REEDSVILLE - Labor Day weekend: It's the time of year when you are supposed to sit back and look at the fruits of your work.
Mifflin County's Jon Colwell and Addison Monroe didn't have much time to relax on Saturday morning at the Big Valley Invitational, but they did reap the fruits of their labor.
Colwell, a senior, won the boys Class AAA race with a time of 16:19 for the 3.1 mile course. Monroe wasn't far behind with a time of 16:33. In between the two local runners was State College's William Cather, who finished with a time of 16:32.
Article Photos
Sentinel photo by TIM?SHUMAKER
Mifflin County’s Jon Colwell was first across the line among boys in the Big Valley Invitational cross country meet Saturday. See more photos online at cu.lewistownsentinel.com
For Colwell the win not only kicked off his senior year in fine fashion, but it marked the third time that someone from his family has won a race at the Big Valley Invitational.
His father, Mark, won in 1994 and his sister, Erin, won the girls race in 1998.
"It's kind of neat that I won as now I'm the second generation of my family to win this (race)," Colwell smiled.
Colwell broke to the front early and between the half mile mark and the mile the senior was in fifth place. He later ran down the other four runners and won by 13 seconds.
Mifflin County scored 86 points in the race and was second behind one of its Mid-Penn and District 6 competitors, State College. The Little Lions won the team race with 55 points. The Huskies did knock off their other District 6 Class AAA foe, Altoona. The Mountain Lions finished third with 96 points.
Mifflin County was led by its three upper classmen. Another senior, Patrick Parker finished 17th with a time of 17:44.
Rounding out the scoring five for Mifflin County were Darien Knudsen, a sophomore, in 32nd place with a time of 18:17, and Chris Falkner, a junior, right behind Knudsen with a time of 18:23 (33rd).
Trent Yoder, a freshman, finished 51st with a time of 19:06 and Cullen Russler, a senior, posted a time of 19:11 and was in 54th place.
The difference in the meet was the pack of runners that followed Cather for State College.
Kyle Adams was ninth for State College with a 17:23 and then Little Lions pushed across five more runners in a span of 36 seconds.
Ruth Yoder, the second year coach of the Huskies was more than pleased with the male end of the meet.
"Jon (Colwell) had an excellent time with the heat," Yoder said, "In fact, it was a great time in any kind of weather. Addison (Monroe) had a tough break coming out of the start. He tripped over a specator, who was in his path going down the first hill, but he recovered and ran a nice race.
"Those two have logged a lot of miles this summer," Yoder said, "And it payed off today."
She said Parker and Knudsen had good runs as well.
"We need to get them packed more together," she said. "That will come with time as we will lower the mileage and work on speed."
In the girls side of the race, State College came out on top with 82 points. Punxsutawney was next with 144 points. Mifflin County was 14th overall with 297 points.
Leading the way for the Huskies was Megan Becker, who ran a 22:37 and was 29th overall.
After Becker, however, there was a big drop off as the second Huskie to cross the finish line was Jessica Miller, who ran a 24:11 and was 67th.
Right behind Miller were Makayla Pearce, a senior, who was 70th with a time of 24:25, and Katie Hassinger, a sophomore, who was 72nd (24:39).
Rounding out the Huskie seven were Latsha Yoder, Makenna Pollock and Cameron Hassinger, all over 25 minutes and none higher than 90th place.
Winning the girls race was a junior from Elk County Catholic, Kennedy Weisner, with a time of 18:15.
"I thought Megan (Becker) was pretty good considering the heat," Yoder said, "We did OK today, but we (the girls) have a lot of work to do."
Mount Union the only other local team in the girls' race, finished 25th in Class A with 688 points. The Trojans didn't enter anyone in the male part of the run.
"I just brought five girls today," Bob Wydock, the Mount Union coach, said, "This race was a good experience for them. It was a tough day (hot and humid). I was pleased with the workout."
The five girls from Mount Union finished in this order, Lauren Shugarts, a junior, 27:03, 128th; Brooke Staley, junior, 28:01, 142nd; Katrina Hammon, senior, 159th; Kaitlin Todaro, freshman, 29:42, 160th; and Gabrianna Morder, freshmen, 32:11, 177th.
This is the first year for three classifications in the sport, and the BVI uses the PIAA classifications.
Mifflin County had four runners in the top 20 of the junior varsity race, three of them sophomore boys. Zach Stauffer was 10th, Joshua Aultz 12th and Andrew King 13th, all under 20 minutes. On the girls side, Amanda Hassinger was ninth with a time of 25:05.
Mount Union's next meet is Wednesday at home against Juniata Valley. Mifflin County hosts Central Dauphin Tuesday.
