Cross Country: Two Place High as Phantoms Battle in Meet

Oh what a difference a year makes.

Last season, the Lady Phantoms had no shot to win a cross country meet. It’s not a knock of Phoenixville’s talent or work ethic; it’s a statement of fact as they just didn’t have enough girls running to score in a meet. The quartet running for the girls' team was one fewer than the PIAA-mandated requirement of five runners.

On Wednesday, Phoenixville went toe to toe with arguably two of the best squads in the PAC-10 as they hosted Spring-Ford and Owen J. Roberts in a crucial Pioneer Athletic Conference showdown.

The Phantoms (1-2) may have the lost the war, by a score of 25-33 vs. Spring-Ford and 24-31 to the Wildcats, but they won their share of battles along the way.

Senior Rachel Carr blistered the field and was never challenged throughout the hilly circuit behind Valley Forge Christian College, finishing almost a minute ahead of her closest competitor.

“I always look behind me,” said Carr. “It’s a bad habit I have. I just always worry about all of a sudden seeing a blur of color out of the corner of my eye and having to kick it in to keep my spot. I pulled it back a little when I saw my lead. We have three meets this week and that means a lot of ice baths.”

Carr was flanked in the early portion of the race by junior Aubrey Halloran, who did the best job she could being Carr’s wing man, until she was passed around the two-mile mark by Alex Wood of Owen J. Roberts and Spring-Ford’s Audrey Burger. Halloran finished fourth overall and has taken to the role of team leader.

“This is awesome this season,” said Halloran. “Last year was rough. We needed girls to run so I had my sister Fiona, who gritted it out, battling through a side stitch for the last mile of the race, recruit girls from middle school. We actually won the first meet in while as a team this week."

The duo of Maddie Wilder and Amy Kowalik both finished in the top 17 of the field that included 54 girls at the start of the race.

“We are now setting goals for ourselves,” added Halloran. “I just love running, but it is definitely great to have other girls to push me and encourage each other every race. We have a great team and I can’t wait to see what we can do the rest of the season.”

On the boys' front, the Phantoms were led by Chris Mullin, finishing fifth overall. Mullin is competing in his first season of cross country in earnest.

“I used cross country to train in the last couple of years,” said Mullin. “I really got to enjoy it and this is the first year I am actually competing. Our course here is very challenging, which is an advantage for us when we run on flat courses. I have set personal goals, but my first priority is to be the best teammate I can be for my fellow Phantoms and support them in any way I can.”

Mullin was followed across the finish line by teammates Matt Chiappetta (11th) and Sam Cooper (12th) but it was not enough to eclipse the times of Spring-Ford, who beat Phoenixville 18-38, or the Wildcats, who emerged with a 20-39 win. The Phantoms dropped to 0-3 in league meets.

“I try to run my race,” added Mullin. “I have a plan: as the season progresses I want to be running faster and my goal is districts and hopefully to be running at states, so I have a lot of work to do.”

Name

Time

Team

1

Rachel Carr

19:38

PHX

2

Alex Wood

20:08

OJR

3

Audrey Burger

:21

SF

4

Aubrey Halloran

:33

PHX

5

Sarah Taylor

:45

OJR

6

Rachel Melampy

:52

OJR

7

Anna Lombard

21:23

SF

8

Natalie Burgos

:42

OJR

9

Kirsten Wong

22:05

SF

10

Kara Finch

:06

SF

11

Maddie Wilder

:11

PHX

12

Martina Gring

:22

SF

13

Emily Rowland

:24

OJR

14

Micalea Pupek

:34

OJR

15

Samantha Flynn

:38

SF

16

Cassidy Hart

:45

OJR

17

Amy Kowalick

:47

PHX

33

Fiona Halloran

26:03

PHX

40

Eilleen Bulter

:03

PHX

46

Amelia Shaw

:50

PHX

47

Charlotte Waeber

29:17

PHX

Boys XC

No.

Name

Time

Team

1

Joe O’Such

16:40

SF

2

Jesse Mcgolon

:40

SF

3

Ryan Conway

17:10

OJR

4

Christian Wood

:16

OJR

5

Chris Mullin

:26

PHX

6

Mike Cassidy

:28

SF

7

Josh Tupper

:36

SF

8

Steve Daloisio

:36

OJR

9

Baxter Rechtin

:44

OJR

10

Adam Mussetti

18:05

SF

11

Matt Chiappetta

:06

PHX

12

Sam Cooper

:08

PHX

13

Torrin McFarland

:12

OJR

14

Taggert Houck

:13

OJR

15

Kevin Lutz

:15

OJR

16

Ryan Marks

:35

PHX

31

Xavier Knight

:33

PHX

53

Steve Rakoczy

:25

PHX