Saturday, September 6, 2014

Two Great XC Tune Ups in Central PA

The Nits had a very good start to the season at the Dolan Duels in Lock Haven. Robby Creese defended his individual title and Abbie Benson bettered last year's 2nd place finish with her victory.




Lock Haven is a Division III Cross Country paradise.  Their program is very special.  It's great to see the excellent relationship that PSU has with them.

Just after the results from the Dolan Duels beeped onto my phone, I was at another great Division II/III cross country race in Shippensburg, The Galen Piper Challenge*.  I was pleased to see the high level of competitiveness of the race involving large teams from Shippensburg, York College, Elizabethtown, Kutztown and others.  Cross Country is still a wonderful sport, no matter how many Division I schools drop their program.

Personally, the race was the debut of the new Penn State Mont Alto XC teams.  Coach Bill Preston looks to have them on a fine path.  When word gets out to the school population, I expect their numbers to increase.  Daughter the Elder had a good race, and learned a valuable lesson involving pacing in her first college race.

Daughter the Elder with her HS teammate Sam Gehly running for Elizabethtown.
*Possibly the greatest challenge was the bagpiper playing the entire time of both races!


3 comments:

  1. Congrats Martha.
    Martha and Ann, take note: PSU-MA apparently missed the boat on racing shorts...that's like 2 minutes a mile handicap!
    ;-)
    KKOB80

    ReplyDelete
  2. Old School! As a father, I was pleased with the Amish-type shorts. The exposure of other people's daughters up close is disconcerting to an old man like me with modest upbringings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. XC under the lights was a great experience but that bagpiper...

    signed,

    Gettysburg parent.

    ReplyDelete

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