This year’s cross country season has come to an end. The concluding meets included the Tri Valley League meet, Perry County Tournament, and the District Meet.
The Tri Valley League meet was held at East Juniata on Oct. 10. It was a straight, flat course for the entire duration of the race. Newport boy’s finished 4 out of 4 teams and the girl’s team did not have enough runners to place as a team. The PeCo tournament was held at Susquenita on Oct. 19. Susquenita is infamous for having one of the worst courses in all of Pennsylvania; it is extremely hilly with long durations of inclines throughout the course. The boys team finished 3 out of 3 teams, while the girls did not have enough members to place.
The next meet was one of the biggest, the District meet. This meet was held at Big Spring High School on Oct. 28. The course at Big Spring is a challenging yet rewarding one, containing a hill near the end with a very sharp incline nick-named “Kill Hill.” The performances from the male runners consisted of senior Ruben Moreno (38th 19:54), junior Jonathan Benner (55th, 21:26), junior Tyler Gardner (52nd 21:20), junior Matthew Tubioli (20th, 18:54), sophomore Riley Babski (71st, 24:28), and sophomore Zach Mouhssin (73rd 26:17). Tubioli was just 6 seconds off of advancing to the state meet. The girls’ performances consisted of junior Mikayla Deiter (39th 27:16), sophomore Jordin Briggs (52nd 32:10), sophomore Mary Jones (28th 24:55), and freshman Gabriella Benner (40th 27:44).
The season was a rollercoaster for the team, with some high highs and low lows. Many meets came down to the wire with scoring, with some team members even getting close to being PeCo champions by margins of a few points.
The team almost doubled in size from past years and is expected to grow even more next year. The increase in members finally allowed the full team to place at a meet and rank among the other eligible teams. It is apparent that the cross country team will continue to grow and develop as the years progress.
This year’s seniors, Mason Messick, Moreno, and Lillian Plank, will all miss participating in cross country at newport. Plank explained, “Although I don’t love the sport side of it, I do enjoy being a part of the team and XC community as a whole since everyone is very supportive of each other.”
Messick describes how receptive the team was to him as a first-year-senior. “The season overall was a great environment and gave me a new perspective on sports,” said Messick. “I was curious on how joining the team as a senior would unfold but the atmosphere between the team was like no other.”
