Coach Will Squier always reminds his Elk Lake cross country teams that the team that gets five runners across the finish line first often wins, especially in big races.<\/p>\n
That certainly proved to be true Tuesday at McDade Park in Scranton.<\/p>\n
Julie VanEtten of Elk Lake edged Holy Cross\u2019 Abby Corrigan at the finish line to secure a 27-28 win for the Lady Warriors in a Lackawanna League meet and showdown between two of the top Class A girls teams in the state.<\/p>\n
Elk Lake (7-0) also handed Scranton Prep its first loss, 19-36, to remain unbeaten. Both Scranton Prep (5-1) and Holy Cross (5-1) defeated Montrose.<\/p>\n
Mackenzie Greenfield of Holy Cross was the individual girls winner, covering the 3.1-mile course in a school-record 19 minutes, 17 seconds. Her teammate Lexi Walsh placed second in 19:43.<\/p>\n
Elk Lake then had the next four runners across the finish line \u2014 Kenzie Jones (19:49), Katie Bennett (20:08), Justine Johns (20:11) and Keri Jones (20:12).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really working with the kids on trying to run a tight pack,\u201d Squier said.<\/p>\n
Still, the outcome came down to the duel between VanEtten and Corrigan.<\/p>\n
VanEtten got to the finish line in 21:30 \u2014 one second ahead of Corrigan \u2014 to give Elk Lake the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was behind her for most of the race,\u201d VanEtten said. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize she was their fifth (runner). I thought she might have been their sixth. But I just knew I had to finish for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Squier said VanEtten runs the 400 meters during track season, so he knew she would have a finishing kick.
\n\u201cIf we had to have anybody there at the end, Julie was the one,\u201d Squier said.<\/p>\n
Holy Cross was without one of its top runners, Zoe Haggerty. Coach Charlie Orlando believes Haggerty would have been able to break up Elk Lake\u2019s pack at 3-4-5-6 and then the outcome would have been different.<\/p>\n
However, he refused to use Haggerty\u2019s absence as an excuse.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to go with what you have,\u201d Orlando said. \u201cIt was Elk Lake\u2019s day today. We\u2019ll be back at it the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Elk Lake girls took another win over Holy Cross in the PIAA Foundation race in Hershey.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll square off next at the District 2 meet in October and, most likely, be among the top contenders for the state Class A title at the PIAA Championships in Hershey in November.<\/p>\n
Last season, Holy Cross took the crown and Elk Lake wound up second.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t think we have anything in the bag here. Holy Cross is the state champion and a good team,\u201d Squier said. \u201cBut girls needed to know where they were. Now they know they\u2019re in the race.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the boys\u2019 race, Scranton Prep defeated Blue Ridge, 15-50; Elk Lake, 18-41; and Montrose, 16-47.<\/p>\n
Hunter Bedell of Elk Lake finished fourth in 17:33 as the Warriors (7-1) earned a split in the meet by beating Holy Cross, 15-43. Holy Cross defeated Blue Ridge, 16-47, and Montrose, 23-34.<\/p>\n
The Susquehanna and Mountain View boys\u2019 cross country teams collected losses last week from North Pocono and Abington Heights at a meet held on the 3.1-mile course at Lakeland.<\/p>\n
For the Lady Sabers, Skyla Wilson and Mikayla Hargett finished in the top 10. Wilson crossed the line at 22:09; followed by Hargett at 22:38.<\/p>\n
The Susquehanna girls and Lady Eagles collected losses on the day to North Pocono, Abington Heights and Valley View.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coach Will Squier always reminds his Elk Lake cross country teams that the team that gets five runners across the finish line first often wins,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n