Picture: Aiden Janowicz and Benson Keizer racing in the first 100 in the 5k at Paul Shor
By: Bethany Day
On Thursday, October 2, the top 12 runners from the boys’ and girls’ varsity cross-country teams traveled to Leigh University for the yearly Paul Short Invitational. This was the 51st annual running of the race, with the Bucks taking part in the event for the past 14 years. The weather was perfect this year, and with the course being fast, the team was expecting a good race.
The downside of Paul Short was the fact the group raced two days before at North Pocono. The North Pocono course took a toll on the runners, but in the end they pushed through. The team arrived at Leigh with high hopes, and it showed during their races. The top twelve boys were Aiden Janowicz, AJ Freeman, Benson Keizer, Blake Theobald, Chase Predmore, Chris Smith, Chris Tufaro, Dan Salinas, Jordan Bermudez, JP Yeo, Sal Amitranio, and Zach Eckes. The boys raced at 2:45 that afternoon. They worked hard during the race, passing many runners and getting more personal bests. The team finished fourth overall out of 41 teams. That was the best result the boys received in the past 14 years at Paul Short.
The top twelve girls were June Brown, Kelcie Fillebrown, Bree Brandt, Jessie Gallagher, Olivia Lojewski, Bethany Day, Hannah Daidone, Evie Neenan, Kassie Herbert, Shannon Jaycox, Maddy Carter, and Violet Hildebrand. The girls raced second, at 3:15. They also worked hard, also passing many other runners, and achieving more of their own personal goals. The girls finished 20th out of 40 teams.
Districts are coming up fast for these runners, with the team only having two regular races left of the season before the big event. Go Bucks!
