NTL CROSS COUNTRY: ATHENS GIRLS, BOYS DROP DECISIONS TO NEB, TOWANDA IN SEASON-OPENERS (21 PHOTOS) (2024-09-03)

Valley Sports Report
ATHENS — It was a rough start to the season for the Athens boys and girls as both lost season-opening decisions to Towanda and Northeast Bradford here Tuesday afternoon in NTL cross country action at Round Top Park.

GIRLS
NEB 24, Athens 32
Towanda 22, Athens 36
Three-time state qualifier senior Sara Bronson ran to a first-place finish to pace the Wildcats, clocking in at 20:50 — 37 seconds better than runner-up Isabella Larson of Towanda.

Freshman Alissa Vough finished sixth in 22:43 for Athens, while sophomore Grace Ellsworth was 14th in 26:07, sophomore Haylie Horton was 15th in 26:32, and junior Ava Hughes was 17th in 26:56.

Freshman Tatyana Nasser finished 23rd for the Wildcats in a time of 32:13, while senior Maryrose Bertsch was 26th in 32:40, and sophomore Joelle Vaughn was 27th in 33:08.

JUNIOR HIGH GIRLS
Towanda 24, Athens 31
Athens 18, NEB 18
Stella Unger and Adaline Burnett finished 2-3 in the junior high race.

Unger clocked in at 12:57, while Burnett finished in 13:10. Paisley Smith was 11th in 17:30.

BOYS
NEB 16, Athens 44
Towanda 24, NEB 35
Junior Ethan Hicks, who did not run in 2023, led Athens with a seventh-place finish.

Hicks clocked in at 18:33, while sophomore Matt Rossettie was ninth in 18:51.59, and sophomore Jacob Shores was 11th in 19:03.

Senior Gehrig Thurston finished 21st for the Wildcats in 22:26, while senior Aiden Oldroyd was 24 in 23:01, senior Pierce Oldroyd was 25th in 23:27, and senior Lohith Kinthala was 26th in 24:12.

Junior Andrew DeForest was 29th for Athens in 25:52, while sophomore Ryder Morley was 30th in 26:22, freshman Darius Miller was 32nd in 26:48, and freshman Ian Garrison was 33rd in 27:22.

JUNIOR HIGH BOYS
Micah Simwale was 15th in a time of 13:09 to pace Athens in the junior high race, while Austin Nason was 16th in 17:12.

Athens returns to action Saturday at the Oneonta Forbes Invite.

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IN PHOTO 1: Athens senior Sara Bronson. … IN TOP PHOTO: Athens junior Ethan Hicks and Matt Rossettie (left). … PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.

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