RUNNER'S WORLD: TROY BOYS' CROSS-COUNTRY ONE STEP CLOSER TO FIRST NTL BANNER IN 24 YEARS (2024-09-18)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
It’s been 24 years since the Troy boys cross-country team has put up a league banner, but after Tuesday’s win over Towanda they’re in the driver’s seat in the NTL Large School Division.

Frank Harper broke up Towanda’s shot at a 1-2-3 automatic win, and his teammates did the rest with seven Trojans crossing the finish line at one point.

“It was really cool,” Troy’s Evan Geer said about seeing the long line of red finishing en masse. “A great effort from everyone.”

Harper taking second in the team scoring - third overall - but the biggest key of the day since Towanda’s led by their top three.

“We ran one of the best races we could,” said Harper. “Everyone played a part, every spot mattered.”

He held on to that second spot late in the race knowing that every spot was going to matter.

“I was trying to beat Jack (Tavani), I stuck with him most of the race but he got ahead of me,” Harper said. “My mentality was to be first, ahead of all those kids, but I turned around, and looked behind me at the end, and I saw Boom (Thompson) coming up on me. My mentality was ‘I can’t let him pass me.’”

Geer tried staying up with Harper, but ultimately fell back to leading the Troy pack at the finish.

“Frank being out there was awesome,” said Geer. “I was rooting for him as I was running.”

Still, it was a little nerve racking seeing three Towanda runners ahead of him.

“I was a little worried when I finished,” explained Geer. “I wasn’t too sure where the rest of the team was at, but I saw them coming around, and finishing one after the other, and it was just awesome to see.”

Right behind him was freshman RJ Bellinger with one his best finishes of the season.

“I’m pumped that we beat Towanda because that’s one more step towards winning the NTL,” said Bellinger.

His family has plenty of running success, with his father, Ron, and uncle, Bryan, both beating league champions and state medalists, along with his Mckenzie Bellinger, who was also on league title winning teams.

When his sister won a league title several years ago then cross-country coach Gary Ward had to take a celebratory dip in Mt. Pisgah’s Stephen Foster Lake. 

This time it was everybody but coach Curtis Miller who went for a swim.

“Being able to celebrate by jumping in the lake there, it felt really good,” Bellinger said. “The experience was everything to me.”

Now, they still have one more race in two weeks where they have to get a sweep to clinch the title. And, there’s no swimming in that lake for a reason, but the runners aren’t going to sweat over.

“It’s a little worrisome, but I think we’ll all be fine,” Geer said.

NTL HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS

It’s that time of year again for the NTL Hall of Fame nominations. The nominees can be runners, coaches, or teams, and information can be emailed to cman0478@gmail.com. Please send all information by October 1.

WEEK 3 RESULTS

At Mt. Pisgah

BOYS: TROY 28, TOWANDA 31; TOWANDA 19, WYALUSING 42; TROY 20, WYALUSING 43

1. Jack Tavani (To) 18:26

2. Trennan Tewksbury (W) 18:32

3. Frank Harper (Tr) 18:37

4. Boom Thompson (To) 18:39

5. Jacob Carr (To) 19:02

6. Evan Geer (Tr) 19:25

7. RJ Bellinger (Tr) 19:51

8. Lucas Loxley (Tr) 19:57

9. Hart Houseknecht (Tr) 20:11

10. Mason Wulff (Tr) 20:15

11. Brody Campbell (Tr) 20:19

12. Ben Osgood (Tr) 20:25

13. Wyatt Stranger (To) 20:27

14. Jackson Frederick (To) 20:37

15. Owen Campbell (Tr) 20:44

16. Jack Fisher (W) 20:51

17. Anthony Rifenbark (To) 21:10

18. Quentin Little (To) 21:23

19. Parker Cunningham (W) 21:33

20. Cooper Kellogg (Tr) 21:37

GIRLS: TOWANDA 23, WYALUSING 32; TOWANDA 19, TROY 44; WYALUSING 20, TROY 42

1. Izzy Larson (To) 20:59

2. Alyssa Parks (Tr) 21:33

3. Mary-Kate Eberlin (To) 22:25

4. Megan King (W) 23:09

5. Kenzie Brown (To) 23:34

6. Riley Porter (W) 24:42

7. Hannah Pretty (To) 25:02

8. Camryn Gesford (W) 25:31

9. Laina Beebe (W) 26:10

10. Marci Gowin (W) 26:35

11. Leila Cobb (To) 26:39

12. Noelle Rogers (To) 28:54

13. Dixie Brown (To) 29:09

14. Melody Hakes (To) 30:11

15. Kira Allen (W) 31:02

Junior High

BOYS

1. Emmett Klees (To) 9:24

2. Brayden Cox (To) 9:28

3. Wyatt Jones (W) 9:43

4. Griffin Sheldon (W) 9:59

5. Cody Tuttle (W) 10:06

GIRLS

1. Maris Cobb (To) 10:13

2. Maria Beebe (W) 11:49

3. Annika White (Tr) 11:57

4. Nicole Berry (Tr) 12:02

5. Lila Larson (To) 12:18

At Canton

BOYS: NEB 19, CANTON 43

1. Creed Dewing (N) 16:54

2. Lawrence Halbfoerster (C) 17:11

3. Ryan Jones (N) 17:39

4. Jackson Martin (N) 18:58

5. Tanner Herb (N) 19:16

6. Brody Bennett (N) 19:17.14

7. Brayden Miller (N) 19:17.73

8. Russell Martin (N) 19:30

9. Manuel Halbfoerster (C) 19:32

10. Simon Wile (C) 20:01

11. Landon Lake (C) 20:13

12. Tanner Judson (N) 20:50

13. Nick Weaver (C) 21:52

14. Josh Hess (C) 22:53

15. Nehemiah Wolcott (N) 24:10

GIRLS: NEB 15, CANTON 50

1. Anaiah Kolesar (N) 22:35

2. Amelia Kapr (N) 23:11

3. Sophie Bennett (N) 23:36

4. Kara Dughi (N) 23:45

5. Ruth Laudermilch (N) 24:02

6. Ireland Coats (N) 26:58

7. Sophia Allis (N) 28:16

8. Clara Dewing (N) 31:04

9. Isabel Kapr (N) 32:19

10. Riley Lamson (N) 37:28

Junior High

BOYS

1. Levi Dewing (N) 8:48

2. Josiah Russell (N) 8:51

3. Anthony Johnson (N) 8:59

4. Asher Kolesar (N) 9:07

5. Elijah DeLancey (N) 9:17.30

GIRLS

1. Julia Laudermilch (N) 10:25

2. Elizabeth Halbfoerster (C) 10:40

3. Sarina Hess (C) 11:14

4. Kathryn Wile (C) 11:27

5. Eliana Mihalek (N) 11:51

At Westfield

GIRLS: ATHENS 15, SAYRE 50; ATHENS 15, CV 50

1. Sara Bronson (A) 22:54

2. Natalie Yonker (C) 23:16

3. Ava Hughes (A) 26:27

4. Clare McKee (C) 26:57

5. Alissa Vough (A) 29;57

6. Haylie Horton (A) 32:44

7. Karolin Roelle (A) 33:51

8. Tayana Nasser (A) 40:17

9. Joelle Vaughn (A) 40:24

10. Mary Rose Bertsch (A) 41:24

BOYS: ATHENS 24, CV 33; ATHENS 15, SAYRE 50; CV 15, SAYRE 50

1. Graham Wanck (A) 19:48

2. Ethan Hicks (A) 20:09

3. Hunter Simonds (C) 20:14

4. Jacob Shores (A) 21:05

5. Matt Rossettie (A) 21:54

6. Matthew McKee (C) 22:10

7. Glen VanBenthuysen (S) 22:21

8. Judah Mummer (C) 22:29

9. Cole Warner (C) 22:43

10. Nathaniel Boyer (C) 22:44

11. Troy Madison (C) 22:50

12. Jeremy Fuhrer (C) 24:17

13. Carsoyn Kemp (C) 24:49

14. Ryder Morley (A) 25:35

15. Gehrig Thurston (A) 23:37

Junior High

GIRLS: CV 20, Athens 37

1. Lainey Hackett (C) 9:49

2. Maddison Fay (C) 10:01

3. Kyla Hakes (C) 11:16

4. Stella Unger (A) 11:28

5. Adaline Burnett (A) 12:03

BOYS: CV 14, SAYRE 22

1. Wesley Young (C) 11:14

2. Micah Simwale (A) 11:20

3. Richard Laing (C) 12:18

4. Austin Nason (A) 12:40

5. Jude Walker (C) 12:55

At Wellsboro

BOYS: WELLSBORO 27, NPM 29; WELLSBORO 27, SULLIVAN COUNTY 29; SULLIVAN COUNTY 24, NPM 32

1. Michael Knefly (N) 19:00.94

2. Max Macias (W) 19:36.87

3. Henry Whitney (W) 20:15.04

4. Chase Preston (S) 21:04.75

5. Carter Blasi (S) 21:28.44

6. Andrew Kapec (S) 22:15

7. Braden VanLoon (N) 22:40.72

8. Isaiah Botsford (S) 22:54.13

9. Cedric Miller (N) 23:22.16

10. Ethan Geneski (W) 23:38.23

11. Lane Corby (W) 24:42.68

12. Isaiah VanLoon (N) 25:32.33

13. Jack Hammerton (W) 25:44.77

14. Henry Nowak (W) 27:05.77

15. Stanley Okolowski (S) 28:46.48

GIRLS: NPM 23, WELLSBORO 34; SULLIVAN COUNTY 27, WELLSBORO 28; NPM 27, SULLIVAN COUNTY 30

1. Lauren Kosek (W) 21:37.22

2. Jaci Fairchild (N) 23:17.71

3. Zoey Reese (S) 25:09.84

4. Paige Jordan (S) 26:16.46

5. Adilynn Thibodeault (S) 26:23.92

6. Carolyn Cherwinski (N) 27:10.66

7. Sophia Yoder (W) 27:24.77

8. Nora Furry (N) 27:50.81

9. Kendelle Holleran (N) 28:07.89

10. Moira Wheeler (N) 28:59.28

11. Karah Blackwell (W) 30:41.21

12. Alivia Lisowski (N) 31:27.63

13. Anja Pybycien (W) 31:31.77

14. Anna Mazzoleni (S) 31:44.35

15. Luisa Crocco (W) 34:53.14

Junior High

BOYS: SULLIVAN COUNTY 21, NPM 40; SULLIVAN COUNTY 20, WELLSBORO 37; WELLSBORO 17, NPM 19

1. Calen Sweigart (S) 11:30.91

2. Seth Sweigart (S) 12:40.72

3. Dylan Kolb (N) 13:05.15

4. Taitt Webster (W) 13:52.98

5. Nolan Palmatier (N) 14:02.30

GIRLS

1. Kaci Kosek (W) 12:40.44

2. Quinn Pennella (S) 13:13.18

3. Addison Templin (S) 13:37.79

4. Kara Jordan (S) 14:22.99

5. Lydia Lentz (S) 14:50.75

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