Dueling Duel Meets Converge on Pottsgrove Campus

Strange circumstances surrounded the rolling hills and construction site that comprise Pottsgrove's cross-country course, as the Grove hosted two simultaneous duel meets. The Falcon boys beat Spring-Ford 26-33, while the Rams won the girl's race, 15-50. In the other competition, Upper Perkiomen defeated Pottstown 23-35 on the boys side and 15-40 for the girls.

Gunmetal skies -- seemingly belched from the power plant -- and a cool breeze that shook leaves from the trees provided a menacing air to the proceedings, although the wet weather proved to be an empty threat. The unappealing atmosphere was instead a blessing for the runners, and the rain held off until a small splattering as the scores were compiled.

"Times were very fast," said Falcons coach Larry Rechtin. "This is the first meet that we've had this year where the weather was really conducive and the course wasn't all mushy, so the times were very quick."

The statement was not mere sentiment, as the top three finishers in the boy's race cracked the top 10 all time performance list at Pottsgrove.

"That's since 1992," Rechtin said. "That's 19 years of cross-country."

Spring-Ford's Joe O'Such took advantage of the fine long distance running day, finishing first in 16:42, a run that places him sixth all time. Ian Yanusko paced the Grove, breaking the tape in a second place 16:46, good for seventh all time. The Rams' Jesse Magolon took third, and eighth all time, in 16:48. Magolon and the Rams managed to break up Pottsgrove's trademark pack, not allowing the Grove to cross five without retaliation. The Pottsgrove Pack was rounded out by Morgan Moonan (17:17), Evan Cook (17:17), Josh Toth (17:18) and Mike Rossi (17:19).

"We ran well," Rechtin said. "Spring-Ford ran very well. They nearly got us, and give them credit. We just had a little bit more depth than them. They did beat our front end, but we beat them on the back end."

The Rams jumped in front by the first mile marker, as four Falcon harriers gave chase to their top two. The race ran true to form from there, as Spring-Ford desperately tried to break up the Grove's scoring runners. The Ram's third finisher was pivotal to their hopes, shattering a large Pottsgrove grouping. It was too little too late, however, as the Falcons improved their record to 8-1 in the PAC-10.

The Spring-Ford girls fared better, winning the meet in dominating fashion. Kaitlyn Wagner was the first finisher for the hosts, crossing the line in 22:50. She was followed by Rowan Meadow in 22:56 and Devon Kling in 22:58.

Nate Smith was Pottstown's top finisher against the Tribe, recording a 17:36. Travis Garver and Ken Zalle rounded out the Trojan's top three, finishing in 18:17 and 19:01, respectively.

Championship season awaits the runners, as the PAC-10 meet at Daniel Boone Homestead on October 19 will be followed by District 1 Championships at Lehigh and the State Championship meet in Hershey.

"We're still resting," Rechtin said. "We're getting ourselves ready to race."