Northern Lehigh’s Pender earns another PIAA medal

HERSHEY ­— Reagan Pender set a standard for herself leaving Hershey a year ago.

Coming away from the PIAA Cross Country Championships with a sixth-place finish and her first state medal, the Northern Lehigh senior had her sights set on moving up on the podium.

Pender made it a reality on Saturday, running to a fifth-place finish in the Class 1A girls’ race, crossing the line in 19:55.

The performance capped a remarkable postseason for the senior, who has captured back-to-back Colonial League and District 11 titles over the past two weeks.

“I was really happy,” said Pender, who was 48th at states as a sophomore. “I remember finishing last year ... and I was like, ‘Next year, top-five. From there, if I can do top-five, then I’ll go for top-three, and go for a win if I can.’ But top-five was my goal ever since last year.

“I’m really happy that I was able to do that coming down (to) the finish line. That was pretty cool.”

Our Lady of Sacred Heart’s Haley Hamilton won the race in 19:20. Hamilton also won the PIAA Foundation race in Hershey earlier this season, an event Pender placed second at.

Despite somewhat muddy conditions and a slightly altered Parkview Course due to recent heavy rainfall in the area, Pender’s time eclipsed last year’s 20:21.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Dave Oertner. “You have kids that just work hard; they’re great kids and you want to see them succeed, because sometimes they don’t. Things happen. They get injured ... for whatever reason things don’t work out.

“I’m glad they worked out for her. It’s been a great career.”

Pender was fourth after the first mile, and fifth after the second. She used a strong finish to secure a top-five finish.

“I was trying to make sure I could always see the lead,” said Pender. “There were two girls in front of me I was trying to stay with, and they just took off. I was conserving for something; I didn’t know that I was planning to, but it just happened like that, so I’m really thankful for what I was able to do.”

Pender executed her race and stayed measured, something Oertner has seen from her for the better part of the last three years.

“Reagan was right there with them, she was within range,” Oertner said. “But she just didn’t have enough to go with them over the last mile. She was hoping she could catch up and be with the lead group after the first two hills, and they just maintained their lead on her; it wasn’t much, but those 10 or 20 yards are hard to pick up.

“And she just didn’t have enough to go with them down the stretch. It was a solid race, she was in within range the whole time, it just wasn’t enough to win the thing. But she still ran extremely well. We’re very happy with it.”

Pender was the only Times News area runner to medal Saturday.

Tamaqua’s Grace Stegemerten placed 50th in the Class 2A girls race with a time of 20:40. Also in the Class 1A race, Palmerton’s Natalie Mosier was 74th (21:41).

“It was a good experience to be able to come in and just to run it,” said Stegemerten, who qualified for states for the first time this season. “There were so many good runners.

“The start was crazy. My coach (Tom Kanger) warned me before that it would be like that, so I just stayed more to the outside to stay open, and not be in the middle. I’m not sure where I ended up settling, but it was crazy the whole time.”

Weatherly junior Scotty Zoscin posted his best finish at the state meet in his third appearance, finishing 81st in the Class A boys’ race with a time of 18:09.

Zoscin – coming off his first district title and a runner-up finish at the league meet – went down during the race but battled his way back to finish strong.

“The straightaway, I knew it was going to be hectic and everyone was going to be bumping around,” said Zoscin. “I knew that coming into this, so I took off pretty well, I felt great with my start; I was top-35 roughly, maybe even a little better … I felt great.

“And then you can’t really see in front of you; it’s just a big wall of kids. All I saw was a guy get tripped over. I tried getting around him, but it was too late; I fell with him. I tumbled and got back up … I tried doing the best I could with what I had.”

Northwestern sent two teams to states for the first time since 2013 after the boys and girls captured district titles a week ago.

The Tigers placed 14th in the Class 2A team standings. and were led by Matthew Santana’s 130th-place finish (18:09).

“It felt good to get this experience, and to know what it feels like to make it to states,” said Santana. “I thought it was good to experience it, and to be able to do it as a team.”

On the girls’ side, Northwestern was 15th among 2A schools. Angelina Klein’s 115th-place result (21:34) paced the Tigers.

“Just getting out here is a huge accomplishment,” said Northwestern head coach Chris Stitzel. “The way the year was going, we didn’t think we were even going to get out here with injuries and sickness. But we put it together for the postseason.

“And for the girls, just knowing that you’re one of the top-15 teams in the whole state of Pennsylvania is awesome. I know they wanted to do better, but overall they had a great year. We told them no matter what happened, we’re proud of them. They put in so much hard work to get to this point, and just getting here is an accomplishment.”

Like Santana, Klein, a freshman, embraced the opportunity to compete in Hershey, something she hopes to learn from in the future.

“It was hard,” said Klein. “I think I definitely was mentally prepared today. I definitely feel like it wasn’t my best race; I know I need to work on my mental game more.

“But I’m glad that we’re all here, and we all had the opportunity to come and run with all these amazing people. And I really hope we can all come back and do it again next year so we can improve. Now that I know where I stand now, I know that I just have more room to improve.”

BACK-TO-BACK … Northern’s Marlee Starliper won the Class 2A girls’ race in a record time of 17:11 to win her second straight title ... Mount Lebanon senior Patrick Anderson also defended his title, winning the boys’ Class 3A race for the second year in a row in a record time of 15:25.

D11 PRIDE … Several District 11 runners stood out on Saturday. Blue Mountain’s Olivia Haas (18:24) and North Schuylkill’s Cori McCormick (18:44) were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 2A field, while Thomas Smigo of Palisades placed seventh (16:31) in the Class 2A boys’ race ... Liberty’s Emily Jobes finished 13th (19:06) in the 3A girls’ race, and Notre Dame Green Pond’s Grace Medei was 17th (20:23) in the Class A girls’ field ... Liberty’s Cole Frank was 18th (16:22) in the Class 3A boys’ race, while Saucon Valley’s Matthew Chaikowsky was 19th (16:45) in the 2A field ... Allentown Central Catholic’s Isabel DeVos placed 25th (20:06) in the 2A girls’ race.