CROSS COUNTRY: Taylor Burkett, Jackson Warfel post top times as Pennridge sweeps Souderton
FRANCONIA – Pennridge teammates Taylor Burkett and Jessica Lackner ran together on Souderton's cross country course but ultimately someone had to come in first place Wednesday afternoon.
It ended up being Burkett, the senior pulling away to post the top time of the SOL Colonial Division dual meet's girls race in 20:22 with Lackner placing second at 20:28.
"My plan was to cross the finish line with her and I said 'Come one, keep going, keep going,'" Burkett said. "But I think we got too competitive at the end and then we started racing each other and that's kind of what happened."
The Rams girls squad had the top five finishes for a 15-43 victory over the host Indians, completing a Pennridge sweep after the boys earned a 25-30 win over Souderton led by the 1-2 finish of Jackson Warfel and Daniel Lera-Lozano.
"It was good, it was solid," said Warfel, a sophomore. "I just tried to stick with the lead pack, the first two Souderton guys and with like a K to go I just did my best to move up and pass."
After Burkett and Lackner, Pennridge's Ashley Landis took third in 20:54, Arieana Parks was fourth at 21:10 and Kaegan Smith finished fifth at 21:49.
"It's normally me, Jess and Ashley and we always run together," Burkett said. "Jess has been working this whole summer and she's improved so much and she's been keeping me going this whole time, the whole race, it was pretty good."
Souderton's Skye Kisela and Alex Petrino placed sixth and seventh, respectively at 22:00. Rounding out the top 10 were Pennridge's Bridget Brady (22:20) and Souderton's Ella Tencza (22:34) and Reese Richardson (22:40).
"I think the team did very well today," Burkett said. "We all worked together and (Coach Bill) Smith said, hey, let's get a big group in the front, let's work staying together and stuff and I think that's kind of what we did and it worked out pretty good today."
Burkett's main sport is lacrosse, having committed to Robert Morris and last spring earning All-SOL National Conference second-team honors at attack, helping the Rams girls lacrosse team claim a share of the conference title with Pennsbury.
"I have more endurance and I love running around the field and I feel like I do get an advantage running in the offseason," said Burkett of what cross country contributes to her lacrosse play. "I mean other people are doing sports but maybe not running 5Ks every day. But yeah I think it gives me a huge advantage on the lacrosse field."
Burkett began running cross country as a freshman and last year as a junior took 17th in the District 1-3A Championships with a time of 18:57.70 and posted a time of 20:24 at the PIAA Championships to come in 79th in 3A.
"I definitely didn't expect when I started cross country to be running where I am at today," Burkett said. And I've had some ups and downs with injuries and everything but this year I've felt like I'm coming out of my zone and I've been trying to step up as much as I can."
In Wednesday's boys race, Warfel earned first with a time of 16:02, just ahead of teammate Daniel Lera-Lozano's 16:04.
"This is a fast course, I like running on it," Warfel said. "It's probably my – other than our course, of course – it's probably my favorite of the league courses."
Souderton collected the next three finishes, Stephen Keller coming in third at 16:09, Ben Wright fourth at 16:09 and Liam Simpson fifth at 16:47.
Pennridge picked up seventh and seventh places – Andrew Davis posting a 16:45 followed by Luke Barbadoro's 16:59. Souderton's AJ Gardner was eighth (17:00), the Rams' Colin Woehr ninth (17:23) with the Indians' Matt Embry taking 10th at 17:24.
Warfel was 89th in 3A at last year's District 1 Cross Country Championships at 16: 32.90. In March, he set the state freshman record with a time of 4:24.01 – besting the previous mark of 4:28.31 – as he placed fourth in the Freshman Boys One Mile at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.
During last spring's outdoor track and field season, Warfel was second in the 3,200 meters at the SOL Colonial Championships (9:15.10) and placed 13th in the event in 3A at districts (9:24.27).
"I definitely improved a lot since last cross country season," Warfel said. "I think I improved a lot over the outdoor track season. The two-mile is probably my strong suit at the moment – that in-between, the sweet spot – but I love cross country."
Both teams are competing Saturday. Souderton hosts its Twilight Invitational. The Pennridge boys are at the Council Rock Invitational at Tyler State Park in Newtown with the Pennridge girls running at the PIAA Foundation Invitational in Hershey.
