SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Jim Thorpe’s Kayley Kovac is thrilled to have Delana Nalesnik as a teammate this season.
You see, cross country runners endure a lot of suffering training and competing. That suffering becomes easier to handle in a group.
“Oh definitely. Running by yourself is boring,’’ Kovac said. “Running with somebody, going up hills we can joke about how horrible it is, stuff like that. But it’s great.’’
Both Olympians had a great day Saturday at the 9th annual ’Canes Invitational at Schuylkill Haven High School.
Kovac won the 3.1-mile race in 20 minutes, 44 seconds. Nalesnik finished second, just one second back.
“Delana Nalesnik all summer pushed me hard. ... It helps a lot,’’ Kovac said. “Last season I was running with the boys I could keep up with, but on long runs I couldn’t stay with them.
“It helps so much,’’ she added. “I couldn’t be more grateful to have her because it makes me a better runner, it makes her a better runner, and I think we have big goals for the end of the season. I think if we continue to improve at the rate we are, we’re going to achieve them.’’
On the boys’ side, Jim Thorpe’s Dylan Bucior proved his summer workouts are paying dividends by winning the race in 17:01. Hamburg’s Wyatt Conrad took second in 17:50.
“Our coach gave us a schedule. He put the distance on every day that we were supposed to run,’’ Bucior said. “I tried to stick with it for the most part. I pretty much run almost every day. I took a break here and there, but I did a lot of work in the offseason.
“I feel as though I’m on track.’’
Tulpehocken won the boys’ team title with 60 points. Jim Thorpe, the invitational champion the past two years, finished second with 70.
In the 1.7-mile junior high races, Tamaqua’s Brianna Dumond (12:08) and Pine Grove’s Travis Anderson (11:13) took top honors.
Across the four races, 286 runners crossed the finish line.
In general, those finishes came a lot faster than during Wednesday’s meets, which were run in broiling conditions.
Morning temperatures in the low 60s, a light breeze and some rain — more late October than mid-September — greeted the runners.
Tamaqua’s girls took advantage of the favorable conditions to group together and turn in some fine times. The Blue Raiders placed four runners in the top eight and six in the top 13. Beyond that, they placed nine runners among the top 22.
That gave the Blue Raiders the team title, 34-66 over two-time defending champion Blue Mountain.
Kailee Carroll led Tamaqua with a third-place finish in 21:12. Sarah Maue (21:29) finished fifth and Monika Shimko (21:48) took sixth.
“The girls ran well. The girls pushed each other,’’ Tamaqua coach Tom Kanger said. “I have a good pack in the front, but they’re all running so close.
“We compared times from last year to this year for running here, and the average drop is about two minutes,’’ he added. “We’re running good. There’s a good pack. There’s a mix of upper class(men) and lower class(men), so I’m real happy with them right now.’
9th annual ’Canes Invitational
At Schuylkill Haven High School
Saturday’s results
VARSITY GIRLS
(75 finishers)
Team scores: 1. Tamaqua (Tam) 34, 2. Blue Mountain (BM) 66, 3. Jim Thorpe (JT) 87, 4. Minersville (Min) 144, 5. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 205, 6. Pine Grove 213
Did not score: Pottsville (Pot), Shenandoah Valley (SV), Weatherly (Wea)
Individual results: 1. Kayley Kovac (JT) 20:44, 2. Delana Nalesnik (JT) 20:45, 3. Kailee Carroll (Tam) 21:12, 4. Caroline Rickard (BM) 21:24, 5. Sarah Maue (Tam) 21:29, 6. Monika Shimko (Tam) 21:48, 7. Courtney Dukmen (BM) 21:59, 8. Nicole Wasserleben (Tam) 22:12, 9. Kaylene Raczka (Min) 22:20, 10. Alexis Luna (SV) 22:21, 11. Carly Teaschenko (SV) 22:40, 12. Victoria LaBar (Tam) 22:44, 13. Melanie Shimko (Tam) 22:46, 14. Shannon Henninger (BM) 22:49, 15. Autumn Pedron (Min) 23:06, 16. Christina DiFalco (PG) 23:21, 17. Olivia Cory (Min) 23:24, 18. Kathryn Thompson (BM) 23:28, 19. Jenna Kauffman (Ham) 23:31, 20. Genevieve Beck (Tam) 23:51
VARSITY BOYS
(113 finishers)
Team scores: 1. Tulpehocken (Tul) 60, 2. Jim Thorpe (JT) 70, 3. Tamaqua (Tam) 74, 4. Blue Mountain (BM) 89, 5. Hamburg (Ham) 93, 6. Minersville (Min) 154, 7. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 169, 8. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 238
Did not score: Pottsville (Pot), Weatherly (Wea)
Individual results: 1. Dylan Bucior (JT) 17:01, 2. Wyatt Conrad (Ham) 17:50, 3. Jacob Cox (Tul) 17:54, 4. Mason Klopp (Tul) 17:56, 5. Seth Boyce (Ham) 18:12, 6. Adam Melnick (Tam) 18:18, 7. Joseph Nortavage (Tam) 18:19, 8. Derek Mosteller (BM) 18:29, 9. Tanner Schlater (Tul) 18:33, 10. Thomas Levkulic (BM) 18:38, 11. Brad Clemson (Tam) 18:39, 12. Owen Pothering (SH) 18:41, 13. Jian Gentile (JT) 18:49, 14. Ben Saxon (JT) 18:58, 15. Jared Hinkle (Wea) 18:59, 16. Jacob Conrad (Ham) 19:00, 17. Samuel DiBiase (Min) 19:09, 18. Christopher Valdez (JT) 19:11, 19. Jacob Hare (Tul) 19:12, 20. Raymond Kinder (Tam) 19:13
JUNIOR HIGH GIRLS
(38 finishers)
Team scores (top 4 placers): 1. Tamaqua (Tam) 26, 2. Pottsville (Pot) 38, 3. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 77, 4. Jim Thorpe (JT) 88
Did not score: Blue Mountain (BM), Pine Grove (PG), Weatherly (Wea)
Individual results: 1. Brianna Dumond (Tam) 12:08, 2. Alexia Maccarone (Pot) 12:53, 3. Francis Kabana (Tam) 12:55, 4. Lyritt Reber (SH) 13:19, 5. Hannah Kulbitsky (BM) 13:21.22, 6. Isabelle Myers (Pot) 13:21.63, 7. Laura Laughlin (BM) 13:38.05, 8. Lottie Mateyak (Tam) 13:38.40, 9. Elizabeth Donovan (Pot) 13:40, 10. Victoria Donovan (SV) 14:08
JUNIOR HIGH BOYS
(61 finishers)
Team scores: 1. Blue Mountain (BM) 62, 2. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 96, 3. Tulpehocken (Tul) 128, 4. Pottsville (Pot) 131, 5. Tamaqua (Tam) 142, 6. Jim Thorpe (JT) 151
Did not score: Minersville (Min), Pine Grove (PG), Weatherly (Wea)
Individual results: 1. Travis Anderson (PG) 11:13, 2. Kevin Haas (BM) 11:16, 3. Shane Conrad (Ham) 11:24, 4. Owen Wissinger (PG) 11:33, 5. Tyler Peletsky (Pot) 11:36, 6. Scott Zoscin (Wea) 11:41, 7. Luis Velazquez (SV) 11:46, 8. Marc Waslesyn (JT) 11:49, 9. Aidan Carr (BM) 12:13, 10. Cavan MacDonald (BM) 12:16
Bears place 14th
at PTXC Invitational
KUTZTOWN — Seth Soriano placed 40th in 18:36 to lead Mahanoy Area’s boys to a 14th-place finish at the PTXC 7 Invitational at Kutztown University’s Farm Course.
Also for the Golden Bears, Adam Bahrey (19:04) finished 59th and Matt Derr (19:37) took 77th in a field of 142 in the Blue Division.
In the Gold Division, North Schuylkill’s Chris McCormick placed 71st in 17:55.
In the girls’ Blue Division, Mahanoy Area’s Megan Babinsky finished 67th in 23:02.
College Cross Country
2 Schuylkill runners
excel at invitational
MCKEESPORT — Penn State Schuylkill’s cross country team had a pair of top-10 finishers at the Penn State Greater Allegheny Invitational on Saturday.
For the men, Blue Mountain graduate Nico Granito, a freshman, placed ninth among PSUAC runners, clocking a 33:03 on the 8K course. A field of 62 runners competed.
For the women, a Schuylkill Haven graduate, freshman Casey Renninger, placed eighth among PSUAC runners, with a time of 27:03 on the 5K course.
Maria Naradko placed 16th in 31:41, and Jodi Francis finished 21st in 35:43. Fifty-five women ran the race.