BETHLEHEM — Jim Thorpe’s Dylan Bucior held a slight lead, but Wilson’s Joseph Espinal was gaining on him.
As the runners headed up the final hill Thursday at the District 11 Class AA Cross Country Championships, something special was happening.
Espinal edged in front.
Bucior countered to lead again.
As the final meters dwindled at the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course, nothing separated the two seniors.
At the finish line, Espinal made one final surge to beat Bucior in one of the most fantastic finishes ever at the District 11 meet.
Espinal won in 17:01:54. Bucior was clocked in 17:01:82.
Neither runner gave up. Neither faded.
Both left everything on the course.
And 28 hundredths of a second separated gold from silver.
“It was the toughest race I ever had in my life,’’ Bucior said after taking more than 15 minutes to cope with his utter
physical exhaustion. “I gave everything I had. I’m satisfied with myself because I did my best.’’
As Bucior tried to recover, two Wilson runners stopped by to congratulate him and to say they’ll see him at states.
“Absolutely, I have the utmost respect for him,’’ Espinal said. “He’s one of my closest friends running-wise.
“I know him really well,’’ he added. “We talked before the race. ... He’s a good runner, a great competitor.’’
While Espinal and Bucior waged their individual duel, Allentown Central Catholic (62) and Notre Dame-Green Pond (83) emerged as the top Class AA teams. Both advanced to the PIAA Cross Country Championships, set for Nov. 7 at the Parkview Cross Country Course in Hershey.
Lehighton (128) placed third, with Wilson (135) and North Schuylkill (136) rounding out the top five in the 16-team field.
Junior Michael Blacketter finished eighth in 17:58 to help the Indians rise in the team standings and earn an at-large berth to Hershey. The Lehighton standout is making his second straight trip to states.
North Schuylkill junior Austin Roseberry also made the cut, placing 11th in 18:10. Roseberry is a transfer from Lower Dauphin.
“I think it’s pretty awesome because I’ve never qualified for states before,’’ Roseberry said. “I like being in this league because now I have a chance at scoring.’’
Class A boys
Weatherly senior Jared Hinkle never ran cross country before this season.
Schuylkill Haven senior Owen Pothering considers himself more of a soccer forward than a race frontrunner.
Yet both will be heading to the PIAA Cross Country Championships.
So will Mahanoy Area junior Matt Derr, who placed eighth in 19:15 to clinch the final at-large spot in states.
Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg’s Michael Sheptuk won the gold in 18:02 and led his team to the title with 45 points. Mahanoy Area (70) placed second, but only one team and the first five individuals not on that team qualified for states.
Defending champion Sam Li of Moravian Academy finished second in 18:15, with Hinkle and Pothering close behind.
Hinkle finished third in 18:38, not bad for an athlete who got involved in the sport by running with his sister in a 5K race. Weatherly coach Jonathan Kiddish saw him during that spring road race, and the rest is history.
“This is my first year, so I think it’s pretty spectacular that I was able to make it,’’ Hinkle said.
“It means a lot to have the support of my family and coach pushing me,’’ he added. “I couldn’t do it without them, so I’m definitely thankful for them.’’
For Pothering, he’s more likely to be found handling crosses into the 18-yard box than standing in the starting box at a cross country event.
He finished fourth in 18:50 to punch his ticket. At noon Saturday, Pothering and his Schuylkill Haven soccer teammates will visit Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg in a District 11 Class A quarterfinal.
“I’ve been running on my own,’’ Pothering said. “I didn’t get to too many cross country practices because of soccer, but I kept up on my own, got myself out there, and it paid off.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,’’ he added. “I never thought I’d get this far in another sport. It means a whole lot to me.’’
Class AAA boys
Easton’s Kevin Lapsansky won the race in 16:16, the fastest time of the day.
Parkland (37) and Easton (74) gained the two team berths. The Trojans’ scorers placed 4-6-8-9-10.
No Schuylkill League runners competed in this division.
District 11
Cross Country
Thursday’s results
At Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course
Course length: 5,000 meters
CLASS A GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg (NDES) 57, 2. Minersville (Min) 88, 3. Pine Grove (PG) 95, 4. Marian (Mar) 96, 5. Mahanoy Area (Mah) 116, 6. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 130, 7. Moravian Academy (Mor) 148, 8. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 188, 9. Weatherly (Wea) 207, 10. Catasauqua (C) 227
Did not score: Nativity (Nat), Panther Valley (PV)
Individual results (69 finishers): 1. T. Capparell (Mar) 20:44, 2. N. Capparell (Mar) 21:13, 3. Lally (PG) 21:59, 4. Raczka (Min) 22:02, 5. O’Donnell (NDES) 22:18, 6. Babinsky (Mah) 22:25, 7. Teaschenko (SV) 22:42, 8. DiFalco (PG) 22:48, 9. Miller (NDES) 23:25, 10. Pedron (Min) 23:29
Other Schuylkill League runners in top 15: 11. Luna (SV) 23:35, 12. M. Bisco (Mah) 23:45, 15. Najunas (Nat) 23:57
CLASS AA GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 50, 2. Northwestern Lehigh (NL) 61, 3. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 114, 4. Wilson (Wil) 131, 5. Tamaqua (Tam) 132, 6. Saucon Valley (SaV) 149, 7. Blue Mountain (BM) 149, 8. Notre Dame-Green Pond (NDGP) 194, 9. Lehighton (Leh) 225, 10. Jim Thorpe (JT) 290, 11. Northern Lehigh (NL) 292, 12. Palisades (Pali) 297
Did not score: East Stroudsburg North (ESN), North Schuylkill (NS), Pen Argyl (PA), Salisbury (Sal)
Individual results (92 finishers): 1. Riefenstahl (SaV) 19:55, 2. Deschler (ACC) 20:06, 3. Daday (ACC) 20:10, 4. Pepe (BC) 20:17, 5. Tarvin (NL) 20:19, 6. Sacks (ACC) 20:24, 7. Consuelos (NL) 20:32, 8. Yocco (BC) 20:36, 9. Rustay (Wil) 20:46, 10. Rickard (BM) 20:52
Other Schuylkill League runners in top 30: 13. Maue (Tam) 21:03, 17. Carroll (Tam) 21:38, 20. Nalesnik (JT) 22:00, 22. Gaston (Leh) 22:09, 23. Dukmen (BM) 22:11, 27. Thompson (BM) 22:29, 29. LaBar (Tam) 22:39
CLASS AAA GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Easton (Ea) 54, 2. Stroudsburg (St) 70, 3. Emmaus (Em) 83, 4. Parkland (Par) 134, 5. Liberty (Lib) 147, 6. Northampton (Nor) 172, 7. Pleasant Valley (PV) 173, 8. Southern Lehigh (SL) 221, 9. Nazareth (Naz) 243, 10. Freedom (Fr) 251, 11. Whitehall (Wh) 255, 12. Bangor (Ban) 337, 13. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 387, 14. Pottsville (Pot) 408, 15. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 439
Did not score: Dieruff (D), William Allen (WA)
Individual results (111 finishers): 1. Powlette (St) 19:34, 2. Kochmaruk (Lib) 19:34, 3. Hammerstone (Ea) 19:44, 4. Davalos (PME) 19:49, 5. Bacher (Em) 19:51, 6. Conboy (St) 20:09, 7. Maddison (Ea) 20:10, 8. Joyce (St) 20:11, 9. Delvecchio (Par) 20:17, 10. Dalton (Em) 20:18
Schuylkill League runners in top 50: None
CLASS A BOYS
Team scores: 1. Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg (NDES) 45, 2. Mahanoy Area (Mah) 70, 3. Moravian Academy (Mor) 82, 4. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 119, 5. Minersville (Min) 143, 6. Marian (Mar) 158, 7. Weatherly (Wea) 161, 8. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 162, 9. Catasauqua (C) 207
Did not score: Nativity (Nat)
Individual results (66 finishers): 1. Sheptuk (NDES) 18:02, 2. Li (Mor) 18:15, 3. Hinkle (Wea) 18:38, 4. Pothering (SH) 18:50, 5. Beers (NDES) 18:53, 6. Naughton (NDES) 19:08, 7. Ritter (C) 19:13, 8. Derr (Mah) 19:15, 9. Holmqvist (Mor) 19:21, 10. Wagner (Min) 19:21
Other Schuylkill League runners in top 15: 11. McGowan (SH) 19:22, 13. Bahrey (Mah) 19:26, 14. Soriano (Mah) 19:30, 15. Boxter (Mah) 19:37
CLASS AA BOYS
Team scores: 1. Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 62, 2. Notre Dame-Green Pond (NDGP) 83, 3. Lehighton (Leh) 128, 4. Wilson (Wil) 135, 5. North Schuylkill (NS) 136, 6. Northwestern Lehigh (NW) 191, 7. Saucon Valley (SaV) 201, 8. Tamaqua (Tam) 241, 9. Northern Lehigh (NL) 242, 10. Palmerton (Palm) 255, 11. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 258, 12. Jim Thorpe (JT) 262, 13. Blue Mountain (BM) 265, 14. Palisades (Pali) 358, 15. Pen Argyl (PA) 397, 16. Salisbury (Sal) 408
Did not score: Pine Grove (PG), Pottsville (Pot)
Individual results (116 finishers): 1. Espinal (Wil) 17:01, 2. Bucior (JT) 17:01, 3. Kemery (NL) 17:26, 4. Vaughan (ACC) 17:29, 5. Grapsy (ACC) 17:43, 6. Koons (NDGP) 17:51, 7. Leiser (NL) 17:57, 8. Blacketter (Leh) 17:58, 9. Bernstein (SaV) 18:03, 10. Grib (ACC) 18:06
Other Schuylkill League runners in top 30: 11. Roseberry (NS) 18:10, 18. Melnick (Tam) 18:21, 20. McCabe (NS) 18:24, 22. Frey (Leh) 18:26, 23. Fisher (Leh) 18:27, 24. Tavella (Leh) 18:29
CLASS AAA BOYS
Team scores: 1. Parkland (Par) 37, 2. Easton (Ea) 74, 3. Pleasant Valley (PV) 131, 4. Emmaus (Em) 145, 5. Stroudsburg (St) 148, 6. Southern Lehigh (SL) 148, 7. Freedom (Fr) 179, 8. Liberty (Lib) 192, 9. Bangor (Ban) 272, 10. Northampton (Nor) 299, 11. Nazareth (Naz) 306, 12. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 307, 13. Whitehall (Wh) 349, 14. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 378, 15. East Stroudsburg North (ESN) 416, 16. Pocono Mountain West (PMW) 497
Did not score: William Allen (WA)
Individual results (115 finishers): 1. Lapsansky (Ea) 16:16, 2. Slavin (PV) 16:19, 3. Alpaugh (Fr) 16:47, 4. Kyvelos (Par) 16:57, 5. Sullivan (PV) 17:19, 6. Kaleycik (Par) 17:25, 7. Paradise (Em) 17:28, 8. Bower (Par) 17:31, 9. Geiger (Par) 17:32, 10. Morgan (Par) 17:32
Schuylkill League runners: None