October 12, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount X-country beats Panthers
by TOM UTESCHER

At the Briarwood Invitational on Sept. 16, Mount St. Joseph Academy freshman Tori Perri (right) kept pace with Kesha Brooks of Findlay, OH throughout the Division II race. Brooks, a senior, stretched across the finish line to win in 20 minutes and 5.2 seconds. (Photo by Jim Orr)

A much-improved Mount St. Joseph Academy cross country team has been trying to find out exactly how good it is, but traditional league powers Gwynedd Mercy and St. Basil haven’t been cooperating.

Two weeks ago, the Mount Magic recorded a victory over Gwynedd in an Athletic Association of Catholic Academies dual meet, but the Monarchs were missing their top competitor. Last Tuesday, St. Basil came to call, but four of the Panthers’ six best runners were not fit for duty. The result was a deceptively easy 18-44 win for the Mount, which ran its record to 4-0 in AACA dual meets.

At this point, all eyes have started to focus on the league championship meet, which is slated for October 17. No one with even a minor injury wants to risk making it worse before the AACA event, and the even more important PIAA meets that follow.

In last week’s tilt, St. Basil’s best performer, Kathleen Davies, was out of action with a strained ligament, and her senior classmate, number two runner Christina Morelli, was also on the injured list, along with number five and six for the Panthers.

Mount fans are now used to seeing freshman standout Tori Perri cross the finish line all on her own, and it was no different here, as the compact ninth grader completed the Magic’s home circuit (3.1 miles) in 19 minutes, 57 seconds.

Second place, though, was up for grabs between St. Basil sophomore Colleen Gilmore, who ran in that position for much of the race, and MSJ senior co-captain Chelsea Clark. Clark passed Gilmore with a little under a quarter-mile to go, as the course enters a short uphill section on the school’s entrance drive. She held off her rival to capture the runner-up spot in 21:11, and Gilmore, third in 21:13, was the first of the Panthers to finish the race.

Mount St. Joe then wrapped up the team victory by putting the next four runners through the finishing chute. Senior Casey Lumpkin, whose decision to switch over from field hockey has been a boon to the Magic harriers, landed fourth in 22:31, and she was followed by freshman Meghan Cheek, (22:35), junior Sarah Collier (22:39), and sophomore Emma Pacheco (22:43).

Coming in ninth at 23:02, Magic junior Becky Tate was sandwiched between two siblings for St. Basil’s, junior Katie Barrett (8th/22:57) and her freshman sister, Liz (10th/23:09).