Carlisle’s Ana Bondy and State College’s Isaac Oppermann triumph at the Mid-Penn Conference XC Championships

NEWVILLE – The naked eye couldn’t tell who had the upper hand in both the boys’ and girls’ races at the Mid-Penn Conference cross country championships on Saturday.

Two scintillatingly close finishes were each decided by breathtakingly small margins against the testing Big Spring High School course.

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Ana Bondy of Carlisle defeated Devon Jackson of State College by six thousand seconds in the MPC girls championship race.

Both runners reached the finish together after an exciting stretch duel. Bondy covered the distance in 18:39.345 while Jackson’s time was 18:39.369. Samantha Campbell of Gettysburg was third in 19:42.2.

The boys championship race featured a three-way battle with State College’s Isaac Oppermann, Mifflin County’s Carter Smith and Hershey’s Vinay Raman all in contention throughout the final yards.

Oppermann and Smith almost crossed the line together. Oppermann’s winning time of 15:34.893 was five hundred seconds better than Smith, who posted a 15:34.948. Raman checked in third with a 15:35.3.

“WHO WON? “

The top pair in both races had little idea who won the gold medal until the official announcements were made.

Bondy competed at the MPC Championships last week with a first-place finish of 19:53.8 at the Salesianum Invitational in Wilmington, Del.

“Devon is a fighter, she never gives up,” Bondy said. “I tried to break her earlier than the finish because I know she has a kick. I tried to get away and I knew she would try to kick back. She was there. I didn’t know what happened.

“The first mile I was kind of sitting there because I knew it would most likely be me and Devon,” Bondy said. “We looked at each other, just chilling for the first mile, and then she kind of took off. So I tried to stay with her and keep her in sight.

Bondy said Jackson had a lead of about 20 yards through the wooded portion of the course.

“I’ve been sick this week and I tried not to give up mentally,” Bondy said. “I kept trying to tie her to an invisible line and pull her in. I caught up with her as I came out of the woods and we fought to the finish.”

Jackson, who ran an 18:16.6 at the Carlisle Invitational Challenge Race, said the early pace of the race was fast.

“It was going at a decent pace, so I just ran with Ana,” Jackson said. “It seems like we can work very well together. At the mile marker I felt a little off pace. I think I took the lead after two miles and I didn’t have much of an advantage. But she came back to me and kind of ran together the last mile.

Gettysburg’s Campbell, who finished in third place, was the top MPC girls runner at the Gettysburg Invitational last weekend.

Madelyn Koons of Chambersburg (19:49.9) finished fourth and Evelyn Younkin of State College (19:54.5) rounded out the top five.

CHIEF MANN GETS THE LIE ABOUT SMITH

State College’s Oppermann, who spent a few weeks on the sidelines to rest what he called “mild overuse,” was able to beat Mifflin County’s Smith in the final steps to take the boys’ gold.

“Carter has a strong kick and I knew that going in,” Oppermann said. “This is my first meeting and I definitely felt it there. My plan was to take it there with 800 to go. I did that too, but not as much as I intended.

“I know he’s a strong kicker. He runs 1:50 in the 800 and I’m nowhere near that,” said Oppermann.

Smith, a decorated track runner and District 6 800-meter champion, is in his first season of cross country and has won the Big Valley Invitational, Kutztown Invitational and Altoona Mountain Lion Invitational titles.

He clocked a time of 15:04.5 to win the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University on October 4 by nearly three seconds ahead of Hershey’s Raman. The MPC Championship was his first race on the Big Spring course.

“Every course is new to me. It’s more gravel than track. It’s about who wants it more and it’s much more painful,” Smith said.

“I felt like I came out OK. The competition is really good,” said Smith. “It was quite tactical too, through the forest, the bends and hills and all that. In the end it was who had it more and who wanted it more. It came down to a skinny and Isaac got it and good for him.

Oppermann and Smith will meet again on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the District 6 Cross Country Meet at the Indian Valley Middle School track in Reedsville.

Jacob Abraham of Hershey finished fourth in 15:50.3 and Theo Oppermann of State College was fifth in 15:54.8.

Isaac Burd of Trinity was the Class 2A boys’ top finisher in 17:05.2.

Aedyn Phanord of Camp Hill was the top boys Class A finisher in 17:44.0.

Boiling Springs’ Chloe Joslyn was the girls’ 2A top finisher in 20:34.1.

Natalie Creason of Camp Hill was the top girls Class A finisher in 21:54.7

STATE COLLEGE TAKES TEAM TITLES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS

State College boys and girls runners won the boys and girls MPC team championships.

On the boys’ side, race winner Isaac Oppermann followed Theo Oppermann in fifth (15:54.8), Owen Coughlin in sixth (16:15.4), Luke Bradbury in eighth (16:24.2), Griffin Selber in the eleventh (16:29,2). . Kyle Fritzsche in 26th (17:04.2) and Owen Vigilone in 50th (17:37.4).

For the girls, following Jackson’s second place and Younkin’s fifth place were Julia Bigger in seventh (19:55.7), Devyani Wadhia in 11th (20:09.0), Carolyn Frank in 23rd (20:47 ,2), Lacey Sheaffer in 32nd (21:03.9) and Molly Dell in 35th (21:17.5).

The Little Lions boys and girls – and the Mifflin County boys who finished fifth in the MPC team standings – will compete in the District 6 meet on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Indian Valley Middle School track in Reedsville.

The following Mid-Penn Conference teams qualified for the District 3 cross country championships, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 26 at Big Spring High School:

BOYS

CLASS A: Camp Hill

CLASS 2A: Big Spring, Trinity, Milton Hershey, James Buchanan and Boiling Springs

CLASS 3A: Chambersburg, Hershey, Carlisle, Lower Dauphin, Gettysburg, Palmyra, Shippensburg and Greencastle-Antrim.

Fifteen additional boys qualified to compete in Class 2A and 24 additional boys qualified to compete in Class 3A. In Class A, all schools and runners qualify for the District 3 boys race.

GIRLS

CLASS A: Camp Hill

CLASS 2A: Boiling springs. Bishop McDevitt, James Buchanan, Trinity and East Pennsboro.

CLASS 3A: Chambersburg, Hershey, Cumberland Valley, Mechanicsburg, Northern, Palmyra, Carlisle, Lower Dauphin and Gettysburg.

Fifteen additional girls qualified to compete in Class 2A and 27 additional girls qualified to compete in Class 3A. In Class A, all schools and runners qualify for the District 3 girls race.

FOR COMPLETE MPC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS – INCLUDING DISTRICT 3 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFICATIONS – CLICK HERE

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