:46, 69. Mellanie Marshman (W) 29:08, 70. Jamyson Cotterman (L) 29:09, 71. McKenzie Snyder (JT) 30:46, Matalyn Rehrig (L) 30:52, 75. Elizabeth Knight (W) 33:20, 76. Brynn Barachie (L) 33:44.