NTL CROSS-COUNTRY: NEB BOYS USE LATE SURGE TO TAKE D4 TITLE, BENNETT'S EARN STATE SPOT IN GIRLS' RACE (0000-00-00)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportBLOOMSBURG — For two miles it looked like NEB’s four-peat at the District IV, Class A Boys Cross-country Championships was in doubt. Then a strong final last lap, culminating in senior Russell Martin surging to the front of a pack, clinched their fourth straight district title Thursday.
“It’s what we’ve been training for,” Martin said about his kick. “Just finally pushing through and seeing what I could really do.”
In the girls’ Class A race Sophie Bennett punched her ticket to states after missing the cut by one spot last season.
The Panthers finished with 33 points, ahead of second place Sullivan County (45), who beat them during the dual meet season.
Jackson Martin (17:20.4) led the way with a third place finish making sure he was going to states either way.
“We had a good chance at coming as a team,” Martin said. “I knew I needed to run hard still.”
He ran in fourth most of the race before passing Wyalusing’s Aidan Neiley in the second mile.
“It’s cool,” Martin said about taking bronze. “It’s been great running this year. Aidan is a great competitor, it’s sad to see him not finish.”
After that was where the fun happened.
NEB was third through the halfway point before they started to move up.
Still, Sullivan County had a strong pack ahead of them and it was looking like a few points would decide the race.
Russell Martin (18:20.4) led the charge, going from 20th at the 1,000 meter mark to seventh overall, then came the freshmen.
Levi Dewing (18:25.3) was 19th early on and 12th with 1000 meters to go before taking ninth.
Keagan Netherton (18:42.9) didn’t break inside the top 20 until halfway through the race, but finished 11th, while Xavier Lockwood (18:44.4) was also running outside the top 20 halfway through the race before moving up to 12th.
They admit things were looking dicey when they saw how committed Sullivan was to running in a tight pack.
“It was really nerve wracking just to see all the Sullivan guys and all the Canton guys up there, and then just our guys behind them,” Lockwood said. “It was just in my head that it’s going to be really close.”
However, they found different ways to respond.
“When we were at Cliff Robbins I saw a kid that had a shirt that says run fast, race fast, and I just took that to heart,” remarked Dewing. “I decided I wanted to train harder at practice. I really wanted that really bad, and when I heard that Sullivan County was the toughest to beat I just really wanted to get them.”
The Griffins’ top three worked together the first two miles of the race to put themselves in position to claim the title.
“When I noticed we were in our last mile and they were still the same distance ahead as the second mile I decided I was going to kick it up,” said Dewing.
For the freshmen they had one simple strategy.
“It was just run fast,” Netherton said. “Don’t think about the pain, just run and do your best.”
That last mile also involved a strong head wind for 600 straight meters before the turn to the finish.
“It was painful,” said Netherton. “You just have to run fast to catch up to them. You have to try and get them.”
That last move made it so Russell Martin can end his career at Hershey.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “It feels really good.”
Now the new look Panthers will get their shot at states.
“We’re just focused on running our best race,” Lockwood said. “Trying to stay with the pack.”
With five of their top seven freshmen NEB hopes this is a sign of things to come.
“We can probably get the next three, and that’d be seven in a row, which would be great,” Jackson said. “We’re just trying to continue the dynasty of Northeast Bradford Cross-country.”
In the Class A girls’ race Bennett (21:35.3) was sixth overall, while teammate Ruth Laudermilch (21:56.1) was the first runner out in eighth place.
They led the Panthers to a third place finish with 61 points.
Clara Dewing (26:56.3) took 25th, Ellie Mihalek (28:11.7) was 25th, and Riley Lamson (28:54.4) came in 18th.
“It’s amazing,” Bennett said about making it to states. “I had to work really hard to get this, and I was so close last year, so it’s amazing to finally get it this year.”
Bennett started in 13th and slowly worked her way up. She was in the top 10 by the halfway point of the race, and seventh with 1000 meters to go.
“I know a lot of girls go out fast so you’ve just got to take them at the end,” remarked Bennett.
In the final mile people were telling her how close she was to the cut-off.
“I just kept trying to go as fast as I could,” Bennett said. “I just wanted to stop but I pulled through.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING— —
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