CENTER VALLEY — No single runner could get Northwestern Lehigh to states.

It would take all of them.

The Tigers delivered the team performance they needed Wednesday, finishing second in the District 11 Class 2A boys cross country championships at DeSales University to secure a spot in the state meet.

Northwestern scored 72 points to claim one of two team berths to the PIAA Championships. Blue Mountain won the title with 49 points, while Notre Dame-Green Pond finished third with 87.

“That was the goal all season,” Northwestern coach Chris Stitzel said. “We have some good seniors and good leaders this year, and that was the goal from day one.”

A week earlier, Northwestern finished second to Southern Lehigh at the Colonial League Championships, scoring 59 points to Notre Dame’s 73. The performance gave the Tigers confidence after losing to the Crusaders twice earlier in the season.

“Notre Dame was kind of our nemesis all year,” Stitzel said. “We lost to them both times, but both times we ran them we weren’t at our best.”

Northwestern carried that momentum into districts, placing five runners among the top 22.

Brandon Richards led the Tigers with a seventh-place finish in 17:14.8, followed by Noah Griffith, who was eighth in 17:28.6.

Brady Furman placed 18th in 17:53.6, Michael Richards was 20th in 17:59.8, and Adin Breidinger finished 22nd in 18:01.0.

Isaac Grubb (34th, 18:35.0) and Quentin Guiterrez (47th, 19:11.8) rounded out the lineup.

For Brandon Richards, the accomplishment was especially meaningful.

A newcomer to cross country after spending 12 years playing soccer, Richards has quickly become one of Northwestern’s top runners.

“This is my first year doing it, and I’ve been doing soccer for 12 years,” Richards said. “I didn’t want to stick with one sport, so I wanted to move on, see what else I could like. A bunch of my friends suggested cross country, and I did it, and I liked it.”

Richards ran nearly 24 seconds faster than he did at last week’s league meet on the same course.

“I didn’t get the PR I wanted, but I’m still really happy because we made it to states,” he said.

Stitzel credited Richards with giving the Tigers another important piece.

“That was huge getting him this year,” Stitzel said. “He helped put us over the top this year.”

And while Northwestern would have welcomed a district championship, its coach was more than satisfied.

“I’m so happy for our guys,” Stitzel said. “It’d be nice to get that first, but hey, second’s just as good. We’re still going to states. We’re still getting medals and going to states. That was the goal.”

Cathers continues climb

Lehighton’s Joshua Cathers continued his remarkable improvement, placing fourth in Class 2A with a time of 17:07.8 to earn an individual berth to states.

Cathers, who competed in Class 1A last season, estimated he ran approximately 18:37 at districts a year ago on the same course.

“I wasn’t even running cross country two years ago,” Cathers said. “And so now being here, I would’ve never dreamed that this is where I’d be.”

Familiarity with DeSales helped Cathers develop a strategy Wednesday. He wanted to move into the top two by the second mile, believing it would give him the best opportunity to finish among the top five.

He reached second during the race before finishing fourth, improving by 26.2 seconds from last week’s Colonial League Championships.

“I figured that if I could get in the top two by around mile two, then I could guarantee a top-five finish,” Cathers said. “So I pushed a little more on the second mile to get there.”

Steencken’s comeback

For Tamaqua’s Parker Steencken, reaching states represented the culmination of a difficult comeback.

Steencken finished ninth in Class 2A in 17:30.5, a little more than a year after an ankle injury sidelined him for five months.

During a race at Minersville in October 2025, Steencken said he rolled his ankle on a rock, damaging his ankle and Achilles. His recovery included crutches, a walking boot and physical therapy.

“I’m ecstatic, dude,” Steencken said. “I got injured last year. I missed my shot at states last year. I lost five months out of it. Ever since then, I’ve been working back, trying to get back to where I am. And now that I’ve finally made states, and I finished in the top 10, it’s the most amazing feeling in the world.”

The physical recovery was difficult, but so was watching his teammates continue to improve while he was sidelined.

“I got severely discouraged seeing everybody else, especially on my team,” Steencken said. “I used to be running with those guys. I used to be in front of those guys, and now I can’t even run a mile.”

Learning to focus on his own progress helped him regain his confidence.

“Once I took a step back and stopped comparing myself to everybody else, I got to focus on me and started building back up my own base,” he said. “And then eventually, it led me to where I am.”

Steencken will be joined at states by Tamaqua teammate Memphis Kline, who finished 11th in 17:33.7.

Colts send two

In Class 1A, Marian Catholic narrowly missed a team berth, placing third with 120 points, 11 behind runner-up Moravian Academy. Nativity BVM won the team title with 31 points.

The Colts will still send two runners to states.

Wade Eroh placed fourth in 17:44.9, while Jacob Berlanda finished eighth in 18:05.3.

Eroh said he moved into the lead with approximately a half-mile remaining before discomfort in his Achilles forced him to slow.

“I got into first with like half a mile left, but my Achilles just started burning like crazy, so I just felt like I couldn’t anymore,” Eroh said.

Despite his disappointment with the performance, Eroh secured another opportunity at states alongside Berlanda.

“Everybody put a lot of work in, so it’s pretty deserving for everybody,” he said.

Best earns return trip

Weatherly’s Alex Best also earned a return trip to states, finishing 13th in Class 1A in 18:43.7.

Best said narrowly missing an all-star award at last week’s Schuylkill League Championships provided extra motivation.

“Last week, I just missed the All-Star trophy, and I had that pumped-up anger and kind of took it out all here and gave it as hard as I could on this course,” Best said.

The junior recorded his fastest time at DeSales, another sign of his improvement throughout the season.

Weatherly coach Ryan Kately credited the competition between Best and teammate Khrystian Rivera with helping both runners improve.

“Alex has definitely pushed Khrystian, and Khrystian has definitely pushed Alex,” Kately said.

Best is looking forward to another opportunity at states, this time on a new course at Big Spring.

“It definitely gives me some tips on who to look out for and where to make my moves,” Best said. “I’m excited to try the new course at Big Spring this year and see how it goes.”

District 11

Cross Country Championships

Class 1A

Team Standings

1.Nativity BVM (Nat) 31, 2. Moravian Academy (MA) 109, 3. Marian Catholic (MC) 120, 4. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 124, 5. Mahanoy Area (MA) 128, 6. Minersville (Min) 142, 7. Weatherly (Wea) 161, 8. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 184, 9. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 191, 10. Notre Dame ES (NDES) 222.

Individual Results

1.Wyatt Hylka (Nat) 17:25.9, 2. Johnny Burgess (Min) 17:26.8, 3. Jacob Bowman (Nat) 17:42.9, 4. Wade Eroh (MC) 17:44.9, 5. Kyle McCormick (Nat) 17:56.5, 6. Preston Rex (BCS) 17:57.6, 7. Shane Meyer (Nat) 18:02.8, 8. Jacob Berlanda (MC) 18:05.3, 9. Grayson Zaremba (MA) 18:05.9, 10. Cameron Smith (MA) 18:12.7.

Other locals in the top-50

13. Alex Best (Wea) 18:43.7, 16. Khristian Rivera (Wea) 19:00.3, 19. James Gelatko (MC) 19:14.0, 29. Achilles Fitzpatrick (MC) 19:47.9, 41. Ryley Jacoby (Wea) 20:45.1, 48. Tyler Nelson (Wea) 21:31.3, 50. Evan Janiec (Wea) 21:38.0.

Class 2A

Team Standings

1.Blue Mountain (BM) 49, 2. Northwestern Lehigh (NW) 72, 3. Notre Dame GP (NDGP) 87, 4. Saucon Valley (SV) 127, 5. Wilson Area (Wil) 165, 6. Lehigh Valley Academy (LVA) 183, 7. Tamaqua (Tam) 191, 8. North Schuylkill (NS) 215, 9. Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 240, 10. Pen Argyl (PA) 264, 11. Jim Thorpe (JT) 273, 12. Lehighton (Leh) 299, 13. Bangor Area (Ban) 355, 14. Northern Lehigh (NL) 380, 15. Palisades (Pali) 426, 16. Catasauqua (Cat) 430.

Individual Results

1.Theodore Wechtler (SV) 16:49.1, 2. Emmett Rieland (NDGP) 16:53.8, 3. Quinnlon Tremaglia (BM) 17:02.8, 4. Joshua Cathers (Leh) 17:07.8, 5. Brody Moyer (BM) 17:13.5, 6. Russell Hunter (BM) 17:14.4, 7. Brandon Richards (NW) 17:14.8, 8. Noah Griffith (NW) 17:28.6, 9. Parker Steencken (Tam) 17:30.5, 10. Liam McGuidan (SV) 17:33.6.

Other locals in the top-50

11.Memphis Kline (Tam) 17:33.7, 18. Brady Furman (NW) 17:53.6, 20. Michael Richards (NW) 17:59.8, 22. Adin Breidinger (NW) 18:01.0, 27. Aidan Elston (Tam) 18:22.2, 31. Jakob Sheckler (JT) 18:28.2, 34. Isaac Grubb (NW) 18:35.0, 40. Ezra Berros (Leh) 19:02.4, 44. Owen Novy (JT) 19:07.7, 47. Quentin Guiterrez (NW) 19:11.8, 48. Colin Warren (JT) 19:12.8.

Class 3A

Team Standings

1. Emmaus (Em) 37, 2. Parkland (Park) 42, 3. Southern Lehigh (SL) 102, 4. Nazareth (Naz) 152, 5. Stroudsburg (Str) 161, 6. Easton (East) 191, 7. Liberty (Lib) 198, 8. Freedom (Free) 207, 9. East Stroudsburg North (ESN) 292, 10. Whitehall (Wh) 323, 11. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 325, 12. Northampton (North) 333, 13. Dieruff (Dier) 361, 14. Pocono Mountain West (PMW) 367, 15. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 400, 16. Pottsville (Pott) 451.

Individual Results

1. David Hearn (Em) 15:40.3, 2. Colin McGuigan (Park) 16:00.8, 3. Roen Woolf (Em) 16:13.5, 4. Cole Orloski (Park) 16:16.3, 5. Miles Etters (SL) 16:20.0, 6. Michael Carwell (Em) 16:20.1, 7. Joseph Sokolowski (ESN) 16:32.6, 8. Brayden Boyle (Free) 16:33.4, 9. Mason Hipp (Em) 16:38.9, 10. Isaiah Wilson (Park) 16:45.6.

NOTE: The top two teams in each classification and the top 10 individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the PIAA Cross Country Championships, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, at Big Spring School District in Newville.