{"id":13910,"date":"2014-11-05T14:55:51","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T14:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=13910"},"modified":"2014-11-05T14:55:51","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T14:55:51","slug":"lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/","title":{"rendered":"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY SCOTT WALSH<\/strong>
\n Times-Shamrock Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Elk Lake Girls\u2019 Cross Country team took home a Class A second place trophy from the PIAA Cross Country State Championships held Saturday in Hershey. Katie Bennett, Kenzie Jones and Justine Johns each earned individual state medals. Bennett was the top finisher for the Lady Warriors, crossing the line in 10th place.<\/p><\/div>\n

Elk Lake couldn\u2019t have picked a better time to run its best race of the season.
\nConversely, Holy Cross has seen better days.<\/p>\n

The Lackawanna League rivals squared off one final time this season Saturday in the Class A race at the PIAA Cross Country Championships, both with a shot at winning a state title.<\/p>\n

Central Cambria foiled those plans by finishing first in the team standings with 72 points.<\/p>\n

But Elk Lake still brought home some hardware, capturing the second-place trophy with 84 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a great finish and very satisfying for them to be able to finish running as well as you think you possibly can,\u201d Elk Lake head coach Will Squier said. \u201cThe girls were able to do that and I think they were all satisfied that they could run their best on that day. I can\u2019t ask for anything more.\u201d
\nThree Lady Warriors placed in the top 25 to earn individual state medals.<\/p>\n

Junior Katie Bennett was 10th in 19 minutes, 42 seconds, senior Kenzie Jones followed in 11th in 19:48 and classmate Justine Johns was 17th in 20:04 to help Elk Lake strike silver for the second straight year.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery race we ran this year is a building process toward the state race,\u201d Squier said. \u201cWe try to make sure that we\u2019re peak here, that we\u2019re ready to go. The girls answered the bell and were able to deliver. We felt we had them ready and they were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holy Cross had two individual state medalists in junior Mackenzie Greenfield, who was fourth in 19:37, and senior Tess Kearns, who was 13th in 19:56.<\/p>\n

Still, it wasn\u2019t enough for the Lady Crusaders to repeat as Class A state champs. They wound up third with 93 points.
\n\u201cI think that the girls believed that they could beat them after districts,\u201d Squier said. \u201cThere was a different preparation with what we did at districts to what we did for states.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their first two head-to-head matchups \u2014 during the regular season and at the PIAA Foundation race in September \u2014 Elk Lake won.<\/p>\n

But Holy Cross took the last two meetings, at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University, then at the District 2 Championships.<\/p>\n

Going into Saturday, Jones said her team\u2019s strategy this time around was simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cRun fast, do what you know and trust your training,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe did the work. All we had to do was race.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the first mile, Bennett found herself in fifth place and Elk Lake was second in the team standings behind Central Cambria with West Middlesex and Holy Cross trailing.<\/p>\n

Over the final two miles, the Lady Warriors were able to maintain their position. Johns even edged out Central Cambria\u2019s Samantha Koss at the finish line for 17th place.<\/p>\n

Completing the top five for Elk Lake were sophomore Keri Jones in 46th place in 20:56 and senior Jenny VanEtten in 68th place in 21:16.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just stuck together and worked together,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the top-seven for Elk Lake were sophomore Andrea Rockefeller, who finished in 156th in 23:14, and sophomore Miranda Decker, who finished in 187th in 24:35.<\/p>\n

Vincentian Academy sophomore Marianne Abdalah repeated as the individual Class A champion with a time of 18:35.<\/p>\n

Going fourth
\nThe Elk Lake boys\u2019 team placed fourth in the final team standings of Class A on Saturday.
\nSquier thought the Warriors could be a dark horse contender for the title, and after one mile that looked like it might be the case.<\/p>\n

Elk Lake was tied with Winchester Thurston from District 7 with 86 points.<\/p>\n

Despite running personal-best times, however, the Warriors fell to fourth with 145 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believed we had a shot at being one of the top two teams,\u201d Squier said. \u201c My boys ran as well as the girls did as far as personal improvement. There was only about a three second spread from 1 through 6 and they all had PRs (personal records), so it wasn\u2019t like they all ran slow. It was a huge race for them and they came up shorter that they wished but they did their best and put it all on the line and it was a great race. It would have been awesome to get first or second, but it was a strong field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winchester Thurston won with 65 points. Sewickley Academy from District 7 was second with 111 points and Northeast Bradford from District 4 was third with 137 points.<\/p>\n

Sophomore Dan Bell was Elk Lake\u2019s top finisher, finishing in 46th in 17:43.<\/p>\n

Freshman Cody Oswald was 51st in 17:48, junior Hunter Bedell was 53rd in 17:49, senior Dalton Sherman was 69th in 17:59 and sophomore Seth Owen was 80th in 18:03.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the Warriors\u2019 top seven were junior Hunter Watkins in 84th in 18:06, and sophomore Dylan Benscoter in 179th in 19:27.<\/p>\n

South Williamsport\u2019s Griffin Molino was individual Class A champion, finishing in 15:46.<\/p>\n

The Warriors managed a major improvement after finishing 13th overall last year, and with an overall young team, should be in contention for another successful season next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ve already got it in their minds and they\u2019ll be on a mission next year,\u201d Squier said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good incentive to be close and not win because they\u2019ll have that determination not to give up and to go after it.\u201d<\/p>\n

READY TO GO
\nAs Squier has said all season, his teams are conditioned to hit their peaks at the state meet, and both teams met, and even exceeded, those expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year we go through an evaluation process to determine what a team needs to be able to peak,\u201d Squier said. \u201cI think this year what they needed the most was rest. We worked hard right through the season and through districts and they weren\u2019t really rested. You do enough to keep conditioned and have everything in place so you\u2019re not going backward, but do everything you can to make them feel ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the mental factor that they have to have. If they don\u2019t believe it aren\u2019t confident that it won\u2019t get done. In the last 10 days, you do whatever it takes to get that confidence level up to where they believe it, and that\u2019s what they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

That confidence has been shown all season by both teams, and helped Elk Lake continue its winning ways on the track this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cCombined, this was probably one of my best teams in regards to team chemistry,\u201d Squier said. \u201cThey had great chemistry, along with the willingness to work hard. Those are the things that distinguished them.\u201d
\nWyoming County Press Examiner sports editor John Lund also contributed to the story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY SCOTT WALSH Times-Shamrock Writer Elk Lake couldn\u2019t have picked a better time to run its best race of the season. Conversely, Holy Cross has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nLady Warriors bring home state hardware - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY SCOTT WALSH Times-Shamrock Writer Elk Lake couldn\u2019t have picked a better time to run its best race of the season. Conversely, Holy Cross has...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-05T14:55:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy-1024x682.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/\",\"name\":\"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware - PS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-05T14:55:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy.jpg\",\"width\":3888,\"height\":2592,\"caption\":\"The Elk Lake Girls\u2019 Cross Country team took home a Class A second place trophy from the PIAA Cross Country State Championships held Saturday in Hershey. Katie Bennett, Kenzie Jones and Justine Johns each earned individual state medals. Bennett was the top finisher for the Lady Warriors, crossing the line in 10th place.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"PS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5\",\"name\":\"tpennysaver\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tpennysaver\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/author\/tpennysaver\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware - PS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware - PS","og_description":"BY SCOTT WALSH Times-Shamrock Writer Elk Lake couldn\u2019t have picked a better time to run its best race of the season. Conversely, Holy Cross has...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/","og_site_name":"PS","article_published_time":"2014-11-05T14:55:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy-1024x682.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tpennysaver","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tpennysaver","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/","url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/","name":"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware - PS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy.jpg","datePublished":"2014-11-05T14:55:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_EL_statestrophy.jpg","width":3888,"height":2592,"caption":"The Elk Lake Girls\u2019 Cross Country team took home a Class A second place trophy from the PIAA Cross Country State Championships held Saturday in Hershey. Katie Bennett, Kenzie Jones and Justine Johns each earned individual state medals. Bennett was the top finisher for the Lady Warriors, crossing the line in 10th place."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/05\/lady-warriors-bring-home-state-hardware\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lady Warriors bring home state hardware"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/","name":"PS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5","name":"tpennysaver","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tpennysaver"},"url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/author\/tpennysaver\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}