Lower Merion Cross Country Opens Season In Stride

The Lower Merion Aces Varsity Cross Country teams took to the path at Rose Street Park outside of Media on Wednesday to compete in a quad team event against Central League opponents Haverford, Marple Newtown and Penncrest High Schools.

The event featured two separate races, with the boys' teams opening the event, and the girls' teams concluding. Lower Merion had a decent showing in both efforts, with the boys taking finishing third out of four teams to pick up one victory and the girls placed second for two wins.

The girls' victories came largely in part to a good team effort, most notably in the top five where runners Lacey Serletti, Frances Lobe and Natalie Plick all finished before the twenty minute mark.

The boys' team managed one victory despite being without the services of one of their top runners.  Their best runners of the day were Michael McGowan, Tom Clark, Aziz Kamoum, Drew Horn and Scott Chelohan.

Despite the difficulties, Coach Megan Capewell found benefits from the day's race, "There were a lot of positives with how they worked to execute the race plan."

Girls Coach Dermot Anderson spoke adamantly after the event, "We knew it would be a great match-up coming in, Penncrest and Haverford always have strong teams."   

He also voiced his opinion on the results, "We really wanted to win all three matches," he later added, "Haverford looks like the team to beat this year in the Central League."

Despite the girls impressive finish at the top, Coach Anderson says they still have some improvements to make, "We finished well in regards to the top, but I think we could have done better in the middle."

The Aces next cross country event will take place on Wednesday Sept. 22, at Rose Street Park.