10/30/18
Hornets edge Stroudsburg by one point at district meet, qualify for states
One point.
That’s all that stood between a trip to the PIAA State Championships and the girls cross country team packing up its running gear for another season.
Fortunately for head coach Kelly Bracetty’s team, they’ll be making their reservations in Hershey thanks to edging Stroudsburg 94-95 and finishing runner-up at last week’s District XI Class 3A Cross Country Championships held at the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.
“All season I’ve been telling the girls that every single place matters,” said Bracetty, the Hornets first-year head coach during an interview on Monday. “I reminded them of that because I knew it was going to be a close matchup with Easton and Stroudsburg and I knew Parkland had a shot as well. It was clear by about two miles into the race that Easton was looking stronger upfront than our team and I knew we had a chance for second. ”
And the Hornets got the district’s second bid to states after having five of its runners place in the top-30 and two others finish just outside.
Leading the way was Keerstin Augustin who took eighth place, crossing the finish line in a time 19:57. The top-10 finish by Augustin came on the heels of finishing fifth at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championships.
“Keerstin has been a saving grace for this girls team in so many ways,” said Bracetty of her sophomore who transferred into the school district from California. “She’s been solid for us all year. As the season went on she got stronger and really buckled down and developed a good race strategy that she was comfortable with. I still think there’s potential for her to run with the top girls in this district right from the start. ”
Behind Augustin was freshman Bella Lees who finished in 13th place (20:28 ), followed by classmate Madison Toretta who was 22nd (20:54), and sophomore Clara Kennedy who was 24th (20.59). Senior Amanda LaVana finished just inside the top-30 placing 27th overall (21:01), while senior Abby Heilenman and sophomore Kera Reinhard, finished 31st (21:14) and 32nd (21:15), respectively. Reinhard, the Hornets No. 1 runner, returned to action for the first time since suffering an injury three weeks ago.
“We ran a very solid, very smart race and I saw a lot of improvement from my girls on that course,” said Bracetty. “When everybody finished the race, I just told the girls before the results were posted, that I was so proud of them and it didn’t matter if we got that state spot or not. They could not have run any better and they put their heart and soul into this race.”
“I was so, so happy for them,” she added. “To be such an underdog coming into the season where there were no media outlets even considered us to be one of the top three teams. Everybody overlooked us and sometimes that’s a really good thing.
“For these girls to work so hard and keep that team goal all season, I was very happy with how they did.’
While Emmaus narrowly defeated Stroudsburg for second-place, it was Easton that ran away with the team title, finishing 22 points better (72) than the Hornets. The Red Rovers Meghan Vizian, a freshman, won the individual race in a time of 19:19.05
The PIAA State Championships will be held this Saturday, November 3. The girls race will begin at 11 a.m. followed by the boys race at 1:15 p.m.
Follow @Emmaussports on twitter for continued updates on the team throughout the season.