History Made – Temps Deux; Wildcat Varsity Girls And Boys Cross Country Teams Claim First Ever Invitational Wins In Program History At Commodore Perry Invite

Photos courtesy of Diane Lutz – Above: 2024 Commodore Perry Invitational Champions – (Left) Dana Coulson (Front L-R) Eliza Datko, Reise Jackson, Livia McGinley, Hayden Weber, Jonas Wilshire, Drake Edmonds, Riley Rinker, Logan Powell, (and peaking around the back) Jullianna Schwabenbauer, Camden Coleman and Josh Turner

On a season of program firsts, the Central Clarion Wildcats Varsity Girls and Boys Cross Country Teams added two more, on Saturday, September 14th.

Both teams finished first in the Commodore Perry Invitational, at Hadley. This is the first time either won an invitational as the Central Clarion Wildcats. The Clarion Area Bobcat Girls (co-op with Clarion-Limestone) and the Clarion-Limestone Lions Boys (co-op with Clarion Area) united under the new Wildcats’ banner this year.

Wildcats head coach Nicole Oaks mentioned, “Rounding out three consecutive weekends of invitationals, Wildcat cross country had a very successful day at the Commodore Perry Invitational.”

The Girls race saw eighteen teams competing. One hundred and forty-one runners crossed the finish line. (Each race had several incomplete teams involved.)

The Wildcats totaled 99 points, twenty-five points ahead of second place Hickory which finished with 124 points. The rest of the Top 10 included: 3) Brockway (141 points), 4) Lakeview (167), 5) Slippery Rock (172), 6) Harbor Creek (175), 7) Meadville (189), 8) Saegertown (196), 9) Trinity (198) and 10) Seneca (217).

Hickory’s Megan Puleio finished first in the Girls race with a 19:34 time.

Central Clarion’s top runner was Adisen Jackson, in sixth.

Coach Oakes shared this, “The Varsity girls started off the day of racing for us and really set the tone for the rest of the day. Adisen Jackson was our first finisher today with an overall 6th place finish at 20:47 out of 141 runners. Eliza Datko came in next finishing in 8th place at 21:09, and then Julianna Schwabenbauer in 14th with a time of 21:37. These three girls have been taking turns filling the number one spot for us, which really, I think is a strength for our team. They are a great support system for one another and are able to push each other throughout these races.

“Riese Jackson finished 24th with a time of 22:08. All four of these girls were top finishers, winning medals at the meet. Livia McGinley has been consistently improving finishing 57th with a time of 24:09, and then Dana Coulson finished 61st with a time of 24:14.”

“We knew the front crew were medal winners but it was after the starting gun for the varsity boys race that we discovered our girls were bringing home the first place trophy. Overall the girls finished first out of 18 total teams.

“On one hand, I wish we had known about the girls’ win before the boys started, to use the excitement to fuel their race, but the boys brought their own fire. We had to make a few last minute changes to our starting line-up which left me concerned about how it may have rattled the boys; however, they buckled down and also secured a team win out of twenty-four teams.”

The Wildcat Boys finished with 88 points, fourteen points ahead of second place Lakeview, which finished with 102 points.

The rest of the Top 10 included: 3) Brookville (114 points), 4) Meadville (137), 5) Grove City (182), 6) Wilmington (222), 7) Trinity (235), 8) Union City (258), 9) Hickory (270) and, 10) Cambridge Springs (328).

Grove City’s Timothy Sabella won the Varsity Boys race, with a time of 16:13. Hayden Weber led the Wildcats with a ninth place finish.

Coach Oakes had this to say about the Wildcat Varsity boys, “Hayden Weber finished first for the Wildcats in 9th place with a time of 17:23, followed by Drake Edmonds in 15th with a time of 17:45, and right behind him, Logan Powell in 16th place with a time of 17:48. Jonas Wilshire finished in 23rd place with a time of 18:19 and Josh Turner 25th with a time of 18:20. With these finishes, the Wildcats top five were all top finisher medal winners.

“Riley Rinker finished in 93rd place with a time of 20:32, and Camden Coleman finished 123rd with a time of 22:05, the boys race had 170 competitors.”

Three Wildcats were relegated to the Junior Varsity race.

Coach Oakes explained, “Commodore did enforce the 7 man limit for teams, which caused us to push some runners back to the JV race.

“Despite the disappointment, the remaining Wildcat boys had a second great showing of the day with AJ Mecusker finishing in 2nd place with a new PR for him at 19:59, which let all of us know that he has his eyes set on a spot in the Varsity 7. Caleb Turner finished 4th with a time of 20:35, and Ryan Rinker finished 9th with a time of 21:43 and Logan Meier finished 18th with a time of 23:17, bringing another three top finisher medals home from this race.”

AJ was just thirteen seconds off the first place time of 19:46 turned in by Anderson Kaltenbaugh of Lakeview, who led the field of forty-four finishers.

There were four Junior Varsity boys teams, with enough runners to qualify for a team score. Trinity finished in first place, followed by Union City, Lakeview and Meadville, in second through fourth places.

Amelia Clark from Seneca led the fifteen finishers in the Junior Varsity girls race, with a time of 25:51. Only Harbor Creek had enough runners to qualify for a team score.

Central Clarion didn’t have enough runners to compete for a team score in the Junior High girls race. But Hannah Love brought home a medal, running a 13:16 for seventeenth place.

McDowell Middle School finished first out of the twelve teams with enough runners, with their own Allie Dever finishing first with a 12:02.

Coach Oakes had this to say about her young runners, “The Junior High girls raced next with only four kids competing for us today. Hannah Love finished 17th out of 130 runners and Brianna Mogus (16:58), Josie Rankin (19:49) and Audrey Oakes (20:23) also all added strong runs as the day continued on and the temperatures got warmer.”

McDowell Middle School finished first among the 18 Junior High Boys teams, with the Wildcats finishing thirteenth.

Meadville’s James Welsh finished first, running 9:57). Griffin Edmonds led the Central Clarion runners.

Coach Oakes was proud of this group of young runners. “The Junior High boys finished 13 out of 18 teams, with Griffin Edmonds (11:47) being our sole medal winner from the Wildcats in this race. Griffin finished 21st overall with 179 runners total.

“Alex McGinley (12:50), Mason Strattan (13:24), Daniel Kocher (14:55), and Cael Jackson (14:55) also showed great effort during today’s race.

“One thing about these boys, when we talk to them along the course they acknowledge and make changes. The hope is, obviously, that practice in these larger races gives them more experiences to build off of as we continue to try and keep our program headed in the right direction.

“While our Varsity teams are having outstanding seasons, continuing to work directly with our Junior High kids, we hope to continue building this program’s success for years to come.”

An overall great day. “As this is the first year of the Central Clarion Wildcats we are still in the stages of many firsts. So this was a first, first place win for both the boys and girls teams individually and so amazing that it was done together! Really it was just a phenomenal day to be out running and to be part of the Wildcat family.”

(Great accomplishments, Wildcats!!!! Thanks to Coach Oakes for her fine comments and to Diane Lutz for her, as always, wonderful photos!!)