Annville-Cleona boys net Class 1A team title in PIAA cross country; Lampeter-Strasburg's Colin Whitaker takes Class 2A silver

HERSHEY — To say Annville-Cleona’s boys cross country squad is full of characters might be an understatement.

The Dutchmen have the “music man,” David Moran, who coach Caitlin Heller calls a gamer. They have Z Moyer, who provides comic relief and keeps his teammates calm.

And then they have the duck.

The stuffed bird — Kayo — is a mascot that Samuel Domencic won on a trip with the school band to Knoebles Amusement Resort. He has been with the team at every meet since.

Toss in Landon Hostetter and Oliver Funck, both of whom earned individual medals at Saturday’s PIAA Cross Country Championships, and you not only get a team that has racked up a ton of hardware this season but one that can now call itself PIAA champions, as the Dutchmen scored 91 points, besting Riverside for the 2023 Class 1A title.

“They followed the gameplan,” Heller said. “I showed them where I thought they could be, but I was a little conservative. They are a phenomenal group. It is surreal they are state champs. It is surreal that everything clicked, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group and am super-excited that we all have this memory together. This is very special.”

Hostetter led the team with an 11th-place finish in 16:57, while Funck finished 21st with a 17:16. David Moran (34th, 17:34), Matt Clemson (48th, 17:54), Domencic (55th, 18:02), Moyer (91st, 18:25), Luke Tshudy (129th,18:52) rounded out Annville’s contingent at the Parkside Course.

Whitaker takes 2A silver

Colin Whitaker knew he would have to run the race of his lifetime were he to take down his good friend Ryan Pajak of Ringgold for an individual state title on Saturday.

But he didn’t want the rest of the field — which also included some good runners out of the WPIAL — to keep him from bringing home second, with good reason.

All first- and second-place state finishers at L-S get a banner in the gym.

Whitaker’s future Notre Dame teammate ultimately won Saturday’s 2A boys race with a 15:21, but Whitaker assured himself that second, clocking 15:37 to best Patrick Burgos of Elizabeth Forward by more than 20 seconds.

“I pretty good after that,” Whitaker said. “Obviously I would have liked to have been a little bit closer to first place, but (Pajak) ran incredible. This course suits him pretty well with the hills. I PR’d here today by 20-some seconds. So I am actually pretty happy with it. I left it all out there.”

Whitaker has come a long way since his freshman year, where he collapsed a few times trying to get to the end of the course, to becoming one of the greatest runners to don a uniform at L-S.

Saturday, Whitaker had a plan to stay conservative the first mile, but it didn’t happen. He stayed with a big group and went out fast. At the first mile, he’d clocked a blistering 4:39. He kept Pajak in his sights, but on the hills, which he said hurt a big time, his friend took off.

“I’m happy with how I did. It definitely means a lot to come out here and race him,” Whitaker said. “We have been going at it now for a while, and I’m happy for Ryan and what he did. We are now going to be teammates for what? Like five years? Something like this course, you don’t see it anywhere else. It prepares us for college and meets after this.”

Whitaker’s L-S squad finished seventh as a team with 238 points.

Around the meet

Class 3A

Penn Manor’s Kaleb Kabakjian missed earning a medal by fractions of a second, bringing home 26th with his 16:33. He was the top finisher from the L-L here. Despite this fact, the senior standout was all smiles.

“Today I was thinking about time and place, and I just realized that it’s like looking at the winds and the waves,” Kabakjian said. “It’s not what I am supposed to be focused on. Today the race was to run with joy, focus on Jesus, and don’t sink, and He didn’t let me sink.”

Ramon Urena Batista of Lebanon finished 38th in 16:46 before four runners from Manheim Township — the team that placed seventh overall with 196 points — were the next to cross from the L-L. Cole Stevens (44th, 16:51), Dylan Delvecchio (53rd, 16:55), Adam Kingston (54th, 16:56) and Gunner Geib (79th, 17:10) led the way for the Blue Streaks.

Hempfield’s Sam Myer (89th, 17:16) broke things up before Township’s Ethan Peffley (92nd, 17:19) was the final runner to finish in the top 100.

Class 2A

Tyler Shunk (35th, 17:10) and Luke Hentz (75th, 17:46) were the top placers from a Northern Lebanon team that finished 12th overall with 315 points.

Luke Smith (90th, 17:57) Canaan Rohrer (91st, 17:57) and Michael Colosi (100th, 18:02) of Lampeter-Strasburg the only others from the L-L to place in the top 100.

Class 1A

Junior Henry Friedrichs of Veritas Academy, based in Leola, improved three places on what he did last year, placing 13th with 17:03 to pick up a medal.

Dayspring Academy’s Noah Huxta just missed a spot on the stand, taking 31st with his 17:30.