BY SCOTT WALSH, Times-Shamrock Writer
Blue Ridge junior Jake Hinkley ran 18:01 to finish in sixth place Wednesday at the District 2 Class AA Championship. Hinkley leads the Raiders, who earned one of two team berths to the PIAA Championships. TIMES-SHAMROCK PHOTO/MICHAEL J. MULLEN
Mike Robbs remembered back to seventh grade, when he and Ethan Mansfield were the only members of the Blue Ridge boys cross country team.
Now, five years later, Robbs and Mansfield are seniors. And the Raiders not only have a full team, but they are also are heading to the PIAA Championships in Hershey on Saturday.
Blue Ridge earned one of District 2’s two team berths in Class AA. The Raiders placed five runners in the top 22 to total 85 points and finish second at the district championship meet Wednesday at Elk Lake High School.
“Knowing that we started from absolutely nothing to bringing ourselves to this point and having our whole team go to states is unbelievable,” Robbs said.
“This is actually the first time since the 1970s thatBlue Ridge has had a boys team go to states. Our girls team has been successful for the last several years. But this the first big chance the guys have had.”
After everything he and Robbs have been through, Mansfield was excited to be getting the chance to go to the state meet in his senior year.
“It’s been my goal since freshman year,”Mansfieldsaid. “I’m really glad that we finally made it.”
Robbs and Mansfield are the only seniors among Blue Ridge’s top seven runners. Junior Jake Hinkley is the Raiders’ lead runner. Juniors Teejay Loomis, Chris Carelson, George Ward and sophomore Patrick Cramer round out the lineup.
Under the direction of first-year coach Sam Folk, Blue Ridge finished 19-3 in the Lackawanna League. Folk took over for longtime coach Tom Lewis and the transition has been smooth.
“He encourages us, makes practice fun and we always have a good time at meets,”Mansfield said of Folk. “It’s made a great high school memory.”
Folk and the Raiders hope to make a few more memories in Hershey on Saturday.
“As long as we go down, everybody tries as hard as they can and they have a good time, that’s a win in our book,” Folk said. “Obviously, you want to win a state title. But we just want to go down, have a good showing and show them what Blue Ridge is all about.”
Besides the boys team, Blue Ridge also had freshman Casey Purdum qualify for states in Class AA girls.
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