With three finishers in the top 10, the Governor Mifflin High School girls’ cross country team captured first place at the Berks County Cross Country Championships held Oct. 16 at Kutztown University. It earned the Lady Mustangs their fourth straight Berks championship.
Led by Hannah Mansell’s second place overall individual finish, the Lady Mustangs won the championship race with 59 team points, 13 points ahead of second place Daniel Boone, and 41 points ahead of third place Muhlenberg. The Exeter girls finished in ninth place.
‘I was glad to see their hard work and belief in each other pay off,’ said Mifflin girls’ cross country coach John Heim. ‘Even though they were the underdogs on paper, they believed they could prove everyone wrong. They were not about to let the winning stop on their watch. They had a tradition to uphold.’
On the boys’ side, Twin Valley took the team championship with an amazing 43 team points, while Wilson was second and Governor Mifflin was in fourth place. The Daniel Boone boys finished in eighth place and Exeter was tied with Muhlenberg for ninth place.
The Lady Mustangs captured first place on the girls side due to the fact they had four runners in the top 11 spots. Mansell led the way with a second place finish in a time of 19:29.
Sophomore Nicole Moyer crossed the finish line in fifth place (19:33), with teammate Kelly Moyer finishing in sixth place, one second behind Nicole.
Joe Carter, a freshman, captured 11th place in 20:00, while Julianna Whalen closed out the scorers for Mifflin with a 35th place finish in a time of 21:48.
Also for Governor Mifflin, Abby Chudnovsky finsihed in 42nd place in 22:14, with teammate Nicole Heath two seconds behind her in 43rd place.
Finishing for second place Daniel Boone were: Abby Snyder, fourth (19:31); Sophia Guglielmi, ninth (19:52); Alex Santora, 13th (20:16); Jules Wanner, 62nd (21:03); Alex Hamill, 24th (21:05); Emilee Durso, 26th; Emily Scott, 38th (21:53).
Finishing for ninth place Exeter were: Cassie Whitmoyer, 29th (21:30); Sarah Ditomas, 39th (21:54); Emma Heffner, 40th (22:04); Courtney Yerger, 62nd (22:23); Taylor Richards, 78th (24:44); Allison Gieringer, 79th (24:51); Lexie Long, 83rd (24:54).
The third place Governor Mifflin boys were led by Jesse Mills who finished fifth in a time of 17:02. Other finishers for the Mustangs were: Jared Luckanitz, eighth (17:08); Josiah Mansell, 23rd (17:51); Luke Myers, 25th (17:52); Shane MacMahon, 28th (17:57); Ian Moyer, 30th (18:07); Sean Heckman, 71st (19:23).
Finishers for eighth place Daniel Boone were: Josh Gest, 39th (18:23); Adam Banks, 48th (18:41); Ethan Shane, 49th (18:45); Stevie Sievers, 52nd (18:49); Robby Miller, 53rd (18:51); Anthony Kahn, 60th (19:09); and Aaron Higgins, 69th (19:20).
Finishers for ninth place Exeter were: Kevin Brzostek, 18th (17:38); Nick Suruskie, 38th (18:22); Andrew Bodnari, 54th (18:56); Ryan Gorel, 63rd (19:13); Eric Algeo, 73rd (19:25); Steven Mack, 82nd (19:46); Bryson Ericke, 90th (20:06).
