Published: October 26, 2008 12:23 am      

Spisak bests district field

REEDSVILLE — The running of the District 6 cross country championship Saturday at Indian Valley Middle School was not for the faint of heart.

With swirling winds, torrential rains and a course which had turned into a quagmire, Bishop McCort senior Jim Spisak rose above the elements to capture the Class AA individual title in a time of 16:19. It was Spisak’s second straight championship.

“These are probably the worst conditions I’ve run under,” Spisak said. “My sophomore year here it was pretty bad, but that didn’t compare to how bad it was here (Saturday). Everyone has to run through it. I just tried to avoid the muddy spots as much as possible by like running around them. I ran a good race, I just took it out slowly and tried to increase the pace the whole race.”

Spisak will head to the PIAA championships, set for Nov. 1 in Hershey, along with a pair of his teammates.

Senior Andy Luksik was third Saturday in 17:24 while sophomore Chad King finished 12th in 17:55.

The other boys area qualifiers were: Laurel Valley senior Max Penrose, fourth in 17:25; Westmont Hilltop sophomore Jason Dean, eighth in 17:49; Central Cambria junior Phil Steinberg, 13th in 17:57; and Forest Hills junior Jonathan MaKoczy, 14th in 17:57.

The team winners who qualified for states were Penns Valley (90 points) and Blairsville (97).