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Huskies struggle at PIAA XC meet

HERSHEY — Four Mifflin County runners qualified for the PIAA Class 3A Championships, but only two finished the race at the Parkview course on Saturday.

The two Husky favorites to reach the medal stand – senior Brayden Harris and junior Kylee Cubbison – failed to do so because of injury and dehydration.

Harris couldn’t go because the senior injured his hip at the District 6 championships last week and didn’t run at states.

Cubbison had to drop out of the race around the second mile when the higher than expected temperatures caused her body to go into dehydration.

“Race days don’t get much rougher than this. It was 76 degrees at race time. Kylee didn’t quite make it to the second mile and she was dehydrated. The heat got to her and she collapsed on the course,” Freed said. “She made it to the first mile in a fast heat and the hills must have sucked it out of her. She fell and couldn’t get back up. A combination of the heat and dehydration got her. She’s fine now. She drank some Gatorade and got better right away. She’ll bounce back. Tomorrow is a new day.”

In the girls’ race, freshman Addie Parsons ran the course in 21:59 to finish in 74th place. Parsons is only the second frosh in program history to earn a berth at states. Moon’s Mia Cochran won the race with a time of 18:27 for her second state title.

“The course puts a minute on your time to begin with and then with the heat, I know it affected Addie by at least a minute. Some runners were moving kind of slow,” Freed said. “Addie ran well for the conditions and being her first time there. She was feeling it at the end. She started doing the bobble-head thing, but she ran a solid race. Hopefully, next year, the crowds will be back, the hype will be back, and it will be a completely different race for her. It will be like she’s running it all over again.”

Junior Chris Royer crossed in 19:01 to place 96th in the boys’ race. State College’s Brady Bigger captured gold with a time of 16:07.

“You earn your way to states. It’s not for slouches. Chris got separated from the front pack and he ran by himself the last half of the race,” Loht said. “That’s when doubts creep in. I haven’t had a real chance to talk to him about how he was feeling. In the small races like this year, you don’t have the energy and excitement feeding off the crowd, but he gained a ton of experience. Just being down here as an underclassman is a good thing.”

For Parsons and Royer, their first trip to states is a learning process for next year.

“It’s nice for the kids to get here and experience this, even in the different conditions. It will give them great experience for next season,” Loht continued. “We can try to talk about states, but until you experience it, there is nothing like it. The first year down here is to get the experience and learn how to deal with the pressure.”

COVID-19 changed the format of the races with staggered starts, only 35 in each of four individual races per class, and a lack of crowds. Both coaches believe it contributed to the slower times.

“It was nothing this year. Usually the start is packed shoulder-to-shoulder three or four deep, and the spectators are the ones that kind of rope off the course. You look out and there was nobody,” Freed said. “The runners had to mark off their own course. It didn’t feel like states.”

Loht echoed the thoughts of his counterpart on the heat and the lack of energy without the normal fan turnout.

“The heat was terrible. A girl fell at the same time as Kylee. The heat was brutal. The body gets acclimatized to running in cold weather at this time of the year. It’s nice if you’re a spectator, but not for a runner,” Loht said. “With the four separate races, you didn’t have the top kids running against each other. It was weird. Districts seemed bigger and the numbers were less than in previous years. They didn’t take as many runners as they usually do. It was tough for the kids.”

The last run of Harris’ standout career came at districts last week where he crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 15:51.

“Brayden had a great high school career. He is one of the all-time great Huskies. It’s a shame he had all the injury problems. He said before he could run sub 15:20 if healthy and I believe him,” Loht said. “He ran through pain, he’s mentally tough, and I know he’s going to go to Temple, get healthy, and have a great collegiate career.”

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