HS ROUNDUP: Abington Heights girls finish undefeated in cross country; Delaware Valley shares boys XC title

Oct. 19—NEWTON TWP. — After the runners endured the slippery and muddy course and crossed the finish line, the Abington Heights girls huddled together in a tight embrace.

They knew, as the computer calculated the scoring, based on where everyone finished they achieved their goal.

Abington Heights had five of the top 10 and, in flexing its depth, had seven of the top 13 overall to win the final three meets in the Lackawanna League cross country season Wednesday. Their sweep of the cluster earned the Lady Comets an undefeated record at 23-0 and their fifth championship in the last six seasons, with the only one they didn't win coming in 2020, when they did not compete in the league because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honesdale's Brenna Dahlgren won the race overall in 19 minutes, 52.5 seconds.

Anna Pucilowski finished second in 20:48 to lead the Lady Comets, who defeated Honesdale, 20-43, in the meet between the two teams that were undefeated at the start of the meet. Abington Heights also beat Wallenpaupack, 18-45, and Delaware Valley, 15-48.

"I am so excited, and this really inspires us for the future," Pucilowski said. "We have such a good team dynamic. We always try to keep a positive attitude, and I feel like we can joke around and know when to be serious. That really helps when we are laughing, having fun and still getting the job done.

"It's great to win another league championship and keep the streak alive. It's really awesome to be a part of this."

Emma Horsley came across right behind Pucilowski in 20:53.9, then fell to the soggy turf with her legs covered in mud from the jaunt around the Abington Heights Middle School course.

"We wanted to finish undefeated," Horsley, a senior, said. "Senior year, you want to go out and finish strong and give it your all. This has a lot of sentiment to it. I think everyone did a really good job. I am very proud of everyone on this team for killing it."

Abington Heights bunched its next three runners together in eight, nine and 10. Morgan Kresge clocked in at 21:22.3, Reese Morgan crossed at 21:38.6 and Marley Gilboy had a time of 21:46.7. The Lady Comets also had Kiera Crowell come in 12th with a time of 22:15.3 and senior Hailey Hirtz finish 13th in 22:15.8.

"We are a very close team," Hirtz said. "I am extremely proud of the team. We just kind of always push each other and encourage each other. It was a really nice day for us."

At McDade Park, Riverside's Kiley Williams finished first in 21:25.77, while Scranton Prep and Holy Cross each won three meets in a cluster meet to finish the season.

Abington Heights 15, Del. Valley 48

Abington Heights 18, Wallenpaupack 45

Abington Heights 20, Honesdale 43

Valley View 19, Delaware Valley 42

Valley View 23, Wallenpaupack 34

Valley View 26, Honesdale 30

Honesdale 22, North Pocono 33

Wallenpaupack 23, North Pocono 32

North Pocono 24, Delaware Valley 37

Brenna Dahlgren (HON) 19:52.5 at Abington Heights Middle School; Anna Pucilowski (AH) 20:48.0; Emma Horsley (AH) 20:53.9; Gianna Godino (VV) 21:06.0; Kelcie Fillebrown (WAL) 21:15.0; Sadie Loftus (VV) 21:21.5; Riley Mackrell (VV) 21:21.5; Morgan Kresge (AH) 21:22.3; Reese Morgan (AH) 21:38.6; Marley Gilboy (AH) 21:46.7; Lily Stoveken (DV) 22:08.9; Kiera Crowell (AH) 22:15.3; Hailey Hirtz (AH) 22:15.8; Megan Kretschmer (HON) 22:20.2; June Brown (WAL) 22:41.2.

Records: AH 23-0, VV 22-1; HON 21-2; WAL 19-4; NP 19-4; DV 19-4.

Jr. High Top Finisher: Julia Healey (AH) 12:53.1.

Scranton Prep 19, Dunmore 44

Scranton Prep 19, Old Forge 44

Scranton Prep 20, Riverside 43

Holy Cross 17, Dunmore 45

Holy Cross 19, Old Forge 36

Holy Cross 20, Riverside 43

Dunmore 3, Carbondale Area 7

Old Forge 15, Carbondale Area 50

Riverside 1, Carbondale Area 2

Kiley Williams (RIV) 21:25.77 at McDade Park; Abby Thompson (HC) 22:11.93; Sophia Boland (SP) 22:11.96; Grace Donohue (HC) 22:52.38; Julie Walsh (HC) 23:00.23; Hannah Murphy (DUN) 23:09.33; Cali Talarico (OF) 23:30.08; Madelyn Schoenweiter (SP) 23:31.26; Ella Schofield (SP) 23:53.90; Gemma Bistran (HC) 23:54.22; Kennedy Cannon (SP) 23:57.47; Emelia Williams (SP) 24:09.42; Emma Comerford (SP) 24:33.10; Emma Gernhardt (SP) 24:47.22; Sophia Corrdiano (OF) 25:24.94.

Records: SP 15-8; HC 13-10; DUN 1-22; OF 12-11; RIV 4-19; CAR 0-23.

Jr. High Top Finisher: Megan O'Donnell (DUN) 11:58.49.

Boys cross country

Delaware Valley entered its cluster meet at Abington Heights Middle School knowing that if it could earn three wins, it would share the Lackawanna League title with Elk Lake, which finished the season a day earlier and had a 22-1 record.

The Warriors had four runners finish in the top 10 and earned a 19-44 win over North Pocono, a 20-36 win over Abington Heights, and a 23-32 win over Valley View to also finish with a 22-1 record and a share of the title.

Valley View's Ethan Williams won the race in 17:40.7 and Wallenpaupack's Aiden Janowicz was second in 17:46.7.

Nixon Kameen led the Warriors with a third-place finish in 18:28.3.

"I am really glad to share this experience with the team," Kameen said. "It has been a goal of ours to win the league since the start of the season. We have all worked toward this together. There really has been strong team morale all season. I am happy that we did it."

At McDade Park, Riverside's Daniel Danilovitz set a course record with a time of 16:04.76. Scranton Prep and Holy Cross won three meets each to close out the league season. Scranton Prep's Vincent O'Malley (17:04.69) and Colin Comerford (17:09.99) finished second and third, and Luke Healey paced Holy Cross in fourth place with a time of 17:21.66.

Scranton Prep 20, Dunmore 41

Scranton Prep 15, Old Forge 50

Scranton Prep 23, Riverside 38

Holy Cross 22, Dunmore 39

Holy Cross 15, Old Forge 50

Holy Cross 24, Riverside 35

Dunmore 6, Carbondale Area 15

Old Forge 15, Carbondale Area 50

Riverside 15, Carbondale Area 50

Daniel Danilovitz (RIV) 16:04.76 (course record) at McDade Park; Vincent O'Malley (SP) 17:04.69; Colin Comerford (SP) 17:09.99; Luke Healey (HC) 17:21.66; Mikey Schimelefenig (RIV) 17:29.81; Tommy Clark (DUN) 17:37.53; Thomas Gavin (HC) 17:39.00; Peter Pavuk (SP) 17:47.77; Conor Toole (DUN) 18:29.53; Evan Juice (HC) 18:33.82; Gavin Gallagher (SP) 18:36.81; Colin Farrell (HC) 18:43.71; David Perks (SP) 18:47.51; Matthew Cohen (SP) 18:49.91; Elias Stabinski (HC) 19:05.49.

Records: SP 20-3; HC 13-10; DUN 3-20; OF 3-20; RIV 10-13; CAR 0-23

Jr. High Top finisher: Jack Davies (RIV) 9:54.55 (course record).

Delaware Valley 19, North Pocono 44

Del. Valley 20, Abington Heights 36

Delaware Valley 23, Valley View 32

Abington Heights 28, Wallenpaupack 29

Abington Heights 18, Honesdale 44

Valley View 26, Wallenpaupack 31

Valley View 18, Honesdale 43

North Pocono 25, Honesdale 32

Wallenpaupack 18, North Pocono 44

Ethan Williams (VV) 17:40.7 at Abington Heights Middle School; Aiden Janowicz (WAL) 17:46.7; Nixon Kameen (DV) 18:28.3; Chase Predmore (WAL) 18:32.8; Noah Haines (NP) 18:33.1; Robert Russo (DV) 18:35.5; Sean Rooney (AH) 18:42.2; Michael Donlon (DV) 19:12.4; Benjamin Bailor (DV) 19:14.2; Evan Babarsky (VV) 19:21.0; Hamza Mirza (AH) 19:27.8; Logan Novobilski (HON) 19:28.5; Owen Wolff (WAL) 19:30.3; Colby Shiffer (VV) 19:35.5; JT Healey (AH) 19:40.1.

Records: DV 22-1; VV 19-4; AH 17-6; NP 12-11; WAL 16-7; HON 4-19.

Jr. High Top Finisher: Nicholas Sinkaus (AH) 11:23.7.

Boys soccer

Anthony Mucciolo scored three goals to lead Old Forge to a 7-0 win over Forest City in a Lackawanna Division III match.

Nahuel Minis added a goal and two assists for the Blue Devils.

Old Forge (12-0) 4 3 — 7 Forest City (5-7-1) 0 0 — 0

FIRST: Nahuel Minis from Joey Solfanelli 6:00; Anthony Mucciolo from Mike Peregim, 8:00; Mucciolo from Minis 22:00; Arthur Askew from Minis, 23:00; SECOND: Mucciolo from Peregim, 44:00; William Garcia from Nico Garcia, 61:00; Pedro Garcia from N. Garcia, 79:00.

Shots-corners: OF 11-4, FC 4-2. Saves: OF 4, Evan O'Neal (FC) 4.

Elk Lake 9, Carbondale Area 1

At Carbondale Area, Wyatt Johnson had a hat trick, Aidan Burry had two goals and Jace Caines had three assists to lead Elk Lake.

Scott Santos had the goal for Carbondale Area.

Elk Lake 6 3 — 9 Carbondale Area 0 1 — 1 FIRST: Henry Zuniga (EL) from Henry Lopez, 35:00; Wyatt Johnson (EL), 31:00; Johnson (EL), 30:00; Aidan Burry (EL) from Jace Caines, 18:00; Levi Tyler (EL) from Lopez, 6:00; Brydan Hitchock (EL) from Caines, 4:00; SECOND: Burry (EL), 31:00; Johnson (EL) from Caines, 17:00; Conner Stephens (EL), 13:00; Scott Santos (CA) from Nathan Ulmer, 7:00.

Shots-corners: CA 4-3, EL 21-6. Saves: Gage Shupp (EL) 3. Nick Sopko (CA) 12.

Field hockey

Bella DeRiggi scored three goals to lead Abington Heights to an 8-0 win over Berwick in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division II game.

Berwick (2-10) 0 0 0 0 — 0 Abington Heights (13-0) 4 4 0 0 — 8

FIRST: Kaylyn Elliot from Madison Zalewski, 12:11; Bella DeRiggi from Peyton Pallman, 5:48; Pallman from Marygrace Sabatini, 4:11; DeRiggi from Amelia Gonzalez, 1:04. SECOND: Zalewski from Sabatini, 12:28; Carly Miller from Zalewski, 10:07; DeRiggi from Miller, 5:59; DeRiggi from Elliot, 4:41.

Shots-corners: AH 25-7, BER 0-0. Saves: BER 18, AH 0.

Honesdale 1, Hazleton Area 0

At Hazleton Area, Jayden Beisner scored off an assist from Roz Maciejewski and Honesdale held on for a 1-0 win over Hazleton Area in WVC Division I.

Jordan Patzuk had three saves and the defense limited Hazleton Area to four shots on goals in the matchup of teams headed to the District 2 Class 3A playoffs.

Honesdale (7-2-1) 1 0 0 0 — 1 Hazleton Area (1-9) 0 0 0 0 — 0

FIRST: Jaydan Beisner from Roz Maciejewski, 5:28.

Shots-corners: HON 10-4, HAZ 4-2. Saves: Jordan Patzuk (HON) 3, Gretchen Darr (HAZ) 8.

Girls soccer

Karina Goetter and Sofia Goetter scored goals to lead Mid Valley to a 2-1 win over North Pocono in a nonleague soccer match.

Mid Valley, the Lackawanna Division III champion, finished the season 16-1 heading toward the District 2 Class 2A tournament.

Aniya Brago-Jackson scored the lone goal for North Pocono.

North Pocono (7-9-2) 0 1 — 1 Mid Valley (16-1) 1 1 — 2

FIRST: Karina Goetter (MV), 27:50. SECOND: Sofia Goetter (MV) from Addison Frein, 41:05; Aniya Brago-Jackson (NP), 43:00.

Shots-corners: NP 8-1, MV 10-5. Saves: Abby Lenchitsky (NP) 8, Jordan Carroll (MV) 7.

Honesdale 4, Mountain View 3

At Honesdale, Elizabeth Meagher scored a pair of goals for the Lady Hornets in a Division II match.

Vera Downey and Ruby Martin added goals for

Honesdale.

Kylee Kozloski had a goal and an assist to pace Mountain View.

Mountain View (2-7-1) 1 2 — 3 Honesdale (7-3-1) 1 3 — 4

FIRST: Paige Barnes (MV), 37:10; Elizabeth Meagher (HON), 6:26. SECOND: Meagher (HON) from Kierra Slish, 27:17; Vera Downey (HON) from Madison Vanblarcom, 21:37; Riley Turner (MV) from Kylee Kozloski, 9:06; Ruby Martin (HON) from Elyse Montgomery, 7:58; Kylee Kozloski (MV), 2:30.

Shots-corners: MV 10-5, HON 10-4.

Saves: Paige Smith (MV) 6, Natalie Goldstein (HON) 7.

Montrose 4, Scranton 0

Ava Martin scored two goals and Riley Keihl and Carly Frey each had one to lead Montrose past Scranton in a Lackawanna Division II game. No further information was provided.

Lakeland 3, Western Wayne 2

At Western Wayne, Kirsten Navich scored three second-half goals to lift Lakeland to a win in a Division II match Tuesday.

Mackenzie Chearney scored two goals for Western Wayne.

Lakeland (7-4) 0 3 — 3 Western Wayne (6-5-1) 2 0 — 2

FIRST: Mackenzie Chearney (WW), 32:00; Chearney (WW) from Khloe Mistishin, 5:00. SECOND: Kirsten Navich (LAK), 28:00; Navich (LAK), 16:00; Navich (LAK) from Brooke Hill, 1:00.

Shots-corners: LAK 6-5, WW 8-4. Saves: LAK 6, WW 4.

Contact the writer: jbfawcett@scrantontimes.com; 570-348-9125; @sportsTT on X