Valley View's Kanavy finishes fourth at state cross country championships; Elk Lake boys take third

HERSHEY, Nov 08, 2009 (The Times-Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ZZVWL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Every day in the summer at 8 a.m., Jake Kanavy would show up at Aaron Wilkinson's house so they could go for a training run.

During that time, the Valley View teammates talked about winning at districts and medaling at states.

Neither one of them imagined, however, that Wilkinson would do what he did Saturday at the PIAA Cross Country Championships.

Wilkinson headlined a strong showing by District 2 by finishing fourth out of 289 runners in the Class AA race. The sophomore covered the 3.1-mile Parkview Championship Course in 16 minutes, 53 seconds.

Stephen Welsh, a senior from District 3 Kutztown, won the race in 16:37.

"Fourth place? Not in a million years would I have ever thought that," Kanavy said of his friend and teammate. "It's unbelievable. It showed all his hard work and training paid off."

Elk Lake junior Mike Bedell and Holy Redeemer junior A.J. Limongelli also earned state medals from District 2 in Class AA. Bedell placed 23rd in 17:16 and Limongelli was 24th in 17:17.

Despite Bedell's effort, the Warriors came up short of repeating as state champions, finishing third with 135 points. York Suburban from District 3 was first with 76 points and District 7 Quaker Valley was second with 99 points.

Holy Redeemer, which edged Elk Lake for the District 2 title, was fourth with 151 points.

In Class AAA, Tunkhannock junior Reece Ayers finished ninth out of 282 runners in 16:23 to claim the only medal for District 2 in that race.

North Pocono senior Victor Costello made a late-race surge, but just missed winning a state medal by finishing 26th in 16:44. The top 25 individual finishers earn medals.

Winning a medal was Wilkinson's realistic goal. He just didn't expect it to be fourth place.

Although it wasn't his plan, Wilkinson said he got swept up in a fast start over the opening mile.

"We just got out there, all of us. The first mile was way too fast," Wilkinson said. "From there, it was painful, but I just kept pushing through it. Then coming up that last hill, I realized, Wow, this is really happening.

"I'm thrilled. You train so hard and so long. All those hours spent during the summer and after school, running, piling up miles. Five months is crammed into this 18-minute race. This makes it all worth it."

It was a good day for Valley View as teammates Jordan Siddons and Kanavy finished 37th and 51st, respectively.

"I was 73rd last year, so I jumped almost 40 spots," Siddons said. "I would have liked to medal, but I'm happy. And Aaron, you couldn't ask for anything more. That was a hell of a race for him."

Considering Bedell missed a week of practice prior to districts due to an illness, he was pleased with his finish.

"At the mile, I tried to hang around 30th because I knew the first mile was going to be fast and I didn't want to go out too hard," Bedell said. "Around the two-mile mark, I just started picking kids off one by one and finished with everything I had."

Coming away with an individual medal helped ease the sting of Elk Lake falling short of a second straight team title. York Suburban was able to put its first five runners in the top 60 within a 38-second spread to take the crown.

"There's some disappointment because we had expectations that we had another shot at it," Elk Lake coach Will Squier said. "But York Suburban, the way they ran today, you've got to give them their due.

"Our kids ran a good, solid race today, right down through the line."

Class AAA

With the finish line in sight and two runners ahead of him, Costello mustered everything he had left to make one final push at capturing a medal.

"I'd never been in that state of mind," Costello said. "It's like I was on the edge. Somehow my body was just moving. It all was a blur."

Costello did pass those two runners, but it turned out that it gave him 26th place. He missed a medal by two seconds.

Initially disappointed, Costello was still pleased with his time.

"It means a lot," he said. "I've come a long way since my first state cross country meet."

Brad Mills, a senior from District 1 North Penn, won the race in a 15:47. However, North Penn had its bid for a third straight team title ended by fellow District 1 school West Chester Henderson.

Contact the writer: swalsh@timesshamrock.com

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