Heard Around the Track

November 4, 2001
 

Notebook: Quaker Valley girls see hard work pay off

By JoAnne Klimovich Harrop
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 4, 2001

HERSHEY - The Quaker Valley girls cross country team had the best finish of any WPIAL squad at the PIAA cross country championships on Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium, White Field.

Quaker Valley scored second with a team total of 118 points. Wyomissing captured its third consecutive team title with 72 points. The North Allegheny girls finished third in the Class AAA team standings with a score of 192.

"The girls ran well," Quaker Valley coach Dave Noyes said. "They have been working for this since last summer. I knew they had a good chance because we have depth this year. I don't think a lot of people expected them to be there, but they put it together. We will continue to push Wyomissing."

It was quite an improvement from last year when Quaker Valley finished eighth. The Quaker Valley boys came in fourth had the best team finish among the WPIAL boys teams. Shaler finished highest amongst boys teams in Class AAA with 258 points.

Quaker Valley was fifth last year in the PIAA meet.

"The boys were running better early in the year," Noyes said. "I think they faltered a little and got a little tired at the end of the season. They have done so much work and pushed themselves so hard in practice that I think it was starting to wear on them."

On the rocks

Hempfield's Lauren Bricker finished fifth in the PIAA Class AAA girls race in 19 minutes, 23 seconds. Bricker said the course was rather hilly, and there were some areas where runners had to be careful because of large chunks of gravel.

The start also was uneven in spots: some runners started on grass while others began on concrete and others on stone. The 3.1-mile course in White Field used to be an old airstrip for small planes. There were several hills and runners also had to run around a baseball and football field.

"In some places, it was really rocky, especially on an uphill at the beginning of the first mile," Bricker said. "Plus, I didn't get out fast, which hurt me.

"This is my best finish. It is a nice course. It wasn't too windy, not even on the hill because there are a lot of trees there."

A first

The PIAA championships were conducted in Hershey for the first time yesterday. The event was originally scheduled for Penn State, but new plans had to be made after Penn State played a rescheduled home game yesterday against Southern Mississippi because of the Sept. 11 terrrorist attacks.

Bucknell and Lehigh, where the PIAA meet has been in prior years, also were unavailable. White Field is also the site of the District 3 championships.

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop can be reached at jharrop@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7889.

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