Abington Heights swept three more cluster meets in October, picking up nine more victories to finish 23-0 and win the Lackawanna League girls cross country title.
The Comets overwhelmed the competition beating 15 of the 23 opponents by the maximum score of 15-50 for having the top seven finishers and putting up a score of 15 points in two other meets for having the first five finishers.
The closest meet was 24-35 over Valley View.
Abington Heights will compete in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships Nov. 4 in Hershey.
The Comets are a Class 3A team. Their best finish ever in Class 3A was last year’s 11th place. They were fourth in 2015, the last time they were a Class 2A school in the PIAA’s enrollment classifications.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to finish in the top five in the state,” Abington Heights coach Frank Passetti said. “I think right now, we’re ranked somewhere around seventh, so it’s within the realm of possibilities that we could be in the top five.
“That’s what we’re shooting for.”
Lackawanna League coaches use a statistical analysis of meet results and how many times each runner is beaten by an opponent from another school.
In that system, senior Emma Horsley, sophomore Anna Pucilowski and freshman Marley Gilboy were ranked among the league’s top dozen runners as first-team all-stars. Senior Hailey Hirtz, sophomore Kiera Crowell and freshman Morgan Kresge made the second team.
Scranton Prep went 15-8 while Lackawanna Trail was 5-18.
The Scranton Prep boys finished 20-3 for fourth place.
Elk Lake and Delaware Valley shared the title at 22-1 and Scranton was 21-2.
Abington Heights finished 17-6 and Lackawanna Trail was 8-15.
Lackawanna Trail senior Brayden Clarke made the first team.
Abington Heights senior Sean Rooney, Scranton Prep senior Colin Comerford and Scranton Prep junior Ryan Flaim all made the second team in the coaches’ all-star system.
