November 6, 2023

Cross Country

Four local runners compete at PIAA race

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

HERSHEY — Meadville’s Max Dillaman and Megan Puleio, Saegertown’s Camryn Harakal and Maplewood’s Lincoln Kier each raced at the PIAA Cross Country Championship meet on Saturday.

Dillaman, a senior, finished 82nd in the Class 2A boys event with a time of 17:51. It was his fourth time racing at states. Puleio, a sophomore, was 34th (20:25) in the Class 2A girls race. Her time was one minute faster than her finish last year as a freshman.

In the Class 1A races, Harakal was 46th in the girls event. The sophomore was a first-timer at states and finished the 3.1-mile track at Hershey’s Parkview Cross Country Course in 21 minutes and 31 seconds.

Kier, a junior and three-time state qualifier, was 56th. He ran the course in 18 minutes and four seconds.

The top 25 individual finishers earned a medal at the race. The 1A boys winner was Mohawk’s Jaxon Schoedel (16:09), 1A girls was Moravian Academy’s Virginia Kraus (18:50), 2A boys was Ringgold’s Ryan Pajak (15:21) and the 2A girls was Lewisburg’s Baylee Espinosa (18:48).

November 4, 2023

Cross Country

Four area runners to compete at state cross country meet today

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

After performing well at last week’s District 10 Cross Country Championship, four local runners will compete at the state level today.

Today’s PIAA Cross Country Championship meet is hosted at the Parkview Cross Country Course in Hershey. For the four local runners, three of them have competed at states before.

Meadville senior Max Dillaman will have his fourth go at chasing a medal at the state championship race. Last year, he finished 30th and was just outside of earning a medal. The top 25 individual runners walk away with a medal.

He finished 50th as a freshman and 72nd as a sophomore at states.

This year, Dillaman battled back from an injury that limited him for most of the summer and early in the season. After last weekend’s D-10 race where he finished 12th, he said he felt like he was peaking at the right time.

“Max’s time at districts was just a handful of seconds slower than last year’s district time, and that was with muddier conditions this year. It’s proof that he’s on the right track; he has put in the training to get himself to peak at the perfect time — the first weekend of November,” Meadville head coach Jennifer Zamperini said.

“His goal is to medal. He was just outside of medaling last year, and that was even with his body shutting down on him.”

At last year’s state race, it was unseasonably warm for early November. The high temperature was 79 degrees and it resulted in a tough day for many distance runners. Today, the high is forecasted to be 61 degrees.

“We are thrilled with the weather this year. Last year, the late-morning/early afternoon starts of the races combined with the unseasonably warm temperatures resulted in disaster for many runners. We saw so many runners come down the finishing chute and just collapse from dehydration and heat exhaustion,” Zamperini said. “This year, with the race starting times back to normal (earlier in the morning), and the temperatures more typical of early November, we still plan to have Megan and Max hydrate and eat well throughout the days leading up to their races.”

Meadville sophomore Megan Puleio is at the state race for the second time in her career. As a freshman, she placed 100th. At district’s last weekend, she was eighth.

“Megan would love to see her time and place improve from last year. The first time you are on the state course in November, it’s a bonus round,” Zamperini said. “This year she is hoping to capitalize on her training and improve her place and time.”

Puleio also battled through an injury this fall. Zamperini said she’s managed it well and will be ready for today’s race.

Meadville is a Class 2A school, but two runners from Class 1A school will also compete today.

Maplewood’s Lincoln Kier will take his third crack at a state medal today.

Kier finished eighth at last week’s D-10 meet. At states last year he finished 117th. As a freshman he was 102nd.

The only first-time qualifier is Saegertown sophomore Camryn Harakal. Harakal placed seventh at the district meet last week.

The schedule for today’s meet is as follows: Class 1A girls, 9:30 a.m.; Class 2A girls, 10:15 a.m.; Class 3A girls, 11 a.m.; Class 1A boys, 11:45 a.m.; Class 2A boys, 12:30 p.m.; Class 3A boys, 1:15 p.m.

November 2, 2023

Cross Country

Girls athlete of the week: Camryn Harakal, Saegertown cross country

Camryn Harakal, a Saegertown sophomore, placed seventh at Saturday’s District 10 cross country meet. Her time of 20 minutes and 45 seconds will advance her to the state meet this weekend.

As a freshman, she finished 17th and was only a handful of seconds from the cutline, which made this season even sweeter for Harakal.

Saegertown sophomore Camryn Harakal is seen near the finish line during Saturday’s D-10 cross country meet.

October 28, 2023

Cross Country

Dillaman’s dash

Dillaman makes it to states yet again

By Alex Topor

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

TITUSVILLE — If you asked Meadville senior Max Dillaman in August if he would be making his fourth trip to the state championship cross country meet this season, he probably wasn’t sure.

Dillman battled through an injury that limited his training and how many times he competed this season. Despite the setback, Dillaman placed 12th at Saturday’s District 10 cross country championship race hosted at Titusville’s Ed Myer Complex.

“It’s very exciting. We were a little worried this year because I had a stress fracture all summer,” Dillaman said. “I was down, but we finally are peaking now. We’re very excited about how today went and how next weekend will go.”

Dillaman finished the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes and 42 seconds in the boys Class 2A event. Despite a hard rain in the hours before the event that dissipated before the races began, the muddy conditions didn’t slow down “Big Slice,” Dillaman’s nickname.

“It wasn’t terrible,” Dillaman said. “It was muddy in spots, but it’s better than we’ve seen.”

Fellow Meadville Bulldog Megan Puleio also punched her ticket to the state meet next weekend at the Hershey Entertainment Complex. The sophomore placed eighth (20:01). She also battled an injury this season.

“It was a goal to make it to states,” Puleio said. “I was injured at the beginning of the year, but it would be kind of embarrassing if I made it my freshman year and not my sophomore.”

Puleio advanced to states as a freshman in both cross country and track and field. She said the mud did not help her time, but the cold weather did.

“I was slipping. I was hoping for a low-18, high-19 time, but having to take the turns slowly didn’t help,” Puleio said. “I run better in cold weather, but all the mud and stuff didn’t help.”

Meadville head coach Jennifer Zamperini was excited to see her two standouts advance to the next level.

“They are both stellar athletes. They work really hard in practice and you like to see that,” Zampernin said. “I am super happy they earned their way there. Secretly we were trying to see if we could steal one as a team spot. I think that could be plausible for us in future years.”

Also racing for the Meadville girls team were sophomores Maria Megill- Herrera and Colby Lester, who placed 31st and 32nd. Senior Camryn Guffey finished 40th. Meadville finished sixth as a team in the girls race.

Other boys finishers were freshmen Vance Hohman (26th), Tio Aitken (56th) and Griffen Aitken (60).

With eight runners in the top-60, many of which were underclassmen, Zamperini is very optimistic about the future of Meadville cross country.

“We love the direction the program is heading because we’re starting to see a lot of freshmen and now sophomores buy into the team mentality that we’re preaching,” Zamperini. “We unfortunately were plagued with a little bit of sickness and injury. We didn’t even fully realize what we can accomplish as a team this year, let alone the district seeing it. We are quietly making our way toward where I think and I believe we can be.”

Also in the Class 2A races, Conneaut junior Keaira Smeltzer placed 20th with a time of 20:43. She was five places from advancing to the state meet, or about 15 seconds.

In the boys race, Conneaut’s Nick Garcia was the team’s highest finisher at 57th (18:29).

In the Class 1A girls race, Saegertown sophomore Camryn Harakal walked away as a first-time state qualifier. She placed seventh (20:45). Harakal nearly advanced last season with a 17th-place finish and was excited to see her progression.

“It definitely feels good. I am really excited to see what happens at states,” Harakal said. “It’s exciting to see how much I’ve improved, especially with my team alongside me cheering me on.”

Also from Saegertown, Margaret Hughes and Emma Spencer finished 22nd and 51st, respectively.

“She’s worked hard all season. It’s something she’s wanted since last year, so this year she put her mind to it and achieved that goal,” Saegertown head coach John McMillen said. “I think for her, it was about getting her nerves right. She knew she had to follow certain individuals, Isabel (Griffin) from Rocky Grove is one of them. She went out fast and she stayed with her and achieved her goal.”

Cochranton’s Aliyah Hogue was the Cardinals’ top finisher at 24. Rhinn Post led Maplewood at 67th and Paige Porter paced Cambridge Springs at 94th.

In the 1A boys race, Cambridge Springs placed fourth as a team with four runners in the top 40. Quinn Simmerman led at 23rd while Nick Finck (28th), Devin Laniewicz (35th) and Isaiah Simpson (37) also placing well for the Blue Devils.

Maplewood was right behind Cambridge with a fifth-place team finish. The Tigers were paced by junior Lincoln Kier who finished eighth (17:21) to advance to states for the second year in a row.

“Lincoln did what Lincoln does. He runs hard and I can always count on him to run like that,” Maplewood head coach Jeremy Post said. “I totally believe in him and I know he believes in himself. He is a special kid.”

Senior Jacob Woge finished 22nd and freshman Austin Szympruch was 32nd for the Tigers.

A pair of Saegertown freshmen — Nate Shartle and Levi Gardner — placed 41st and 45th.

Cochranton senior Kyle Woolstrum placed 15th with a time of 17:37. He just missed the cut line for states, as the top 14 runners advanced. Woolstrum had made the state race in his previous three seasons.

10-14-23

Cross Country

Locals compete at Rocky Grove

ROCKY GROVE — Several local cross country runners competed at the Rocky Grove Invitational on Saturday.

Conneaut’s Keaira Smeltzer placed third with a time of 21 minutes and 33 seconds. Freshman Kaylee Montes placed 34th for CASH (24:07).

For Saegertown, Camryn Harakal took 23rd (23:36). Skyler Bland was 31st (23:58) and Margaret Hughes placed 42nd (24:43).

For the boys, Maplewood’s Lincoln Kier took 23rd (19:20). Kyler Woolstrum, of Cochranton, was 29th (19:43) and Saegertown freshman Caleb Goodwill was 30th (19:44).

Cross Country

September 30, 2023

Meadville takes first at Cochranton

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

COCHRANTON — The Meadville Bulldogs’ boys cross country team took first with a team score of 42 at the Cochranton Invitational on Saturday.

Maplewood came in second for the boys competition with a score of 93. Saegertown took third with a 101 score, Cambridge Springs fifth with 122, Cochranton sixth with 167 and Conneaut seventh with 189.

The Saegertown girl’s team scored 95, Conneaut girls team 122, Cochranton girls team 133, and Cambridge Springs girls team 236.

September 16, 2023

Puleio finishes first at Commodore Perry

Hadley - Meadville Sophomore Megan Puleio took first with a 19:55 time at the Commodore Perry cross country invite last Wednesday. The Bulldogs did not have enough runners eligible for a girls team score, but took eighth on the boys side of things as Tate Walker finished 11th with an 18:09 time.

Cambridge Springs took 10th in the boys meet, Maplewood 14th, Saegertown 19th, and Conneaut 20th. Brookville won the boys meet.

Saegertown took 10th in the girls meet, Conneaut 12th, Cochranton 16th, and Cambridge Springs 19th.

September 12, 2023

PENNCREST rivals race at Saegertown

SAEGERTOWN — The Cambridge Springs and Saegertown cross country teams competed in a Region 1 cross country meet Tuesday in rainy Saegertown.

With Cambridge Springs not having enough runners for a girls team, only the boys times counted toward the head-to-head result, which was a 40-15 win for Saegertown.

Quinn Simmerman of Cambridge Springs had the best individual time as he crossed the finish line at 18:32. Nick Finck, also of Cambridge Springs, followed at 18:38.

Both teams will race again on Saturday at the Commodore Perry Invitational at 9 a.m.

September 8, 2023

Panthers sweep Cards

COCHRANTON — The Saegertown boys and girls cross country teams beat Cochranton 25-36 and 23-33, respectively, in a dual meet at Cochranton High School on Thursday.

For the boys, Cochranton’s Kyler Woolstrum had the best time. He finished the course in 18 minutes and 26 seconds.

The top finisher for the girls was Saegertown’s Camryn Harakal (22:26).

September 2, 2023

Rocket Invitational

TITUSVILLE — Several local teams competed at Saturday’s Rocket Invitational in Titusville.

On the boys side, Saegertown placed 15th. Xander Brown led the Panthers with a 60th-place finish in

19 minutes and 13 seconds. Caleb Goodwill was 71st (19:33), Jace Digiacomo was 76th (19:35) and Nolan Hughes was 80th (19:41).

Conneaut was 20th with Nicholas Garcia leading the Eagles in 47th place (18:50). Mitchell Lasko was 73rd (19:34) and Kameron Kelly was 74rd (19:34).

The Maplewood Tigers finished 22nd as a team. Freshman Austin Szympruch took 69th (19:31) and Logan Kier was 77th (19:37).

For the girls, Saegertown placed 14th. Sophomore Camryn Harakal was 16th (21:10) to lead the Panthers. Skyler Bland was 58th (23:19), Margaret Hughes was 70th (23:58) and Emma Spencer placed 83rd (25:00).

August 25, 2023 Fall Preview

Saegertown cross country team is full of youth this season

By Owen Krepps

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

Youth is the name of the game for the Saegertown Panthers 2023 cross country team.

Over 75 percent of the roster is made up of underclassmen and Skyler Bland is the team’s only senior.

For first-year head coach John McMillen this means he has a solid opportunity to develop his young runners for this season and beyond.

“I think it is exciting to have that much youth on the team,” said McMillen. “This is a good year to benefit them and put some miles under their legs to try and build some success for the future.”

McMillen says he wants to develop each and every runner at their own pace and within their own limits this season.

“We’re really focusing on this year about knowing yourself and how to individually make yourself a better runner,” said McMillen. “I think if we can build on that success they can all know about running, themselves and their limits.”

The Panthers square up in Region 3 with a healthy batch of 19 runners, which gives them plenty of runners to be competitive with.

Returning all-region runners include Camryn Harakal, Margaret Hughes, Bland and Emma Spencer.

“Cam Harakal, for the girls side, she had a good district race and was only a couple of spots away from qualifying last year,” said McMillen. “This should be a pretty good year for her along with some of the other girls like Skyler Bland, Margaret Hughes and Emma Spencer.”

“With the boys, we are going to be young, but pretty competitive as well. Xander Brauen, Josh Weaver, Josh Hughes and Travis Huya are all upcoming runners with potential,” added McMillen. “We are hoping to get

some quality runners out of them.”

Saegertown won the region last year and is certainly looking to repeat this upcoming season. They will race in Region 3 alongside Rocky Grove, Cochranton, Saegertown, Maplewood and Cambridge Springs.

“I can’t think of a team that is going to run away with it (the region) this year, so I think it will be another competitive year,” McMillen added.

Saegertown’s first meet of the season will be on Sept. 5 at Cochranton.