Cross Country: Cieslak, McGeehan lead Haverford to state title

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In the spring of 2023, the Haverford girls track and field team went from a runner-up result at the District 1 meet to a PIAA championship a week later.

Saturday, the Haverford cross country team pulled the same feat.

A week after finishing two points behind Owen J. Roberts for the Class 3A team trophy at districts, Haverford exacted revenge by scoring 110 points at the Hershey Parkview course Saturday to edge the Wildcats by nine points and take home the crown.

Olivia Cieslak, the reigning Daily Times Cross Country Athlete of the Year and two-time Girls Track Athlete of the Year, led the way with a time of 18 minutes, 42 seconds that finished fifth overall and second among scorers in the team race. She was just off the winning time of Hatboro-Horsham's Lillian Dicola, who went 18:31 to break the tape for individual gold.

Haverford's Camryn McGeehan followed in 16th place in 19:07 to gain another medal. Micah Haskins, the third member of Haverford's storied senior class, finished 34th, followed by junior Ryan Dankanis in 55th and Anastasia Harmon as the final scorer in 120th place.

Harmon crossed the line with about a dozen spots to spare. Owen J. Roberts was led by Jane Kratz, who finished eighth overall and third among team scorers. All five Wildcats scorers came in in the first 104 runners.

The Fords are just the fourth Delaware County school to win a state cross country team title, joining the Radnor girls in 2006, Cardinal O'Hara's girls in 2016 and the 1963 Swarthmore High boys team.

Haverford finished eighth in the team competition in 2022 and ninth last year, when McGeehan finished 12th overall. Cieslak missed out on the meet with a late ankle injury.

Third behind Owen J. Roberts was North Allegheny with 125 points, with a spread of 1:08 between their top five finishers that was the narrowest in the field. Conestoga was fifth, while Unionville was 10th to give District 1 half of the top 10.

Outside of the Haverford runners, Radnor's Emma Hyde was the top Delco finisher, the senior going 19:51 to take home 36th place. Penncrest freshman Cassidy Jones finished 50th in 20:04, two spots and two seconds ahead of Springfield senior Sophia Kurtis, running at states for the second straight year.

In the boys Class 3A race, Penncrest's Rowan Carr added a second medal by finishing 10th overall. He covered the course in 16:01. He had finished eighth as a freshman.

Thanks to Carr, the Lions finished fifth in the team category. Their 206 points edged out Manheim Township by eight. State College won the title with 53 points, followed by La Salle's 116. District 1 took the next three spots, in the same order as last week's district meet. Council Rock North scored 143 for third, followed by North Penn on 155 and Penncrest.

Edomias Mulugeta finished 35th for Penncrest, in 16.36. Nick Fante was one spot back, a massive jump from his 98th place last year. Andrew Hausch (117th) and Bartosz Kruszewski (171st) rounded out Penncrest's scorers.

Jackson Kane grabbed an individual medal by finishing 18th in 16:20. Teammates Paul Oluwa and Joey Lanci were 96th and 101st, respectively. Radnor's Joe Garzio just missed out on a medal in 29th.

The Bonner & Prendergast boys finished 12th in the Class 2A team race. Donald Cave led the way across the line in 36th place with a time of 17:14. Josh Wagner was 62nd in 17:36.

Delco Christian freshman Addy Atkins finished 92nd in the girls Class A race. Sacred Heart's Lucy Rice was 154th.