Northern Lehigh senior Reagan Pender recorded the highest individual finish by a Lehigh Valley athlete at Saturday’s PIAA cross country championships at the Hersheypark course in Hershey.
Pender finished fifth in the Class 1A race in 19 minutes and 54 seconds, the highest finish in Northern Lehigh school history. She was sixth as a junior.
Palisades freshman Thomas Sligo recorded the highest boys finish of the meet when he took seventh in the 2A boys race in 16:31.
Other Lehigh Valley state medalists, earned by placing in the top 25 individually, were: Liberty junior Emily Jobes (13th in 3A, 19:06); Liberty junior Cole Frank (18th in 3A, 16:22); Notre Dame junior Grace Medei (17th in 1A, 20:23); Saucon Valley junior Matt Chaikowsky (19th in 2A, 16:45); and Allentown Central Catholic sophomore Isabel DeVos (25th in 2A, 20:05).
Notre Dame’s girls posted the highest team finish of any region team by taking sixth place in 1A. In addition Medei, the other top 5 finishers for the Crusaders were senior Katelyn Schweitzer (33rd, 21:39); sophomore Serena Azzalina (36th, 21:46); junior Laura Dainauski (45th, 22:18) and senior Gianna Farina (62nd, 22:41).
Other Lehigh Valley team finishes were Moravian Academy boys (19th in 1A); Northwestern Lehigh boys (14th in 2A); Palisades boys (16th in 2A); Southern Lehigh boys (14th in 3A); Nazareth boys (16th in 3A); Northwestern Lehigh girls (15th in 2A); Emmaus girls (12th in 3A) and Liberty girls (14th in 3A).
