Sayre comes out on top

Review Photo/BRIAN FEES Sayre’s Shawn Lake leads Canton’s Nick Patton around the course during Thursday’s Wyalusing Lasagna Cross Country Invitational.

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By Brian Fees
Sports Editor

Published: Friday, September 5, 2008 3:59 AM EDT

WYALUSING — The Sayre boys’ and girls’ cross country teams entered this season with the belief they could contend in the NTL.

After winning the Wyalusing Lasagna Cross Country Invitational on Thursday, the rest of the league is going to have to start to take notice.

Led by senior Shawn Lake, who won the boys’ meet in 16:52, the Redskins edged Northeast Bradford by one point on the boys’ side. Sayre finished with a score of 50, followed by the Panthers at 51, Canton at 70, Wyalusing at 78 and Sullivan County at 87.

"I’m real proud of the guys, they finished right behind the two Northeast guys today," Lake said of his teammates. "This should be a preview for the NTL for us. Our first goal is the NTL and our second goal is districts."

While Lake got the win, he was pushed for much of the race by Canton’s Nick Patton, who finished second in 17:16.20.

"It was a real hard race, the heat was pretty tough," Lake said. "He (Patton) made me nervous. I ran the first mile really fast and I was afraid I went out too fast, but he was right there with me."

Sullivan County’s Logan Hatton finished third with a time of 17:28, followed by Wyalusing’s Taylor Woznicki in 17:46.10.

The Panthers’ Jake Balchikonis (17:56.90) and Tory Carlsen (17:57.10) took the next two spots, followed by Sayre’s Tim Momanauski (17:57.80) and Mark Hedgeland (17:59.00). Northeast Bradford’s Kent Upham (18:25.80) and Canton’s Blake Bunner (18:44.80) rounded out the top 10.

On the girls’ side, Sayre swept the top two spots as Hannah Robinson outsprinted teammate Beth Walker to the finish line to get the victory. Robinson finished in 21:34.4, with Walker crossing the line in 21:36.

"It just pushes me so much to have a teammate with me," Robinson said. "I think we both make each other better. I really like running with one of my teammates."

After winning last weekend at Lock Haven, the Redskins have opened the year with wins in back-to-back meets, but for the runners there are bigger goals.

"I’m so happy with how we are running, I really want to win NTL’s," Robinson said.

Thursday was a tough meet for the girls, as the weather was extremely hot throughout the race, but Walker is just happy to be healthy after enduring injuries much of the past two years.

"It was tough, it was not optimal conditions," Walker said. "It’s nice to just be able to talk about the heat though and not be talking about injuries."

Canton’s Brittany Walker finished third in the race in 22:54.5, followed by Wyalusing’s Annette Donovan (23:06.4) and Sayre’s Rose Velazquez (23:12.4).

For more than half the race Velazquez was running in the top three and it’s something Robinson hopes to see this year.

"I would love to see a 1-2-3 finish at some point this year," Robinson said.

Northeast Bradford’s Meredith Hennip was sixth in 23:30.5, followed by Wyalusing’s Rachel Matson in 23:30.8, Sullivan County’s Jade Heisman in 23:49.1 and Northeast Bradford’s Kayla Darling in 24:53.8. Sayre’s Alex Middlebrook rounded out the top 10 in 26:17.3.

In the boys’ junior high event, Sullivan County won with a score of 24, followed by Canton at 47 and Wyalusing at 61.

The Griffins’ Kelby Mullen won in 9:33.80, followed by Northeast Bradford’s Curt Jewett in 9:44 and Canton’s Brooks Gleckner in 9:47.80 and Darren Killian in 10:04.90. Sullivan County’s Aaron Lewis rounded out the top five in 10:26.30.

In the junior high girls’ race, Joanna McGee of Wyalusing won in 12:18, followed by Sayre’s Mollie Robinson in 12:24.60 and Wyalusing’s Savannah Schools in 12:45.50. Canton’s Desiree Wright was fourth in 12:47.70, followed by Sayre’s Katie Hurley in 12:51.20.

Sayre won the junior high girls’ race with 31 points, followed by Canton at 46, Wyalusing at 50 and Sullivan County with 90 points.


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