Jeni Beers takes 5th Place in MVC Championship - Lehighton Girls Team Places 5th

(Left to Right) - Ally Armbruster (mgr), Emily Oldt, Coach Marushak, Cassie Rehnert, Erica Koutch, Alyssa Schleicher, Jeni Beers, Coach Rabenold and Sophie Coombe (Middle School XC Team).



Left to Right - 4th place Kaitlyn Smith, Pleasant Valley; 5th Jeni Beers, Lehighton;
2nd Dana McAllister, Pleasant Valley; 1st Abby Ross, Poc Mtn East; 3rd Kirsten Henning,
Stroudsburg; 6th Bryanna Vias, Poc Mtn East; and 7th Kristen Eberhardt, Pl Vlly. 



Making steady progress all season, Lehighton freshman Jeni Beers medals in her first Mountain Valley Conference Championship at Bethlehem Municpal Cross Country course on October 18, 2011.  She was expected to be in the top 7, however it was a pleasant surprise that she placed 5th with a time of 21:20.

Jeni, Alyssa, Emily, and Cassie hitting their strides.

Beneath the old Oak and the Martin Tower - The girls take off.

Abby Ross of Pocono Mountain East has a solid lead with 200m to go. 
She went on to win by 18 seconds over second place.

Emily Oldt battles for her eventual 21st place.

Freshman runner Cassie Rehnert is eyeing the competion for next year, turns
in a solid 36th place.

Senior Alyssa Schleicher is coming into her best racing form of her
injury-ridden career.

Times from Left to Right - PV-21:19, Leh-21:20, PV-21:09, PME-20:51,
STR-21:13, PME-21:23, and PV-21:30.  A total of 39 seconds separated
these top 7 girls.

She was supported by fellow teamates, Emily Oldt (23:28), Cassie Rehnert (24:23), Alyssa Schleicher (26:48) and Erica Koutch (27:37).  All will compete next week on the same course in the District XI Class AA finals where Beers will hope to contend for a State Championship berth.

Pocono Mountain East Senior Abby Ross took first place at the meet with a time of 20:51.  The remaining MVC will be competing in the AAA District XI race.  The Lehighton girls finished 5th in the MVC finals, besting East Stroudsburg North and South.

Jeni is seen here just escaping the early box she was in.  Just behind her is Pocono Mountain West's
Skyler Dunham who finished 23:08.

Jeni looked a bit done in around the halfway point, falling back
as low as 8th.  She found some inner-reserve to pass 3 in the
last mile.

A hard run race...nice job Erica.

Emily showing her classic steady form.

No one is sure if Cassie knows just how fast
she can go.  Her times continue to improve.

Great form, holding strong over her competition in the final 50m. 
Jeni was able to overtake PME's Vias, but less than a second
short of Smith of PV's 4th place.

League Cross Country Commisser, Mark Brown
Of East Stroudsburg South awards Jeni her medal.



A season of battling the beginner runner's bane, the shin-splint,
Josh Gornick is finally hitting positive strides.



Dave too has been hampered with injuries is also finally hitting
his senior season strides just in time, when it counts.

The Lehighton Boys were anchored by the efforts of Daulton Radler, Lehighton's top finisher with a competitive time of 19:39.  Rounding out the boys results were Dave Magyar (21:14), Chris Bosco (21:45), and Josh Gornick (25:52).  The boys did not have enough mates to run a complete team.

Despite all the rain and an unusual number of injuries this season, both teams have worked hard and have made good progress.  This group is perhaps the hardest working Team in my four years of coaching and were very coachable.  And as evidenced by their ever improving times, they seem to be peaking at just the right time: for Leagues and now District XI Championship next week.  Good Luck!!!  Coach R.

Pre-Race Jitters??? - Someone is always good for a laugh or two.

But this is how Coach M exudes game-faces.



More Pre-Race Jitter Busting Jokes and Smiles.



Hams anyone?

Daulton looks to have given it all.  50m to go.

The girls hitting their pre-race strides.

As the boys make their final strides, seniors Dave and Alyssa have one more race next week.