HERSHEY - Regan Rome made a big improvement at the PIAA Class AAA championships Saturday afternoon and joined her teammates in putting Dallas on the radar for the future.
Rome was outstanding from the start and held a pace that earned her a fifth-place medal at the state championships at Hershey. The Mountaineer sophomore was 20th last year but her time of 18:48 was enough to keep her among the top finishers. The top four runners ahead of her were all from District 1.
"I can't believe it," Rome, the two-time District 2 AAA champion said. "This is exactly what I wanted. I thought top five might be a little stretch for me, so it's really great to get it."
Rome was in 25th place going into the first mile. She inched her way into 10th and then moved into sixth place after the second mile.
"There was a big pack of about 20 or more girls, and I was in there," Rome said. "Around a mile and a half, it started to spread out. We were going up a hill at that point and I was really happy with my spot. I really felt like I ran a great race."
Rome crossed the finish line in her usual style - smiling and quickly turning her attention to her teammates.
Dallas' Bryanna Dissinger, Lindsey Oremus and Maggie Fannick (all of whom return next season) were among the top 95 finishers.
"The other girls followed (Regan's) lead," Dallas coach Matt Samuel said. "They just ran out of their shoes in the first mile. I think we had the right plans for how to attack the course and they executed it to a T."
Katie Metcalf, Allison Grose and Morgan Gilhooley - all juniors - also contributed the Mountaineers's finish.
"To be top 10 around here is amazing because look at the schools in front of us," Samuel said. "They are easily three times the size of us. And our girls are all back next year and they all understand what's ahead of them. They understand this is a step in the process, but really, what a huge step for our program."
Dallas boys finished in 12th and were once again led by sophomore Dominic DeLuca, who finished in 16:51 for 48th place.
"For the first time coming down here, and to finish where he did, Dominic did really well," Samuel said. "And Kyle Borland was way back in the beginning and he caught up to be our fifth guy." Also in the mix for the Mountaineers were Chris Ehret, Alex Zubko, Jess Adams, Brenden Ehret and Ryan Thomas.
"I was telling them on the course that they weren't in good positions," Samuel said. "They're disappointed, but they did what they could. It was a very tough race and I'm really proud of them no matter what.
Jake Siegel of Tunkhannock was the top finisher from the Wyoming Valley Conference as he placed 47th in 16:50. Jacob Fetterman of Hazleton Area had a time of 17:07 for 73rd and in the girls race Hazleton Area freshman Nicole Buehrle was 96th in 20:18.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment