Parkland Cross Country (XC) has always had massive success and continues to prove why they are one of the best in the state. Since 2002, Parkland has not had a single season where they lost more than two races during the regular season. They show no sign of slowing down as this year Parkland easily managed to qualify for both districts and states. 

In districts, Parkland once again dominated the competition scoring a total of 40 which won them first place. They had three of the top four finishers in the race, Paul Abeln, Ethan Willard, and Collin McGuigan who all finished with outstanding times. Abeln in the end fell short of first as he finished with a time of 16:23 and Nazareth runner Giovanni Mastromonaco finished with a time of 16:00. Abeln stated, “[Mastromonaco] definitely pushed the second mile, I think it was about ten seconds faster, that’s where I started to feel it.” No matter who got first, it’s a team sport and Parkland pulled away with the win.

Now the competition really starts to get tough, in states. It’s held at Hershey and is against the top 20 schools in all of Pennsylvania. In the end, Council Rock North ended up taking first place with 134 points narrowly leading them to victory. Parkland had a good performance finishing in 14th place with 334 points. Abeln once again placed the highest finishing in 29th place with a time of 16:40. With all that being said, finishing 14th in the state is nothing to hang their heads about and instead celebrate a great season.

The XC team had a fantastic season full of close matches and amazing performances. It all paid off as they ended up as 14th in the state! It’s safe to say that, as XC coach Mr. Ott always says, the tradition is still alive.