Sweet! Quakers Claim State Cross Country Title in Hershey

At the awards presentation of the 2011 PIAA state cross country championships, you could hear people in the crowd ask, “Where is ?”

Following Saturday’s dominating performance in which Quaker Valley's cross country squads brought much more home from Chocolatetown USA than Hershey bars and kisses, it’s a good bet that a few Google searches were done to locate as the more than 400 schools represented migrated back to their respective towns.

The Quaker ladies, led by seniors Sarah Miller and Sarah McKendry, scored a third-place team finish while the boys emerged from the fray of more than 110 teams to claim the 2011 PIAA state championship.

“This is amazing,” said senior Nat Fox, who led the way with a time of 16:49. “Just to be here as a team and with the particular group of guys is something special. To win the state championship in my senior year is almost surreal. This is awesome.”

After fighting through nearly 300 runners at the start of the race, the boys led as a team at the one-mile mark. They increased their lead by the two-mile post en route to a dominating 90-181 win over second-place North East High School from District 10.

“This is just such an amazing atmosphere,” said a very emotional Sarah McKendry, who posted a time of 20:28.

“We have been able to come here the last two years as a team and that is something that I will never forget, all these great runners here and to finish third is a great accomplishment," she said. "We finished fourth last year and really thought we had a chance to win it this year.”

After competing at Hershey earlier in the fall in a foundation race, the ladies finished first and the boys claimed third. It is a tribute to the tenacity of Quaker Valley's running program that both teams won their respective District 7 titles to earn the right to travel to Hershey.

“I know the girls really wanted to win here, especially after the foundation race,” said Quaker coach David Noyes. “But there are so many great runners here and this is such a difficult course that anything can happen.

"I am very proud of the way we have run all year. To finish third in the state is great," Noyes said. "The boys just blew me away today. To see them come together as a team and work with each other is all a coach can ask for. They absolutely left everything out on the course.”

senior Caitlin Bungo, who had pushed to as high as fourth place at the two-mile mark, posted a time of 19:45 to claim a 16th-place state medal. In the same race, Quaker Valley had three runners qualify for individual medals, finishing in the top 25.

 Team scores

Class AA boys

Quaker Valley (7)        90

North East (10)            181

Holy Redeemer (2)        190

Masterman (12)      204

 Quaker Valley boys

5          Nat Fox      16:49

12        Roy Hadfield  17:03

15        L.J.Westwood 17:12

16        Matt Cooper   17:17

42        Rob Veltre   17:58

80        Xavier Lane     18:37

82        Josh Szymanski 18:38  

Girls class AA

St. Basil Academy (1)            72

Elk Lake (12)               75

Quaker Valley              121

Quaker Valley girls

9          Sarah Miller               20:19

12        Sarah McKendry            20:28

24        Rachel Skolnekovich       21:00

27        Abby Rausch             21:03

49        Natalie DiCenzo            21:47

53        Ashley McKendry            21:55

83        Lauren Ferris               22:38

16 Caitlin Bungo   Sewickley Academy (7)             19:45