PIAA CROSS COUNTRY: ATHENS' BRONSON POSTS BEST CAREER FINISH AT STATES; WANCK FALLS SHY OF LAST YEAR'S FINISH (6 PHOTOS) (2024-11-02)
By CHRIS MANNINGValley Sports ReportHERSHEY — Athens senior Sara Bronson finished her high school career at the PIAA, Class AA Cross-Country Championships Saturday with a career-best 51st-place finish.
Bronson ran 20:52, and was as high as 42nd at the 800-meter and halfway-point, but dropped back after that.
“It wasn’t my fastest race, but I ran a pretty solid race,” Bronson said, who spent much of the race just behind Towanda’s Izzy Larson. “I wanted to find a group of girls comparable to Izzy, so that worked out. I really wanted to work the later part of the hills where you loop, so I was trying to push there.”
Bronson, who finished 56th as a junior and 54th as a freshman, finishes her high school career as a four-time state qualifier.
“I’m really glad that I’ve been able to run here the last four years,” she said. “It’s a great meet to be able to compete at.”
It was a rough day for sophomore Graham Wanck, who finished 112th in 18:07. Wanck came in on the bubble for the medals, but missed practice earlier this week due to illness.
He was 86th at the 800-meter mark, but slowly fell backwards after that.
“We’re really proud of how Sara and Graham ran today. When you look at the seasons that they had, they both have had great years,” said Athens coach Michael Bronson. “Today was one race, they both competed as hard as they could and Coach Riley and I are really happy with that. Graham has two more years to race here, so he has more opportunities.”
Wanck finished 53rd as a freshman.
It was a bittersweet moment for Bronson to see his daughter run her last race at the Parkview Course.
“Sara has had a fantastic four years, I think she’s the only girl from Athens who is a four-time individual state qualifier in Cross Country,” Bronson said. “She is a tremendous worker and has accomplished a lot, as her dad and coach, I couldn’t be more proud of her. I think she has really been a leader in elevating girls distance running in the NTL. She’ll move on to basketball for the winter season, and will be ready for track in the spring.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING.
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