Schuylkill League Cross Country Championships Preview
Shenandoah Valley's Robert Espinal, Minersville's Kolin Long and Blue Mountain's Francesco Carr, from left, compete in the boys' race on Oct. 16, 2024, at the Schuylkill League Cross Country Championships at White Birch Golf Course. Long won the race in 16:19. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
Schuylkill League Cross Cross Country Championships
When: Wednesday, Oct. 15
Where: White Birch Golf Course, Barnesville
Race times: JV boys/girls combined, 2 p.m.; varsity girls, 3 p.m.; varsity boys, 3:50 p.m.
Course length: Varsity — 3.1 miles (Course starts near green on 3rd hole, winds around the golf course and ends on an uphill near the 18th green)
2024 champions: Boys — Kolin Long (Minersville), Tamaqua team; girls — Anna Schaeffer (Schuylkill Haven), Blue Mountain team
Notes: After many years at Tuscarora State Park, the league has found a home at White Birch. This will be the fourth straight year that the golf course has hosted the league meet. … The winding, criss-cross course gives fans multiple vantage points to follow the runners’ progress. … Schuylkill Haven’s Anna Schaeffer won her third straight league championship last season, putting her on the short list of multiple-time gold medalists. She has graduated, opening the door for a new champion to emerge. The odds-on favorite is North Schuylkill freshman Genevieve Dando, the individual champion at the Cardinal Clash and ‘Canes Invitational races earlier this season. More recently, Dando ran 20:25 to place eighth among 174 runners at the NEPA Invitational at Bloomsburg University and 20:02 to win the Mrs. T’s Invitational at North Schuylkill High School. Her times have been steadily coming down, and it will be interesting to see if she can break 20 minutes on this course. … On the boys’ side, Blue Mountain’s Francesco Carr, the 2023 champion, will look to become the first two-time league champion since Jim Thorpe’s Jonathan Condly went back-to-back in 2013-14. In each of the past 11 seasons, a different boy has broken the tape at the league meet. That streak could continue, as Shenandoah Valley’s Robert Espinal has had a banner senior season. He won the Cardinal Clash at Pine Grove in 16:54, the Mrs. T’s Invitational at North Schuylkill in 17:11 and finished sixth among 226 runners at the PIAA Foundation Race in Hershey in 17:07. In addition to winning the league title, his goal is to run in the mid-16s to set himself up for district and state success. Last season, Minersville’s Kolin Long won in 16:19, followed by Espinal (16:27) and Carr (16:33). … The District 11 Cross Country Championships will be held Oct. 22 at DeSales University … The PIAA Cross Country Championships will be held Nov. 1 at Parkview Cross Country Course, Hershey.
