Success and the Northwestern Lehigh girls' cross country team have gone hand-in-hand in recent years.

The Lady Tigers have gone 26-0 in each of the last three seasons, claiming three Colonial League championships to go along with two District 11 Class AA titles.Sure, Northwestern has had its share of strong individual performances over that span. But a key component throughout has been the Lady Tiger's unprecedented depth, with runners stepping up on a weekly basis and doing whatever was needed to give the team an extra boost.All of those qualities were on display in Wednesday's six-team Colonial League meet, as Northwestern went a perfect 4-0, sweeping Bangor, Pen Argyl, Northern Lehigh and Wilson to move to 21-0 to start the season.The Lady Tigers top performer was Molly Tarvin, who took second overall in 19:43.75, a run that surprised the emerging freshman."That's not at all where I though I would be," said Tarvin, who was nearly 10 seconds behind race winner Angelina Biondo of Pen Argyl. "I started around eighth or ninth, and just tried to move my way up through the pack. I'm very happy with how I did today."Tarvin wasn't the only one that had a nice showing, as the Lady Tigers put five girls in the top 10 and 10 in the top 18 to claim dominant wins.Knowing he can count on contributions from throughout his lineup is something Northwestern head coach Chris Stitzel takes great pride in."My top girl this week could be my No. 6 or 7 next week," he said. "And they all push each other to keep getting better. None of them want to be a part of the team that has that first loss."Northern Lehigh went 0-4, but the Lady Bulldogs got strong runs from Nina Schnyder and Sara Hunsicker, who finished 23rd and 24th, respectively.Palmerton did not have enough girls to score in the meet, but the Lady Bombers Kelly Westermann ran strong and finished 27th overall in 23:26.22.While depth might have played a key role in helping Northwestern extend its winning streak on the girls side, the same couldn't be said for the boys team, which went 2-3 on the day, picking up wins over Northern Lehigh and Palmerton but falling to Bangor, Wilson and Pen Argyl by the slimmest of margins.Northwestern's (15-7) Braden Heller took third overall in 16:53.47, almost exactly 30 seconds behind race winner Joe Espinal of Wilson. But the Tigers next two runners didn't come in until 15th and 16th, while the Slaters, Green Knights and Warriors all managed to place at least two more runners in the top 14.Knowing it's going to be close at the top in both the District 11 and Colonial League meets, Stitzel stressed that his team must improve in order to get back to Hershey for a second straight year."We need to close that gap at the top," he said. "They're excited about going back to Hershey after winning the district title last year. But we need to get better before we start thinking about that, because it's going to be tight with these teams until the end of the year."Knowing there's room for improvement, Heller was happy with how he ran."I guess I'm satisfied," the senior said. "I was trying to get second place (ahead of Brandon Tocket) so we would have a chance to beat Bangor because it's always been close between our teams. I ran okay, but I still feel like I can do better."Despite feeling under the weather, Northern Lehigh's Gavin Kemery did well to finish sixth overall in 17:11.68 to help the Bulldogs go 1-3, with the win coming over Palmerton."I was sick over the weekend, so I wasn't expecting a great turnout today," said Kemery. "But I did my best and I was just able to get what I could today."Palmerton, which went 0-5, was led by Zach Svetik, who took ninth overall in 17:20.77.While satisfied with the finish, Svetik hopes he'll be able to improve as the year goes on."I think I could pick up a few spots maybe by the end of the season," he said. "It would mean more to me to be able to beat some of these guys at districts or leagues, and that's what I'm hoping to do."BOYSBangor 19. Northern Lehigh 37Bangor 24, Northwestern 31Bangor 17, Palmerton 44Northwestern 19, Northern Lehigh 44Northern Lehigh 23, Palmerton 35Pen Argyl 23, Northern Lehigh 32Wilson 19, Northern Lehigh 40Northwestern 19, Palmerton 44Pen Argyl 28, Northwestern 29Wilson 25, Northwestern 32Pen Argyl 21, Palmerton 37Wilson 19, Palmerton 421. Joe Espinal (W) 16:23.68, 2. Brandon Tocket (B) 16:41.93, 3. Braden Heller (NW) 16:53.47, 4. Dan Eibeck (PA) 16:57.44, 5. Michael Sheptuk (NDES) 17:05.54, 6. Gavin Kemery (NL) 17:11.68, 7. Matt McCoy (B) 17:17.25, 8. Charlie Sell (B) 17:18.66, 9. Zach Svetik (PAL) 17:20.77, 10. Ty Smith (PA) 17:31.52, 11. Cullen King (PA), 12. Alex Race (W), 13. Spencer Muff (W), 14. Kyle Zingales (W), 15. Joshua Kromer (NW), 16. Alec Consuelos (NW), 17. Josh Eibeck (PA), 18. Conor Naughton (NDES), 19. Austin Bauer (B), 20. Philip Castrine (NW), 21. Joseph McCoy (B), 22. Kavan Fitzpatrick (NW), 23. Matthew Grim (NW), 24. Zachary Hancharik (NW), 25. Matt Boerchers (W).GIRLSBangor 23, Northern Lehigh 34Northwestern 15, Bangor 50Northwestern 15, Northern Lehigh 50Pen Argyl 22, Northern Lehigh 33Wilson 15, Northern Lehigh 46Northwestern 21, Pen Argyl 40Northwestern 23, Wilson 36* - Note: Palmerton did not have enough runners to be eligible for team scoring.1. Angelina Biondo (PA) 19:23.03, 2. Molly Tarvin (NW) 19:34.75, 3. Abby Rustay (W) 19:41.18, 4. Carly Pierce (NW) 19:45.10, 5. Sydney Brannon (W) 19:51.84, 6. Rachele Cerrone (NW) 19:57.68, 7. Abigail Supplee (NW) 20:11.03, 8. Brianna Biondo (PA) 20:18.03, 9. Gaby Vega (W) 20:20.90, 10. Rachel Mikols (NW) 20:31.11, 11. Hannah Herzon (NW), 12. Abigail Smith (NW), 13. Devyn Losco (W), 14. Angela Alden (NW), 15. Kailey Jackett (NDES), 16. Elizabeth Fornauf (NW), 17. Morgan Casciole (W), 18. Madeline Peery (NW), 19. Courtney Krechel (NDES), 20. Martina Sell (B), 21. Alyssa Weaver (PA), 22. Elizabeth Iobst (NW), 23. Nina Schnyder (NL), 24. Sara Hunsicker (NL), 25. Laura Sine (W).