September 2, 2019
The Emmaus girls and boys cross country teams opened their season’s on Saturday morning with both finishing in the top five in their respective races at the Northampton Cross Country Invitational held at Bicentennial Park.
Head coach Kelly Bracetty’s girls’ squad, which finished undefeated in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) a year ago, had a strong showing claiming second place, while their male counterparts finished fifth.
In the girls race, Emmaus finished runner-up with 110 points, just four points behind Southern Lehigh which finished first. Five Hornets placed in the top 50.
Junior Keerstin Augustin was Emmaus’ top runner finishing in 11th place in a time of 19:51. Classmate Kera Reinhard was one spot back in 12th place (19:55), followed by Kera’s sister, freshman Hailey Reinhard who finished 17th (20:09). Juniors Ashley Ryan (31st/20:34), Clara Kennedy (42nd/21.03) Ashleigh McNellis (43rd/21.03) and sophomore Madison Toretta (56th/ 21:31) rounded out the top seven runners for the Hornets.
“Our top three girls, Keerstin, Kera and Hailey, had a solid race from start to finish and Ashley Ryan was a pleasant surprise as she came in right behind them,” said Bracetty, the Hornets second year coach.
” This was a very good start to our season as nearly every girl ran faster than last year. It’s always great to see our girls working together during the race. That’s what team work is all about and they put one another before themselves. If we continue to work with our “team” goals in mind, there won’t be many teams that can stand in our way.”
Stroudsburg junior Ciara Conboy was the girls’ individual champion crossing the finish line in a time of 18:51.
In the boys race, Emmaus improved on their eighth place finish from a year ago by moving up three spots to take fifth.
Junior Keshav Shankar (pictured) was the Hornets top place-winner crossing the finish line in a time of 16:47 good for 22nd place.
Senior Mark Magee was next finishing in 35th place (17:12), followed closely by junior Cameron Carter who was one spot back in 36th (17:13)/ Seniors Colin Schaffer (40th/17:18), Ian Cox (48th/17:32), Brendan Ward (51st/17:40) and Paul Petre (93rd/18:27) were the other Hornet runners competing.
“Keshav was on fire today running 16:47 and proved he can be one of the top runners in District XI,” said Bracetty.
” Some of the best AAA competition in the state were in that boys race and they clearly stepped it up from last year. A lot of other teams acknowledged how tight our pack was. They should be proud of that teamwork and it’s something they’ll continue to focus on throughout the season. Nearly every boy improved their time from this same meet last year.”
Boyertown senior Christian McComb won the boys race in time of 15:33. Penncrest out of District One captured the team title with 47 points, while Downingtown East was second (83) and Easton third (144).
In the JV race, Emmaus finished second overall with freshman Dominic Nunez taking fourth place (17:55) and classmate Sam Dalton finishing 10th (18:04).
“I was impressed with how fast some of the first-year runners were,” said Bracetty. “Dominic and Sam are only freshmen and placed in the top 10. They have very bright futures ahead!”
Follow Emmaus Cross Country on twitter (@HornetsXC and @Emmaussports.com) and like Emmaussports.com on facebook to keep up to date on the team throughout the season.