First Posted: 10/24/2014
Tara Johnson spent most of the last mile chasing just one runner.
Mike Havrilla came down the final 200-meter straightaway fighting to hold off more than a half dozen runners who were close behind.
Both Pittston Area cross country athletes left Elk Lake with the primary reward they were seeking from Wednesday’s District 2 Championships, a berth in the Nov. 1 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships in Hershey.
“It went better than planned,” Johnson said after finishing second in the Class AAA girls race with a time of 20:52.
Teammate Madison Mimnaugh also earned a district medal, but missed qualifying for the state meet by one spot when she took sixth.
“Me and Maddy worked together,” said Johnson, who finished 18 seconds behind winner Alyssa Lafave from Wallenpaupack. “We wanted to get out fast and set who kept up with us but Alyssa got out faster than we did.
“We got back into fifth, sixth, and seventh places, then worked our way up.”
Johnson passed Williamsport’s Hannah Weber with a little under a mile to go.
Catching Lafave was not possible, however.
“She really kicked it in,” Johnson said.
The presence of Williamsport this year, made the Class AAA races only into a District 2-4 Subregional where the team winner and five best other individuals qualified to run in the state meet.
Mimnaugh had a chance to advance if Wallenpaupack, with two of the top five finishers, took the team title, but the Buckhorns were edged out by Delaware Valley, 50-52.
Havrilla, a senior, clinched his state appearance by getting to the line in fourth place, leading a pack that saw six runners come in within eight seconds behind him.
“I just tried to hang on to the lead pack as long as I could,” Havrilla said. “I’m pretty happy about going to states. That’s been one of my goals since my sophomore year.
“My goal coming in was to win, but I can’t complain where I finished. I’ll take it.”
That is especially true considering the stress of hearing other runners close behind.
“There were a couple of kids right behind me from a couple different schools so I was definitely nervous,” Havrilla said.
As it turned out, team champion Hazleton Area placed three runners in the top six so anywhere in the first eight places was enough to make it to states and Havrilla got there with five seconds to spare.
The Pittston Area girls took third out of eight teams in Class AAA, finishing just 12 points behind Delaware Valley and 10 behind Wallenpaupack.
Sophomore Arianna Boccardi was 12th and freshman Mary Silinskie was 16th. Abbie Sheerer completed the team score by placing 26th.
The Pittston Area boys were seventh of nine teams with 174 points. Hazleton Area outscored Wallenpaupack, 45-60, for the title.
Vincent Shea, in 26th place, was the only other Patriot to join Havrilla in the top half of the field.
Wyoming Area finished 13th of 15 girls teams and 15th of 17 boys teams in Class AA where Scranton Prep swept both titles and Dallas took the second team state berth in both races.
Freshman Addison Orzel took 33rd in the girls race while Zachary Gibbons led the boys by finishing 40th.
