Published: October 31, 2009 11:46 pm      

Wirfel defends district crown

REEDSVILLE — The top runners from District 6 gathered at Indian Valley Middle School Saturday for the cross country championships.

Forest Hills junior Leah Anne Wirfel won her second straight District 6 Class AA title and the Central Cambria girls ran away with the team title, their fifth straight, while in the boys competition, Central Cambria senior Mike Salguero was second.

“I’m a little disappointed with my time, but I’m happy that I won,” said Wirfel, who finished the course in a time of 18:42. “It feels amazing to repeat as district champ. It makes me feel really confident going into states. Hopefully, I can come out with another win there.

“It was a beautiful day (Saturday). We were expecting rain, especially compared to last year where it poured all day.

“I’m really happy with the conditions. The course was perfect. It wasn’t muddy at all. It was cleared off.”

Homer-Center sophomore Angel Piccirillo was second in a time of 18:58.

“I felt like the girl was not too far behind me through most of the race, that she was like

40 yards behind,” Wirfel said about the Wildcats’ runner.

“I think by the mile, I started to open it up a little bit.

“My second mile is my strongest, but usually I can start to pull away after the first mile.”

The Red Devils finished with 46 points. The Forest Hills girls were second with 105 points and also qualified for the state meet.

Freshman Alyssa Brandis was the highest individual finisher for Central Cambria with a third-place finish (19:45).

Junior Kendall Seymour was sixth, senior Kelsey Seymour was seventh and junior Ashley Stump was 11th.

“Any time you win districts, you’re excited,” Central Cambria coach Randy Wilson said.

“The kids responded well.

“Some of them are still coming back from being sick. We had some great performances. We set the bar so high, they are never totally happy with their run and they wish they could do better.

“We were very pleased with them to run the way they did, especially with all the students that have been sick at the high school.”

Salguero was happy with his performance on Saturday.

“My time today was 17:17 and my personal best was 16:31, but it was on a slightly easier course,” Salguero said.

“My goal for the season

was to be the district champion.

“But as the season went on, I saw the incredible competition that I had. I was aiming for top three (Saturday).

“The hardest part were the incredibly long straightaways when all I could see was the back of my competition. That was mentally draining.

“The race itself was generally flat, so as long as I kept an open stride and kept pounding on, it was all right.”

The second-place finish for the Forest Hills girls also qualified them for the state competition, which is set for Saturday in Hershey.

“Our girls team, Somerset had beaten us every time we went against them,” Rangers coach Tom Hunter said.

“We never had a race where all of our girls had their best race at the same time, and they did today.”

The other area girls who qualified for states include: Laurel Valley senior Hannah Miller, her fourth straight trip; Somerset senior Jill Leadbetter; Bishop McCort junior Jill Spisak and senior Jill Chovanec; United junior Kelsey Isenberg; and Westmont junior Rachel Rajter.

The boys race was won by Marion Center junior Alex Woodrow in 17:00.

The other area boys who qualified for the state meet include: Bishop McCort junior Chad King; Forest Hills senior Jon Makoczy; and Laurel Valley’s freshman Josh Patrick and senior Josh Chapman.

The United boys qualified as a team for the state meet with senior C.J. Weimer the highest individual finisher at ninth.