Wildcats Claim Varsity Boys And Girls And Junior High Girls Championships At KSAC Invitational; Junior High Boys Finish Second

on 17 October, 2024 at 15:49

Above photo courtesy of Diane Lutz – Central Clarion Wildcats, KSAC Cross Country Invitational Boys Champions (L-R) Riley Rinker, Cameron Coleman, Ryan Rinker, Paul Craig, Logan Lutz, Jonas Wilshire, Logan Powell, Hayden Weber, Josh Turner, AJ Mecusker, Kaleb Walker, Caleb Turner, Drake Edmonds, Caden Lewis.

The first year Central Clarion Wildcats Cross Country Team, made more history at the 2024 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference Cross Country Invitational, at Keystone’s course, on Tuesday, October 15th, as the Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls and Junior High Girls were all claimed their first ever team championships. The Junior High Boys finished second.

Coach Nicole Oakes shared her thoughts on this historic night for the Wildcats’ program:

We did have a very successful night at the championship on Tuesday night.

As we pulled up to Keystone on Tuesday afternoon, the heavens opened and dumped some mixture of sleet, hail, windy nastiness, but apparently we timed things perfectly as by the time we were unloading off of the busses the precipitation stopped and the sun appeared.

The teams came back from walking the course and we heard the report that it was pretty muddy and slick in many places, this isn’t a surprise when it comes to cross country running but really the first we have encountered it this season. It’s hard to report on what exactly took place during the races as Keystone is simply not the best course for viewing runners except for at the start and finish.

**Photo courtesy of Keystone School District – Varsity Girls medalists.**

As runners started coming into the finishing area nothing was a surprise, Beatrice Kolesar (21:09) from Cranberry, was voted conference MVP, and for good reason with a 45 second lead over the next runner, Abby Hastings (21:54) from North Clarion, another sweet girl that really works hard.

**Photo courtesy of Diane Lutz – Wildcats Girls Varsity medal winners (L-R) Reise Jackson (8th), Adi Jackson (3rd), Eliza Datko (4th), Liv McGinley (10th).**

Our Adi and Eliza came in third and fourth, with times of 22:15 and 22:26. Third for our Central Clarion Team was Reise Jackson at an overall 8th place, Followed by Livia McGinley finishing 10th, Dana Coulson 13th and Olivia Radaker 14th. Moniteau was the only other school to field a full girls team on Tuesday night, while Cranberry has been dominating most of the season, with only four runners, we were able to secure our first win of the day.

Photo courtesy of Diane Lutz – Central Clarion Wildcats, KSAC Cross Country Invitational Varsity Girls Champions (L-R) Dana Coulson, Adisen Jackson, Reise Jackson, Julianna Schwabenbauer, Livia McGinley, Eliza Datko, Olivia Radaker.

For the Varsity Boys, we had 15 boys at the line to represent the Wildcats, coming off of last week’s race in Cranberry, where our boys took the 1-5 spots, they were pretty hyped for the run. Jackson Neiswonger for North Clarion, named conference MVP has been a strong competitor all season taking turns with our front runner boys for first in the KSAC at races and invites.

**Photo courtesy of Keystone School District – Varsity Boys medalists.**

Riding on last week’s success, the Central Clarion boys this week took the 1-4 spots with Hayden Weber (18:37), followed by Jonas Wilshire (18:49), Logan Powell (18:51) and Drake Edmonds (18:59). Josh Turner (19:56) was our fifth scoring runner for the Wildcats finishing in 10th place. Josh has been battling an injury this season and has not raced since early September, so to come back and score for us right off was really impressive. He has such determination, and that showed tonight.

**Photo courtesy of Diane Lutz – Wildcat Varsity Boys medal winners (L-R) Logan Powell (3rd), Jonas Wilshire (2nd), Hayden Weber (1st), Drake Edmonds (4th), Josh Turner (10th).**

In the Junior High Boys Race, it was no surprise that North Clarion’s Ethan Hastings (10:59) cruised in first, 30 seconds before the next runner. Our top two Wildcat Junior High boys finished in typical fashion, battling it out, racing each other to the finish.

**Photo courtesy of Keystone School District – Junior High Boys medalists.**

It is not the first time this season that Jackson Baker (11:35 – 3rd place) and Griffin Edmonds (11:35 – 4th place) have finished with the exact same time recorded by the timing system. Third for Central Clarion was Blaise Fleisher in 16th, followed by Noah Fredrick in 17th and Alex McGinley in 18th and Liam Moore in 19th. Overall the Wildcat Junior High boys team finished in second place.

**Photo courtesy of Diane Lutz – Wildcat** **Junior High Boys medal winners – (L-R) Jackson Baker (3rd), Griffin Edmonds (4th).**

The Junior High girls team for the Wildcats joined in the victory party, claiming Junior High girls conference championship title.

**Photo courtesy** **of Keystone School District – Junior High Girls medalists.**

Our Wildcats team was led by Hannah Love (13:19) who finished 2nd overall, followed by Bryn Anderson (13:55) who finished 5th, Lauren Emings (13:56) who finished 6th, Tenley Kiskadden (13:59) in 7th and Sam Lewis (15:05) in 10th!

**Photo courtesy of Diane Lutz – Wildcat Junior High Girls medal winner Hannah Love (2nd) and missing from photo: Bryn Anderson (5th).**

Despite the weather, it was another great day for the Wildcats. Our Junior High runners finished their season strong and our Varsity runners set the tone for how they want the next couple of weeks to play out.

(Congratulations on another Great history making day, Wildcats!!!! And congratulations to all the team and individual place winners!!!! Thanks to Diane Lutz and Keystone School District for providing photos!!)