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Underclassmen make future exciting for Mifflin County cross country teams

NEWVILLE — The future is now for the Mifflin County cross-country teams. Well, not completely, but the present is pretty good and the future is very bright.

Mifflin County had its best showing since joining the Mid-Penn Conference six years ago as it produced four all-league performers and each of the teams (boys and girls) had their best showing ever in a Mid-Penn championship run.

The boys scored 167 points and finished sixth, while the girls came up with 286 points and finished 10th.

Joy Galbraith was the top finisher for the girls with a 17th place finish. Lauren Kuykendall was just 13 seconds behind Galbraith for 21st place. On the boys side, the top runner was Chayce Macknair with a fourth place finish. Behind Macknair was Brayden Harris, who came in eighth. All four runners are underclassmen.

“I thought we ran really well today,” boys coach Greg Loht said, “Chayce had been sick at the start of the season, but he has been getting better in each of the races he has run.

“Our first three runners (Macknair, Harris and Chase Sheaffer) have been depenable all year long. Today we got good efforts out of our back men. Seth (Phillips) and Lance (Miller) both had great races today.”

The first four runners for Mifflin County were all underclassmen. Macknair — a junior — finished the 3.1 mile course in 16:25, while Harris, the freshman sensation came in at 16:39. Sheaffer, a sophomore, was next at 17:21 and finished 37th. Phillips, another junior, was 53rd with a time of 17:35.

The top 35 runners received medals.

Three seniors rounded out Mifflin County’s top seven. Miller was 67th with a 17:53. Garren Wolfgang was 81st at 18:16 and right behind him was Dylan Unger at 18:34 for 114th.

Carlisle ran away with the team title with 76 points, while State College finished second with 101. Mechanicsburg (126), Palmyra (144) and Cumblerland Valley (147) rounded out the top five.

Winning the race was Mechanicsburg’s Morgan Cupp with a time of 15:58. State College’s Mitchell Etter was second with a 16:13. Both Cupp and Etter are seniors. Mechanicsburg’s Brandon Knepper (a junior) was third with a time of 16:25 as he edged Macknair by two seconds. There were 206 runners in the boys race.

“I’m very proud of how the girls ran today,” girls coach Jenn Freed said. “The girls did not settle or roll over despite illness and injuries.

“This is the first time that we have finished in the first half of the Mid-Penn and not the second half,” Freed said, “We also beat Cumberland Valley today and that is a first in this meet.”

Galbraith and Kuykenall, both juniors, finished in the top 35 to gain medals.

“Joy and Lauren have set their sights on states and they are doing all the little things to get there,” Freed noted.

Galbraith finished in 20:12 to claim 17th place, while Kuykendall was 21st with a timing of 20:25.

All five Mifflin County runners are underclassmen. Junior Morgan Robinette finished third on the team in 22:41 for 88th place. Another junior, Grace Parks, finished 90th with a time of 22:48 as sophomore Julia Montgomery rounded out the top five with a time of 23:08 for 102nd place.

Sophie Aurand, a senior, was 121st with a time of 23:37, and sophomore Maggie Webb placed 125th as she finished the course in 23:38.

Winning the team title was State College with a score of 75 with Hershey finishing next with 91 points. Carlise (96), Chambersburg (123) and Lower Dauphin (181) rounded out the top five.

Two of the top girls in the state battled it out for first place. Taryn Parks of Greencastle outran Chambersburg’s Abby Yourkavitch to the finish line. Parks finished in 18:26 with Yourkavitch finishing one second behind her. A total of 170 girls ran in the championship race.

Mifflin County closes out its regular season with a home meet against Hollidaysburg, Juniata and Susquenita on Tuesday. The District Six AAA meet is set for Oct. 28th.

Mifflin County girls

17. Galbraith, 20:12; 21. Kuykendall, 20:25; 88. Robinette, 22:41; 90. Parks, 22:48; 102. Montgomery, 23:08; 121. Aurand, 23:37; 125. Webb, 23:38.

Mifflin County boys

4. Macknair, 16:25; 8. Harris, 16:39; 37. Sheaffer,17:21; 53. Phillips, 17:35; 67. Miller, 17:53; 81. Wolfgang, 18:16; 114. Uger, 18:34.

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