EAST ALLEN TOWNSHIP - Natalie Mosier didn’t feel like she was running her best race. But the Palmerton sophomore stayed with the lead pack at Wednesday’s Colonial League Cross Country Championships until it was time to make her move.

In the final 200 meters, Mosier raced ahead of Southern Lehigh’s Maura Lenhard and Lauren Meinhold to finish first overall in a time of 19:36.24 at Bicentennial Park.

“I wasn’t in first for most of [the race],” Mosier said. “I tried to pace myself. I was up toward the front. Me and the Southern Lehigh girls were switching back and forth and working together.”

Mosier, who placed 10th at leagues last season, finished five seconds ahead of Lenhart (19:41.24) in second place.

It is only Mosier’s second year as a competitive runner. She took up the sport after her friend Beth Morgan talked to her into it in eighth grade.

She joined the Blue Bomber cross country team, but didn’t want to go too hard last season. This year she focused on training and getting faster, which paid off.

“I stuck with my plan, and I ran a lot more miles,” Mosier said. “Last year, I was really new to it. I wasn’t running as many miles so I wouldn’t get injured. This year, I really jumped up and stuck to all my miles and all my workouts.”

Mosier and the Bombers will compete in Class A in next week’s district race, where she will likely be the favorite to win another title.

In the boys race, Palisades sophomore Thomas Smigo took first place in 15:52.15 to edge Saucon Valley’s Matthew Chaikwosky (15:53.65).

The top Times News area finisher was Northwestern Lehigh sophomore Sam Bower in fourth place at 16:34.51.

“I think I ran great,” Bower said. “My goal was top five, and I completed that so I’m really happy with how I did.”

While Bower reached his individual goal, the Tigers came up just short of their team goal as Southern Lehigh took the boys team title by four points (51-55).

Northwestern’s girls team also finished second to the Spartans at the meet.

“They run smart races,” said Northwestern head coach Chris Stitzel. “They run a nice steady pace, and work on picking them off as the race goes on. It was a great day for both teams, and we’re getting ready for next week.”

Northwestern heads into districts as defending Class 2A champs in boys and girls. Southern Lehigh moves into Class 3A next week, but strong Blue Mountain teams will likely be the Tigers’ top competition.

No matter what the outcome of the races were Wednesday or might be next week, Stitzel is just happy the shortened 2020 season reached the postseason races.

“We got to the point where we can have a championship,” he said. “I’m just glad we were able to get this far. All summer they’ve been training for this time of year. Especially after losing track season, they were champing at the bit to get this season in. And it showed the way they trained and put the miles in.”

TEAM LEADERS

... In the girls race, Northwestern was led by Anglina Klein’s fifth-place finish. Emily Moyer was Northern Lehigh’s top finisher. The Bulldogs don’t have enough runners to acrue a team score. In the boys race, Palmerton was led by Bryce Marino’s 19th-place finish. The top Northern Lehigh finisher was Jared thomas in 16th place.

FAST PACED RACE

... On the relatively flat course at Bicentennial Park, Mosier was able to post her career best time, beating her previous best of 19:53.

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE

... Southern Lehigh’s girls team placed five runners in the top 10 overall to take the team title by a whopping 47 points (31-78) over Northwestern.

LOOKING AHEAD

... The District 11 Championships will be held Monday (boys) and Tuesday (girls) at Blue Mountain Resort.

BOYS

Team scores and legend

1. Southern Lehigh (SL) 51, 2. Northwestern Lehigh (NW) 55, 3. Bangor (B) 105, 4. Palisades (Pali) 122, 5. Palmerton (Palm) 144, 6. Moravian Academy (MA) 164, 7. Wilson (W) 173, 8. Saucon Valley (SV) 175, 9. Pen Argyl (PA) 232, 10. Catasauqua (C) 284, 11. Salisbury (S) 293,

Top 10 Individuals plus other locals

1. Thomas Smigo (Pali) 15:52.15, 2. Matthew Chaikowsky (SV) 15:53.65, 3. Alexander Kane (SL) 16:08.44, 4. Sam Bower (NW) 16:34.51, 5. Dominik Lisicky (SL) 16:37.79, 6. Matt Santana (NW) 16:49.78, 7. Cole Chukoskie (NW) 16:56.23, 8. Joshua Deremer (PA) 17:03.78, 9. Cameron Stout (B) 17:14.46, 10. Mitchell Campbell (Pali) 17:16.97, 14. Nate Vincent (NW) 17:26.66, 16. Jared Thomas (Northern Lehigh) 17:41.44, 19. Bryce Marino (Palm) 17:50.61, 26. RJ Zack (NW) 18:12.82, 27. Will Gruen (NW) 18:13.77, 28. Michael Noyola (Palm) 18:18.78, 33. Owen Hibell (Palm) 18:33.86, 25. Joe Chukoskie (NW) 18:39.81, 37. Trey Sterling (Palm) 18:45.67, 38. Ethan Kozlowski (NW) 18:46.6, 39. Brance Fronheiser (Palm) 18:48.35, 50. Hunter Zehner (Northern Lehigh) 19:40.43, 51. Zach Santana (NW) 19:44.25, 52. Chris Walkowiak (Palm) 19:46.34, 55. Ethan Schaeffer (Palm) 19:53.96, 57. Aaron Simpson (Palm) 20:06.83, 68. Devon White (Palm) 21:03.94, 76. Gabriel Diaz (Northern Lehigh) 21:34.16,

GIRLS

Team scores and legend

1. Southern Lehigh (SL) 31, 2. Northwestern Lehigh (NW) 78, 3. Wilson (W) 107, 4. Palisades (Pali) 120, 5. Saucon Valley (SV) 122, 6. Catasauqua (C) 141, 7. Moravian Academy (MA) 177, 8. Bangor (B) 198, 9. Palmerton (P) 210.

Top 10 individual plus other locals

1. Natalie Mosier (Palm) 19:36.24, 2. Maura Lenhard (SL) 19:41.69, 3. Alyssa Errico (W) 19:50.46, 4. Lauren Meinhold (SL) 20:01.99, 5. Angelina Klein (NW) 20:05.36, 6. Emma Szydlow (SV) 20:08.3, 7. Annefloor Fooij (SL) 20:15.78, 8. Alaina Patel (Pali) 20:17.36, 9. Sara Reguera (Pali) 20:19.14, 10. Ashley Meinhold (SL) 20:20.74, 15. Emily Fagan (NW) 21:05.28, 18. Maci Fisher (NW) 21:13.61, 20. Kailyn Jones (NW) 21:25.65, 25. Faith Yost (NW) 21:44.39, 28. Molly McGorry (NW) 21:49.53, 35. Alexis Vannera (NW) 23:33.12, 44. Emma Rutkowski (NW) 24:23.71, 47. Emma Smith (Northern Lehigh) 24:41.94, 50. Zoe Manbeck (NW) 25:14.87, 51. Cecelia Pyfer (Palm) 25:15.71, 55. Beth Morgan (Palm) 25:29.59, 56. Emily Moyer (Northern Lehigh) 25:32.09, 66. Samantha Perloni (Palm) 27:39.30, 71. Stefany Steckel (Northern Lehigh) 28:34.54, 75. Erica Tworkowsky (Palm) 32:23.36.