HHS Girls Cross Country Takes 3rd, Boys 13th at PIAA State Championship Meet
November 6, 2019
The Hershey High School girls cross country team won third place at the PIAA State Championship Meet on Saturday, November 2, 2019. The boys team came home in 13th place.
Led by senior Olivia Wilson and sophomore Emma Taylor, the HHS girls team took home an impressive third place in the AAA division. The result was a surprise as the girls punched their ticket to the state meet by taking fourth place at the District III meet.
On the hilly Park View course at Hershey, Wilson came home in 37th place with a time of 19:35. Taylor’s 19:45 was good enough for 48th. The remainder of the girls team was comprised of freshmen who made the difference: Brooke Preputnick, 20:14; Taylor Simmons, 20:16; Ally Wilson, 20:24; Rachel Lyn-Sue, 21:15; and Kadia Stover, 21:44.
The third place finish was the highest ever in the 43 years of head coach Al Fricke’s tenure. Additionally, this was the first year in team history that both the girls and boys squads qualified in the same year for the state meet.
The boys team earned 13th place against a very strong field. Composed of seven seniors, the boys earlier this season won the Mid-Penn League title for the first time since 2012 and were the runner-up at the District III meet.
The boys had all but one runner in the 17-minute range: Brendon Shea, 17:06; Andrew Sisco, 17:07; Luke Sheppard, 17:11; Ethan Rogers, 17:23; Ben Phillippy, 17:42; Tommy Johnson, 17:45. Kohen Stover crossed the line in 18:26.
Mount Lebanon’s Patrick Anderson won the AAA boys race with a new course record of 15:25, a 4:55 per mile average pace.
