BARNESVILLE - The race to Hershey is on.

The first stop on the road to the state meet for a number of area runners and teams was Wednesday’s Schuylkill League Cross Country Championships at White Birch Golf Course in Barnesville.

They got off to a fast start, with Tamaqua’s Levi Kunkel, Lehighton’s Owen Serfass and Jim Thorpe’s Jordan Remmel recording top-five finishes, while Tamaqua enjoyed team success, with the girls finishing second overall and the boys recording a third-place finish.

The meet also decided the boys’ team champion in Division 3, with Weatherly taking the title over Tri-Valley in a runoff.

Hitting their stride

A state qualifier a year ago as a freshman, Kunkel appears to be rounding into form at the right time, placing third on Wednesday with a time of 17:07.

“I really exceeded my expectations. I wanted to run in the 17s, and I got into the low 17s,” Kunkel said of his time. “And I wanted to get top 10, and I got third. So I did a lot better than what I even wanted to do.”

Kunkel was 16th in the Class 2A race at districts a year ago to advance to states.

He made a huge jump at leagues, and Kunkel is looking to take another step forward next week at districts.

“Last year I got 21st at leagues,” said Kunkel. “This year I was able to pick up a lot, so hopefully I can do better at districts too.

“I just have to keep these same expectations, especially with how well I did. If I can keep that same energy for districts hopefully I’ll be able to go back to states. Last year will definitely help. I definitely know what the pressure feels like.”

In addition to Kunkel, sophomore Anthony Marchetti also earned a top-10 finish with a seventh-place result, while junior Stephen Keiffer placed 17th to help the Blue Raiders place third in the team standings.

“He definitely pushed me hard,” Kunkel said of Marchetti. “He’s doing amazing this year. For him to be with me and pushing me has definitely helped.”

The Indians’ Serfass, a junior, crossed the line in 17:09, just a few seconds behind Kunkel.

“The race felt really good,” said Serfass. “After the first mile, it felt like a pretty fast course, and I just had to try to stay up where I was. At some point, about mile two, I didn’t hear anyone behind me, and I felt like that was a good thing.

“So I just had to keep that going, and coming into the last 800 meters, it felt really good to be up in that top five and being able to finish fourth. Coming in, I was kind of expecting top 10, and barely top 10, too. So coming out of her with a fourth place finish, that’s huge.”

The Indians placed fourth in the team standings, and had freshman Elijah Pagotto finish 14th.

Thorpe’s Remmel delivered a strong run to place fifth with a time of 17:19.

“Expectations, I was looking for top three, but that didn’t happen today,” said Remmel. “Today’s course was super tough. We went out super hard ... I wasn’t having my best race, but I ran it out. It is what it is. I have districts next week, so that’s what I’m looking forward to. But a top five isn’t bad, I just have to tell myself that.”

A senior, Remmel has worked hard to put himself in a position to succeed.

“I really put in a lot of work and effort over the summer,” said Remmel. “I’ve really just been keeping that consistency throughout the whole season, getting my times super low. I’ve probably dropped about a minute off my time now, so I’m really excited about what’s coming for districts, and then hopefully to states.”

Wreckers win title

Weatherly’s run of cross country success continued Wednesday, as the Wreckers topped Tri-Valley 25-30 to claim the Division 3 title.

The teams both finished the regular season with 13-1 records, forcing the runoff.

“It’s my third year now - Jacob Parker, Michael Berger, Nathan Tripp are my seniors that have been with me for three years - and it’s just the culture of the program,” said head coach Ryan Kately. “It’s the culture we’re creating, you teach it to the younger kids, and they buy in, get out, run in the summer and train hard. It’s why we’ve been successful.”

Weatherly had won the last two Schuylkill League titles overall, and finished fifth this year.

Parker paced the team on Wednesday, finishing ninth with a time of 17:32. Berger placed 21st (18:08), while Sebastian Williams (41st, 19:16), Carlos Otero (44th, 19:39) and Tripp (46th, 19:45) gave the Wreckers five runners in the top 50.

“This is great,” said Parker. “After last year, we didn’t think we would have a full team. We thought it was just going to be the three of us (seniors), maybe a couple more. But to able to get freshmen (Otero, Raymond Montz and Niko Saldukis) and sophomores (Williams) to be able to come out and put in the work, it paid off.

“Our guys ran really well. Our third guy (Williams) was almost under 19 minutes; I would have never predicted that. Nate Tripp, a senior, is having the best year of his life. It’s just great. These freshmen didn’t even run junior high.”

After claiming the Class 1A title two years ago to earn a trip to states, Weatherly battled to a runner-up finish to advance a year ago.

They’re in position to do it again this season.

“I think it shows that we have a lot of talent,” said Parker. “Kids that don’t even know they have it. We try to get them out, and it shows. I just said the other day, when you sign up to run here, you’re competing for a division title.

“This was our rebuilding year, and I think it is. We have freshmen and sophomores, and then we have two good eighth graders coming up and the year after that we have two good seventh graders coming up. I think it’s going to keep rolling, and you’re going to see Weatherly up there for a while.”

Strong runs

Marian junior Emma Ashfield placed 12th, while Tamaqua senior Mia Jones finished 13th in the girls race.

“I thought I did pretty good,” said Ashfield, who finished with a time of 22:42. “I beat my PR from the first meet of the season, so I’m really proud of that.

“I just try to go out there, do my best and give it my all. There’s really nothing to lose right now, so I’m just trying to throw it all out there.”

Jones crossed the line in 22:46.

“I think we all did really good today,” said Jones. “We all pushed and did everything that we could and put everything out there. That’s all that we could have done, and we got a pretty good outcome.

“My goal was just to run my hardest, and get a medal. The number really didn’t matter as long as I pushed myself, and did the best that I could do.”

The Raiders’ Samantha Plasha placed 15th, helping them score 67 points as a team. Mahanoy won the team title with 54 points.

Jim Thorpe’s Lindsay Patton (16th, 23:04), Lehighton’s Katie Wojton (18th, 23:08) and Jim Thorpe’s Aubrey Bonner (20th, 23:11) also recorded top 20 finishes in the girls’ race.

In the boys’ race, Marian’s Albin Petschauer finished 19th with a time of 17:55.

LOOKING AHEAD

... The District 11 Cross Country Championships will take place next Wednesday at DeSales University, with the boys’ Class 1A race the first to go off at 1 p.m.

BOYS

Team standings and legend

1. Minersville (Min) 70, 2. Blue Mountain (BM) 75, 3. Tamaqua (T) 79, 4. Lehighton (L) 111, 5. Weatherly (W) 151, 6. Jim Thorpe (JT) 168, 7. Tri-Valley (TV) 205, 8. North Schuylkill (NS) 215, 9. Pottsville (P) 222, 10. Nativity (N) 253, 11. Marian (Mar) 271, 12. Mahanoy (Mah) 299, 13. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 328.

Individual results

(top 5 plus other locals in the top 50)

1. Justin Williams (NS) 16:42, 2. Keegan Dube (Min) 16:57, 3. Levi Kunkel (T) 17:07, 4. Owen Serfass (L) 17:09, 5. Jordan Remmel (JT) 17:19, 7. Anthony Marchetti (T) 17:22, 9. Jacob Parker (W) 17:32, 14. Elijah Pagotto (L) 17:48, 17. Stephen Keiffer (T) 17:49, 19. Albin Petschauer (Mar) 17:55, 21. Michael Berger (W) 18:08, 22. Ridge Snyder (JT) 18:12, 27 Adam Schock (T) 18:30, 29. Jesse Gormley (T) 18:39, 32. Caden Kresge (L) 18:49, 34. Kyle Kuznicki (L) 18:51, 36. Bradley Yenser (L) 18:54, 41. Sebastian Williams (W) 19:16, 44. Carlos Otero (W) 19:39, 45. Logan Morgans (T) 19:44, 46. Nathan Tripp (W) 19:45, 47. Brody Boyce (T) 19:51, 48. Gabe Wirth (JT) 19:53.

GIRLS

Team standings and legend

1. Mahanoy (Mah) 54, 2. Tamaqua (T) 67, 3. Blue Mountain (BM) 71, 4. Pottsville (P) 89, 5. Pine Grove (PG) 124, 6. Lehighton (L) 127, 7. Marian (Mar) 142, 8. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 224.

Individual results

(top 5 plus other locals in the top 50)

1. Anna Schaeffer (Schuylkill Haven) 20:08, 2. Kaylee Senglar (Mah) 20:47, 3. Andie Hollander (BM) 21:06, 4. Julia Burgess (Minersville) 21:25, 5. Felicia Bro (Mah) 21:47, 12. Emma Ashfield (Mar) 22:42, 13. Mia Jones (T) 22:46, 15. Samantha Plasha (T) 22:54, 16. Lindsay Patton (Jim Thorpe) 23:04, 18. Katie Wojton (L) 23:08, 20. Aubrey Bonner (Jim Thorpe) 23:11, 21. Ava Fritz (Mar) 23:11, 23. Cali Frantz (T) 23:22, 25. Isabella Jones (T) 23:33, 27. Olivia Serfass (L) 23:44, 32. Timara Klotz (L) 24:19, 35. Ava Jones (T) 24:23, 45. Lyla Clemson (T) 25:21, 50. Hailey Williams (T) 26:54.