Nathaniel Lerch Sets Junior High Cross Country Course Record At Cranberry (09/27/15)

(By Christy Datko)

The Clarion Bobcat Jr. High Cross Country team traveled to Cranberry on Tuesday, September 22, to take on the Berries. The course has several hills and is 2.1 miles long. For some, a course like this may be intimidating, but for Nathaniel Lerch it wasn’t at all. In fact, he broke the previous record of 12:44 set by Harrison Keenan in 2013.

(Photo by Matt Lerch) Nathaniel Lerch in the midst of breaking the Boys Junior High course record at Cranberry

Lerch ran the course in 12:36! Two Cranberry runners started out with quite a lead on Lerch, but Lerch stayed focused. He maintained a good pace throughout the race which eventually led him past both Berries and set him up for a record breaking time. Coach Bill Grove had this to say about Lerch’s accomplishment, “He has such great endurance and speed and I am happy to see him running so well.” Once again, congratulations to this young man.

As a team, the Bobcat Boys also performed well, considering they were plagued with illness and injury. An ill Nate Datko was still able to run and ended up placing 4th against the Berries with a time of 14:45. The next Bobcat to cross the line was Donnie Cunningham, who finished 7th with a time of 15:55. Beau Verdill, who has been battling knee pain, pushed through it to finish 11th with a time of 16:40. Cole Stutzman closed out the Bobcat scoring with a time of 19:35 which put him in 12th place. Alex Cussins, who has been quite an asset to the team, was unable to attend the meet due to illness.

Although, the boys fought hard, they ended up falling to the Berries 24-35.

Emma Spitz held the top finish for the Bobcat girls, as she crossed the line at 16:45 and brought home a second place finish for this meet. Teammate, Jenna Miller was close behind Spitz, with a 3rd place finish and a time of 16:46. Marilyn Luchynsky earned a 5th place finish, as she crossed the finish line at 19:16. Morgan Kahle ran the course in 20:41. She placed 7th overall.

Coach Grove is optimistic that if the young team can stay healthy and keep working hard to improve, they will be able to close the gap on Cranberry, who they will face two more times this season.

The next meet for the Clarion is Tuesday, September 29, at Clarion-Limestone, where they will take on AC Valley and Keystone.
(Note: Clarion-Limestone was in attendance at this meet as well, but only competed against Cranberry. Therefore, place finishes listed for Clarion is based only on Cranberry vs. Clarion.)

(Thanks to Christy Datko for this article and to Matt Lerch for the photo and Congratulations to Nathaniel, on setting the course record!!!!)