ORWIGSBURG — The Schuylkill League Division I races came into sharp focus Wednesday afternoon at the Eagles’ Nest.
Using 1-2 finishes, Lehighton’s boys and Blue Mountain’s girls swept a tri-meet with Pine Grove that drew a heavy line in the sand between the serious contenders and the rest of the division.
Michael Blacketter (18:23) and Trent Frey (18:34) went 1-2 for the Indians, who edged Blue Mountain 26-29 and Pine Grove 15-49.
Thomas Levkulic (18:55) and Derek Mosteller (19:01) finished 3-4 for Blue Mountain, which topped the Cardinals 16-49 in the other portion of the tri-meet.
The Eagles’ girls bunched up well, taking seven of the top 12 places to cruise past Lehighton 24-37 and Pine Grove 19-42. Caroline Rickard (21:13) and Courtney Dukmen (21:48) finished 1-2 for Blue Mountain.
Cera Gaston’s third-place effort in 22:38 helped Lehighton defeat Pine Grove 24-31.
Christina DiFalco, fourth in 22:45, was the Cardinals’ fastest girl.
Gaston and DiFalco went out really fast at the start, with Gaston building a sizable lead before the runners left the track.
Rickard and Dukmen, though, didn’t panic and quickly reeled in the rabbits. By the midway point in the race, Rickard had a commanding lead, followed closely by Dukmen.
“You have to know your pace, and you have to perfect that pace,’’ Rickard said. “So even if you go slow in the beginning, you just have to keep building and building. ... You just have to perfect your pace. You’ve got to know it mentally, and you’ve got to know it physically.’’
That pacing and that grouping enabled Blue Mountain (7-0, 4-0 D-I) to stay in first place in the division. Tamaqua (7-0, 3-0) is the only other undefeated team in Division I.
The Eagles and Blue Raiders will
meet on the final day of the regular season, Oct. 14, in a tri-meet at Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech.
“Our pack, we were really close today, which was I happy about,’’ Rickard said. “We were a little nervous today because of the rain and the slippery (parts).
“But we pushed it,’’ she added. “We pushed it in the woods. We pushed it on our downhills. We pushed it on our uphills. I think the team did amazing.’’
Blacketter took control immediately in the boys’ race, with Frey beating Blue Mountain’s top runner for the 1-2 finish.
Mathematically, when your runners sweep the top two spots, it takes an extraordinary performance by your opponent’s 3-4-5 to overcome it. Lehighton (8-0, 3-0 D-I) won enough of those battles to hold off the Eagles (5-2, 3-1).
After sweeping Jim Thorpe and Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech on Wednesday, North Schuylkill’s boys (7-0, 4-0) lead Division I by a half-game.
The Indians have plenty of work to do to overtake the Spartans.
Next Wednesday, Lehighton and Jim Thorpe visit Tamaqua.
On Oct. 14, Lehighton and Pottsville travel to North Schuylkill.
“I feel we’re really solid this year,’’ Blacketter said. “Last year we were just building up to do good this season. A lot of people stayed with us. We only lost one in our top seven. Now we’re just hitting it on all cylinders.’’
Meet results
Wednesday at Orwigsburg
3.1 miles
BOYS
Lehighton 26, Blue Mountain 29
Blue Mountain 16, Pine Grove 49
Lehighton 15, Pine Grove 49
1. Blacketter (L) 18:23, 2. Frey (L) 18:34, 3. Levkulic (BM) 18:55, 4. Mosteller (BM) 19:01, 5. Tavella (L) 19:09, 6. Kluge (BM) 19:33, 7. Menuchak (BM) 19:37, 8. McCabe (L) 19:43, 9. O’Donnell (BM) 19:43, 10. Fisher (L) 19:49, 11. Albitz (BM) 19:50, 12. Zhang (L) 19:54, 13. Wissinger (PG) 20:12, 14. Schwab (L) 20:23, 15. Carr (BM) 20:51
GIRLS
Blue Mountain 24, Lehighton 37
Blue Mountain 19, Pine Grove 42
Lehighton 24, Pine Grove 31
1. Rickard (BM) 21:13, 2. C. Dukmen (BM) 21:48, 3. Gaston (L) 22:38, 4. DiFalco (PG) 22:45, 5. DeMatte (L) 23:20, 6. Thompson (BM) 23:25, 7. Henninger (BM) 24:01, 8. Nagle (PG) 24:24, 9. Pace (L) 24:25, 10. Krause (BM) 25:07, 11. Dolbin (BM) 25:13, 12. M. Dukmen (BM) 25:17, 13. Smith (L) 25:18, 14. Seip (PG) 25:32, 15. Albitz (BM) 25:49