Raehsler Runs To A State Qualifier, Boys Team Second Most Successful In 25 Years! (10/28/13)

(By Coach Keith Murtha) On a windy, cold day in Ridgway, the Clarion harriers didn’t let that or anything bother them on the way to very successful district meet. Liam Raehsler led the boys to a 9th overall finish and a berth in Saturday’s PIAA State Championship to be held in Hershey, “the sweetest place on Earth” in a personal record of 17:47.

(Photo submitted by Rod Raehsler)
Liam Raehsler on the course at Districts

“The Fabulous 5 Freshman” as I call them, didn’t disappoint either! All of them ran personal bests! Adam was amazing running 19:15 and 31st overall Jimmy, Crowe and Nadir did some great pack running all breaking our freshman goal standard of 21 minutes in 20:29, 20:31 and 20:56 respectively. They had a team average team of 19:45. Mikey Lefay really stepped it up this week and finished with a PR of 23:23. A total of 95 runners entered the race! A brief history of Clarion boys cross country shows 1986 and ‘87 produced back to back undefeated teams and District 9 Champions! Since then, the 2003 team finished 7th making this year’s 9th place team finish the second most successful in this era! Liam will run in Hershey at 11:45am on Saturday Nov. 2, follow all the action at www.penntrackxc.com or I will try update via twitter ASAP @coachmurt and anyone who Liam knows, his Mom will be on facebook! The girls race did not disappoint, recording three more personal bests for a total of 8 for the Bobcat teams! Congrats to Shamecka and Lili on their PR’s and to Molly who triumphantly returned from injury to run in districts! Hannah had a solid strategy, was mentally prepared and ran a decent race against a tough field, including returning PIAA State Champion and National Elite Kennedy Weisner. We knew it would be tough, all the pieces didn’t come together for her today. Fortunately, she is a junior and we’ll be back with a vengeance next year!” Reflecting on the Day, “I am disappointed for Hannah, but overall it was a great day, excited for Liam and the State meet, the opportunities our boys team has in future and the way our girls will continue to develop!” (Thanks to Coach Murtha for this article. Congratulations to the team for the fine showing at Districts and All the Best to Liam, at States!!!!)