11/14/18
The Emmaus girls and boys cross country teams held its annual banquet on Thursday, November 8 inside the Eyer Middle School cafeteria to reflect on this past season and hand out its postseason awards.
First-year head coach Kelly Bracetty, along with runners from both squads and parents were all in attendance to celebrate the successes of the teams.
Sophomore Keerstin Augustin and senior Jacob Brown were both named Most Outstanding Runners for their respective squads.
The girls team enjoyed of the best season’s in school history as they went undefeated in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (17-0) and were crowned regular-season champions, while also finishing runner-up at the District XI Meet and qualifying for the PIAA State Championships.
“We really surpassed the expectations people had for us this season,” said Bracetty. “From not even being mentioned in the preseason outlook to going undefeated and qualifying for states shows just how talented this group of girls is.”
“It was great to see their confidence increase each meet throughout the season,” she added. “Six of the seven runners who competed at states were only freshmen and sophomores. When they return next year and join some talented incoming freshmen from Eyer and Lower Macungie Middle Schools, we should be even more competitive at both the district and state level.”
The Most Improved runner award went to sophomore Clara Kennedy, while senior Amanda LaVana was the recipient of the Players’ Player Award.
The boys squad also enjoyed success as they finished tied for third in the EPC with a 14-3 record, the most wins since the 2015 season (15-2).
“Our boys team had a very strong lead pack this year,” said Bracetty. “We actually had the closest pack in the entire state with only 5.5 seconds between our No. 1-5 guys. I’m extremely proud of how strong they ran at the end of the season and we almost had four guys individually make it to states.”
“Next year, we return six of our top seven runners and have another solid group of guys right behind them who will challenge for those varsity spots. I’m excited to start working with them in the off-season and would like to get our top seven guys under 17:00 next year. ”
The Most Improved runner was junior Colin Schaffer, while senior William Bassett was won the Players’ Player Award.
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