BARNESVILLE - Tom Kanger made his way down the line. The Tamaqua head coach adorned members of his girls cross country team with gold medals before posing for pictures.

Kanger had experienced the feeling before. For the past three seasons, the Raiders have been a dominant force in the Schuylkill League, winning three straight Division 1 and league meet titles.

And 2018 was no different.

Tamaqua capped a 14-0 regular season and fourth straight division crown with another stellar performance at Tuscarora State Park on Wednesday, winning the team title at the Schuylkill League Cross Country Championships with 46 points, well ahead of North Schuylkill (73) and Lehighton (81).

“It’s huge,” said Kanger. “It’s so hard, year-in, year-out, to maintain it. I don’t know how ... leadership, obviously. Those girls, Sarah Maue, and April Gerber, are two of the seniors that stand out on that team. Melanie Shimko (also a senior) who, when I need help with stuff, she’s always there.

“The seniors that I have really took care of the team, all the way through. They knew the people they came in with, and they knew the people that came up with them.”

The seniors on this Tamaqua squad have been a part of a remarkable run that has included 74 consecutive dual meet victories, that dates back four years.

They weren’t about to let it end this season.

“As a team, we obviously wanted to continue with our streak,” said Maue. “It’s really cool to see that throughout my four years here. I’m so proud of them. It’s such a great feeling.

“We’ve been working hard all season. But, we weren’t sure how exactly this year would play out.”

Maue paced the attack with a fifth-place finish, crossing the line in 19:30. But the Raiders used their depth to claim the title, with sophomore Frances Kabana (19:38), freshman Grace Stegemerten (19:38) and junior Brianna Dumond (19:49) crossing the line in seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.

“And we’re all under 20:00, which is crazy,” said Maue. “I don’t think we’ve ever had that happen during my four years, so that’s really awesome.”

Gerber (22:03) and Lottie Mateyak (22:15) crossed the line in 23rd and 24th, while Madelyn Jones rounded out the Tamaqua contingent in 43rd (23:58).

“It’s amazing,” said Kabana. “As a team, we all work for everything, for each other; it’s not just about you, it’s about your whole team. We run for each other.”

North Schuylkill sophomore Cori McCormick won the girls’ race in 17:55, just off the course record of 17:53, set by Pottsville’s Paige Stoner in 2013.

Marian’s Nicole Capparell posted a personal best with a time of 19:38, good for a sixth-place finish.

The senior stayed with the group of Tamaqua girls, allowing them to push her to a solid finish.

“I’m happy with my time, finally,” said Capparell. “Getting into the 19s is really exciting. I’m happy where I’m at going into districts.”

“I’m just really excited. It’s my last season, and I just want to give it all I got.”

While the Raiders celebrated a milestone moment with another championship, the Weatherly boys made history of their own.

The Wreckers were deadlocked with Shenandoah Valley at 13-1 atop the Division 2 standings after splitting their regular season meetings, turning the league meet into a tiebreaker for the two schools.

Weatherly seized the moment, downing the Devils 25-30 to earn the school’s first league title in nearly 30 years.

“History. It’s history,” said Wreckers head coach Paul Schertrumpf. “I told them, you get your name on that banner, you get your name on that wall, that’s there forever.

“I know it’s been 29 years. I took pictures of the banners. And that was my big thing. In all sports, with all teams, you only have a certain window of doing something like that. We’re in that window right now, where we have the talent to be able to do something this special. And there it is. They took advantage of it today. They ran hard, they ran well.”

Freshman Frankie Willis led the Wreckers with a fourth-place finish in 17:15. Sophomore Scotty Zoscin, a state qualifier a year, was ninth in 17:26.

“It was a lot of pressure, especially since we were tied with Shenandoah,” said Willis. “But one thing that helped a lot was being able to practice with Scotty everyday.”

And Willis has helped Zoscin, who has enjoyed the competition on the squad this year.

“It’s been really great,” said Zoscin. “During my cross country career, I haven’t had a team like this. This year is totally different than last year.

“To have a team like this, it really pushes me to run my best.”

Senior Anthony Maguschak finished 14th in 17:44, giving Weatherly three runners between Shenandoah’s first (Brandon Stasulli, seventh) and second (Educ Zamudio, 19th) runners.

Freshmen Ricky Ray (18:42) and Brady Walters (18:51) crossed the line in 25th and 29th, respectively, for the Wreckers. Nick Berger (66th) and Derek Houser (96th) finished out the scoring for Weatherly.

Weatherly placed second overall in the team standings with 77 points, edging Jim Thorpe (87) and falling just behind Blue Mountain (56).

The Olympians also entered the day in a tiebreaker situation, finishing the regular season tied with the Eagles in the Division 1 standings at 13-1.

Kevin Haas won the boys race for Blue Mountain in 16:25, a victory that helped the Eagles take the Division 1 title with a 23-34 victory in the tiebreaker.

Coltin Albitz was sixth in 17:20, giving Blue Mountain two runners in before Jim Thorpe’s first finisher, Marc Waslesyn (17:41) in 11th. Sam Hydro (17:41) was 12th for the Olympians.

JUNIOR HIGH

... North Schuylkill eighth-grader Justin Williams won the junior high race, covering the 1.8 mile distance in 11:31. Lehighton’s Nicholas Zeigenfuss was second with a time of 11:47, while Jim Thorpe’s Ryan Bailor placed third in 11:58. The Olympians were first in the team standings with 31 points. Pine Grove eighth-grader Melanie Love won the girls race in 12:24. Weatherly’s Kendall Gerhart was the top area finisher, coming in fifth with a time of 13:18.

JUNIOR VARSITY

... Jim Thorpe swept the top two spots in the boys JV race, with James Schwartz (18:57) taking first and Ben Seachrist (19:20) second. Lehighton’s Ben Mathisen (19:41) was third. Blue Mountain’s Gabby Menuchak won the girls race, finishing in 23:37. Tamaqua’s Natalie Hydro (23:26) was second, while Lehighton’s Kendall Mease (24:13) placed fourth.

UP NEXT

... The District 11 Cross Country Championships will be held Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.

BOYS

Team Standings

1. Blue Mountain (BM) 56, 2. Weatherly (W) 77, 3. Jim Thorpe (JT) 87, 4. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 103, 5. North Schuylkill (NS) 117, 6. Tamaqua (T) 166, 7. Minersville (M) 222, 8. Lehighton (L) 239, 9. Nativity (Nat) 259, 10. Pine Grove (PG) 263, 11. Tri-Valley (TV) 278, 12. Marian Catholic (MC) 282. 13. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 306, 14. Pottsville (P) 350.

Individual Top 5

1. Kevin Haas (BM) 16:25, 2. Travis Anderson (PG) 16:41, 3. Wayne Reilly (TV) 17:09, 4. Frankie Willis (W) 17:15, 5. Cole Striesel (Mahanoy) 17:18.

Other local finishers in top 50

9. Scotty Zoscin (W) 17:26, 11. Marc Waslesyn (JT) 17:41, 12. Sam Hydro (JT) 17:41, 14. Anthony Maguschak (W) 17:48, 16. Jacob Lippincott (JT) 18:01, 17. Derian Stianche (T) 18:08, 23. Brandon Fogarty (T) 18:39, 25. Ricky Ray (W) 18:42, 26. Joseph Powierski (JT) 18:42, 27. Noah Rodgers (JT) 18:42, 29. Brady Walters (W) 18:51, 31. Evan Beers (L) 18:54, 34. Detrick Borden (T) 19:19, 35. Christopher Osenbach (T) 19:23, 39. Paul Onuskanich (JT) 19:39, 40. Blake Killmer (JT) 19:39, 42. Alex Schwab (L) 19:45, 48. Addison Howland (L) 20:15.

GIRLS

Team Standings

1. Tamaqua (T) 46, 2. North Schuylkill (NS) 73, 3. Lehighton (L) 81, 4. Blue Mountain (BM) 99, 5. Tri-Valley (TV) 134, 6. Marian Catholic (MC) 138, 7. Pottsville (P) 187, 8. Jim Thorpe (JT) 203, 9. Mahanoy (M) 204, 10. Weatherly (W) 281, 11. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 309.

Individual Top 5

1. Cori McCormick (NS) 17:55, 2. Olivia Haas (BM) 18:11, 3. Christina Difalco (PG) 19:02, 4. Ryley Schwalm (NS) 19:21, 5. Sarah Maue (T) 19:30.

Other local finishers in top 50

6. Nicole Capparell (MC) 19:38, 7. Frances Kabana (T) 19:38, 8. Grace Stegemerten (T) 19:38, 9. Brianna Dumond (T) 19:49, 13. Kelsey Gaston (L) 20:56, 17. Asia Arner (L) 21:36, 18. Madison Cressley (L) 21:38, 21. Tinaya Klotz (L) 21:53, 22. Paige Wehr (L) 21:56, 23. April Gerber (T) 22:03, 24. Lottie Mateyak (T) 22:15, 27. Carolyn Mehallo (MC) 22:42, 28. Alyssa Williams (L) 22:46, 33. Julia Kreisl (MC) 23:04, 36. Isabella Acker (JT) 23:08, 37. Olivia Renode (JT) 23:19, 39. Kaitlyn Lowery (MC) 23:49, 42. Elizabeth Marshman (W) 23:51, 43. Madelyn Jones (T) 23:58, 44. Megan Rosahac (JT) 23:59, 47. Grace Curnow (MC) 24:20, 49. Nicole Gordon (W) 24:29,