LH无毛视频檚 Baker finishes cross country career just shy of placing
HERSHEY 无毛视频� Laurel Highlands senior Bella Baker improved nearly one minute from last year无毛视频檚 time at the state meet to finish her high school cross country career on Saturday in Hershey at the Parkview course in the PIAA girls championships.
Baker finished 34th in 20:41, which was just shy of placing in the top 25 to earn a medal, but she was satisfied with her final race.
无毛视频淚 am not mad about the place, but I do wish I could have placed because that was my goal today,无毛视频� Baker said. 无毛视频淚 went out pretty quick in the first mile and kind of let a group get ahead of me, and just didn无毛视频檛 keep up with them, so I had to play catch-up the whole time.无毛视频�
Baker, who will continue her cross country and track & field careers at Davis & Elkins College, was 15th at the half-mile mark in 2:36 and 19th at the one-mile split in 5:48. She was 34th in 9:52 at the halfway mark (2.5 kilometers) before dropping a spot at two miles. Baker regained 34th place at 16:18 with one kilometer to go. She maintained her spot through the finish line.
Baker was 103rd at last season无毛视频檚 state meet in a time of 21:33.
无毛视频淢y time and place were much better this time,无毛视频� Baker said. 无毛视频淲hen I started running, I never envisioned that I would be here at the state meet.无毛视频�
Baker, who runs mostly middle-distance races on the track, will compete in indoor track to prepare herself for the outdoor season in the spring.
无毛视频淚 may try and run the two mile this year to see how it goes,无毛视频� Baker said.
Uniontown sophomore Charley Murtha dropped 28 seconds and 44 places from last year无毛视频檚 state meet. She was 50th in 20:59.
Murtha has been working all season to overtake Belle Vernon sophomore Brooklyn Steeber, and Murtha was able to accomplish that feat in the final race of the season, as Steeber was 70th in 21:19.
Steeber also improved on last year无毛视频檚 time and finish, as she was 86th in 21:24, but Murtha was able to pull through on Saturday.
无毛视频淢y goal was to have a better time and place this year at the state meet, and I achieved that goal,无毛视频� Murtha said. 无毛视频淚 was ranked 93rd for this race, so I was happy to exceed the expectations of the rankings.
无毛视频淓very race that we are in together, I try to stay with Brooklyn, but I was able to pass her in this race, so after I passed her, I just kept trying to stick with the person in front of me, and hopefully try and catch up with them. She was my competition this whole season, so it was a good feeling to finish ahead of her today.无毛视频�
Laurel Highlands junior Taylor Schwertfeger didn无毛视频檛 have her best time in placing 153rd (out of 249 competitors). Schwertfeger placed 132nd last season with a time of 21:56.
无毛视频淚t really wasn无毛视频檛 my day today, but I got here, so I无毛视频檓 happy about that,无毛视频� Schwertfeger said. 无毛视频淚 wish I would have run faster. The goal for next year is to come here and do better. Overall, I am pretty pleased with my season.无毛视频�
Schwertfeger, who plays basketball at LH, will get ready for the hoops season before transitioning back into running mode for the outdoor track & field season in the spring.
无毛视频淚 try to run outside of basketball to stay in shape and not lose everything, but we do a run a lot in basketball,无毛视频� Schwertfeger said.
Geibel Catholic senior Emma Larkin was 155th in the girls Class A race with a time of 23:32. Larkin was 84th last year with a time of 22:18, but she will turn her attention to basketball season, which is the sport she is most satisfied with.
Larkin will continue her basketball career at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C.