Welcome back to the NTF Alum
update! We have a lot to cover for the
first three weeks of the season. Enjoy!
Coaches
How many axes and hatchets does a
person need? Well Coach
Marisa Deichert is trying to find
out as she stays undefeated on the
trails this year as she is a perfect
four for four by winning the Dam Half at
RB Winter State Park. She is leading the
trail series by way of her dominant
efforts. She will hit the trails and
gravel again on November 10 in
Tiadaghton.
College
Nick Sloff (State College HS)
& Tyler Rader (Huntingdon Area
HS) started their seasons off with
a bang at the Dolan Duals on
August 30. Nick was victorious as
he broke the tape in 17:55.1. Running
unattached, Tyler finished third in
18:05.6. For Nick's efforts he was named
Big Ten Runner and Freshman of the week!
Nick and Tyler were back on the course
last Friday, September 13 for the Harry
Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. Nick
completed the 5.2 mile course in 25:41
which earned him 29th palace as the
team's #3 runner. Tyler, running
unattached, finished 49th in 25:59.8. Up
next for the Nittany Lions is the
Nuttycombe Invite hosted by Wisconsin on
September 27.
Karsyn Kane (State College HS)
and the Mountaineers of Appalachian
State have hosted two meets to jump
start their season. On August 30, Karsyn
helped the team earn runner
up honors at the Covered Bridge
Invite 5k where she finished 39th
(19:07.5). On Sept. 13,
Karysn completed the 6k in 22:24 to
cross the line in 29th place which
helped her team finish second again.
Appalachian State is back in action on
Oct. 4 when they travel to Notre
Dame for the Joe Piane Invite.
Sam Viglione (State College HS)
finished in tenth place (20:17.6) and
fourth for the team, which enabled SUNY
Geneseo to run their win streak to six
years at the Fisher-Rodenbeck Invite.
Sam and the Knights will travel to
Rochester for the Yellowjacket Invite
this Saturday.
Natalie Koncoski (State College
HS) and the Pitt Panthers finished
fifth at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe
Invite. In her first race in the Blue
& Gold, Natalie crossed the line in
23:23 to finish 161st in the 200+ person
field. Next up for Pitt is the
Lehigh Paul Short Run on October 5.
Caden Bell (Mifflin County HS)
turned in a strong debut performance as
he finished 47th (28:01.3) and nearly
cracked the 28-minute barrier to help
Lebanon Valley win at home in the
Dutchmen Invitational. Caden and the
Dutchmen will toe the line again on
September 28 at the Long/Short
Invitational, hosted by Dickinson
College.
Grace Morningstar (State College
HS) and Misericordia have picked
up right where they left off last season
as they opened their season atop the
podium twice. On August 30, Grace
finished 8th (15:57) in the 4k to help
her team tally 26. Then two weeks
and a day later on September 14, she
finished 4th (25:40.4) as the Cougars
took the first eight places for a
perfect score of 15 points. Next up is
the Messiah Invitational on September
28.
Marlee Kwasnica (State College
HS) and The Dons of San
Francisco kicked their season off on
August 29th at home in the USF
Invitational. Marlee finished 89th
(24:40.9) to help the team finish 6th in
a tough field that featured perennial
national powerhouse, Stanford. Marlee
and her team will be back in action this
Friday at the Pacific Collegiate
Invitational.
Brandi Carmack (Saint Joseph's
Catholic Academy), Alex
Antoniono (State College HS), Sam
Endres (State College HS), Eli
Barabas (State College HS),
and Karim Eldawody (State
College HS) helped the Penn State
Club XC team score two victories at the
Nittany Lion Invitational. Alex
(30:07.56) and Brandi (32.52.88)
finished 42nd and 49th, respectively, as
the Club team dominated the day. Sam
kicked off his collegiate career with a
win (26.26.32) as the Club Team earned a
perfect score against the field. Eli and
Karim finished 40th (30:40.82) and 47th
(31:14.96), respectively, for strong
opening performances.
High School
Jesse Myers (State College HS)
competed for Team USA at the World U20
Championships in Lima, Peru. He was
victorious in his opening round heat,
breaking the tape in 21.43. In his
semi-final heat he finished 6th (21.80).
It was a great conclusion to his
historic junior season.
Big Valley Invite
The Big Valley Invite saw NTF Alums
from four different high schools compete
on the opening week for HS cross
country. Bella Ascherl (Forest Hills
HS) was the first Class A finisher
(19:29) and sixth overall to begin her
HS career. She led Forest Hills to a
fourth place finish among Class A teams.
Bella and the Rangers are in action this
weekend at the Altoona Mt. Lion
Invite.
In Class AA, Lilly Smith (Penns
Valley HS) paced the Rams to fifth
place finish by crossing the line in
12th (22.36) amongst AA runners and 40th
overall. Jonathan Gasper (Bellefonte
HS) had a strong debut with a 14th
place finish (18:02) in Class AA and
31st overall. Lilly and Penns Valley are
headed to Hershey this weekend for the
PIAA Foundation XC Invite.
State College turned in victories in
four races to kick off their season. The
JV Boys started the day by taking the
first six spots, led by Kyle
Fritzche (17:00) in his HS XC
debut. He was followed to the line by Owen
Viglione (17:40), Ben
Alexander (17:47), Ryan
Caldwell (17:53), Adrian Doran
(18:08), and Eamon Drohan
(18:18) to secure the perfect score.
Next up were the Varsity Girls, who
continued their dominance at the Big
Valley Invite. Devon Jackson
(20:21) and Devyani Wadhia
(20:27) got the scoring started for the
Lady Lions in 7th and 8th place,
respectively. They were followed closely
to the line by the dynamic duo of Julia
Bigger (12th, 20:44) and Evie
Younkin (13th, 20:47). Sophie
Baylis (21st, 21:14), Molly
Dell (30th, 22:12), and Kristen
Schellberg (35th, 22:20) closed
out the scoring for State College to
help them stand on the top step of the
podium.
The State College Varsity boys took
center stage for the third race of the
day and made their presence felt. The Brothers
Opperman, Isaac and Theo,
delivered sub-16 minute performances
with their respective third (15:36) and
fifth place (15:57) finishes. Stephen
Fowler was the next to cross the
line in sixth (16:18). Then Luke
Bradbury (10th, 16:44), Owen
Coughlin (11th, 16:55), Griffin
Selber (14th, 17:09), and Vinnie
Lafrazza-Schwartz (17th, 17:13)
turned in top twenty finishes to stop
the scoring at 35 points.
The JV Girls kept the winning theme
going as they took 13 of the top fifteen
places! Lacey Sheaffer broke the
tape in 21:37 for the first win of her
career and started the scoring for the
girls. She was followed across the line
by Carolyn Frank (2nd,
21:55), Autumn Swisher (3rd,
22:38), Emma Raish (4th, 22:48),
and Kaitlyn Baylis (5th, 22:48)
to complete the perfect score.
Saint Francis University Red Flash
Invitational
In his second big meet, Jonathan
Gasper (Bellefonte HS) finished
7th at the Red Flash Invite as he
crossed the line in 18:24.6. Next up for
Jonathan is the PIAA Foundation Invite
in Hershey.
Harry Groves Spiked Shoe
InviteSpiked Shoe Invite
State College returned to action on
Friday, September 13th for the Harry
Groves Spiked Shoe Invite. After
watching one of State College's favorite
alums, Nick Sloff (mentioned
above), don the Blue & White in
a strong home performance, they were
ready to take to the fairways and paths
of the Blue & White course.
The girls were up first and they set
the tone for the day with a strong
performance that had a sub-20 minute
team average of 19:57 to hold off West
Virginia powerhouse University High. Devon
Jackson led the way for the Lady
Lions with a 4th place finish (18:51.8).
The trio of Evie Younkin (12th,
19:48.9), Julia Bigger (14th
(19:52.70), and Devyani Wadhia
(15th, 20:17) were the strongest 2-3-4
combination in the race. Then Lacey
Sheaffer (22nd, 20:57.70) and Carolyn
Frank (23rd, 20:58) crossed the
line in succession to close out the
scoring and begin displacing other
runners. While Molly Dell (28th,
21:20.5) continued to displace runners
to increase their margin of victory.
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The boys placed six runners in the
top twenty to win the race for the first
time since 2019! Isaac Opperman
earned his first victory of the year in
a state-leading time of 15:19. His
brother, Theo, crossed the line
in 4th with a time of 15:47.80. Then Luke
Bradbury (11th, 16:13.20), Kyle
Fritzche (12th, 16:15.30), and Griffin
Selber (16:19.20) stopped the
scoring at 41 points to secure the
victory over one of West Virginia's top
teams, University High. Owen
Coughlin (18th, 16:34.20) and Stephen
Fowler (23rd, 16:50) displaced
every team's fifth runner and all but
one's teams third through fifth runners
for good measure to complete the
dominating day.
The PIAA Foundation Invite is next on
the schedule for State College.
Be well,
Jayson
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