Lady Warriors edge Holy Cross in finish line showdown

Coach Will Squier always reminds his Elk Lake cross country teams that the team that gets five runners across the finish line first often wins, especially in big races.

That certainly proved to be true Tuesday at McDade Park in Scranton.

Julie VanEtten of Elk Lake edged Holy Cross’ Abby Corrigan at the finish line to secure a 27-28 win for the Lady Warriors in a Lackawanna League meet and showdown between two of the top Class A girls teams in the state.

Elk Lake (7-0) also handed Scranton Prep its first loss, 19-36, to remain unbeaten. Both Scranton Prep (5-1) and Holy Cross (5-1) defeated Montrose.

Mackenzie Greenfield of Holy Cross was the individual girls winner, covering the 3.1-mile course in a school-record 19 minutes, 17 seconds. Her teammate Lexi Walsh placed second in 19:43.

Elk Lake then had the next four runners across the finish line — Kenzie Jones (19:49), Katie Bennett (20:08), Justine Johns (20:11) and Keri Jones (20:12).

“We’re really working with the kids on trying to run a tight pack,” Squier said.

Still, the outcome came down to the duel between VanEtten and Corrigan.

VanEtten got to the finish line in 21:30 — one second ahead of Corrigan — to give Elk Lake the win.

“I was behind her for most of the race,” VanEtten said. “I didn’t realize she was their fifth (runner). I thought she might have been their sixth. But I just knew I had to finish for the team.”

Squier said VanEtten runs the 400 meters during track season, so he knew she would have a finishing kick.
“If we had to have anybody there at the end, Julie was the one,” Squier said.

Holy Cross was without one of its top runners, Zoe Haggerty. Coach Charlie Orlando believes Haggerty would have been able to break up Elk Lake’s pack at 3-4-5-6 and then the outcome would have been different.

However, he refused to use Haggerty’s absence as an excuse.

“You have to go with what you have,” Orlando said. “It was Elk Lake’s day today. We’ll be back at it the rest of the season.”

The Elk Lake girls took another win over Holy Cross in the PIAA Foundation race in Hershey.

They’ll square off next at the District 2 meet in October and, most likely, be among the top contenders for the state Class A title at the PIAA Championships in Hershey in November.

Last season, Holy Cross took the crown and Elk Lake wound up second.

“We don’t think we have anything in the bag here. Holy Cross is the state champion and a good team,” Squier said. “But girls needed to know where they were. Now they know they’re in the race.”

In the boys’ race, Scranton Prep defeated Blue Ridge, 15-50; Elk Lake, 18-41; and Montrose, 16-47.

Hunter Bedell of Elk Lake finished fourth in 17:33 as the Warriors (7-1) earned a split in the meet by beating Holy Cross, 15-43. Holy Cross defeated Blue Ridge, 16-47, and Montrose, 23-34.

The Susquehanna and Mountain View boys’ cross country teams collected losses last week from North Pocono and Abington Heights at a meet held on the 3.1-mile course at Lakeland.

For the Lady Sabers, Skyla Wilson and Mikayla Hargett finished in the top 10. Wilson crossed the line at 22:09; followed by Hargett at 22:38.

The Susquehanna girls and Lady Eagles collected losses on the day to North Pocono, Abington Heights and Valley View.