MESHOPPEN TWP. — Pittston Area’s Tara Johnson was the top local finisher at the Ed Narkiewicz Wyoming Valley Conference Championship Meet held on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the Wyoming County Fairgrounds.
Johnson ran a 5k time of 20:02, which was behind only Dallas’ Ally Rome and Rebecca Balara. Johnson’s teammate Bailey Loyack finished seventh overall with a time of 21:19. In last year’s race, Johnson braved the wind, rain and mud to finish seventh with a time of 20:44.
The Pittston Area girls were the top team in Class AAA with 89 points. However, Dallas and Lake-Lehman each finished ahead of them. PA’s Arianna Boccardi finished 13th overall.
Wyoming Area sophomore Addison Orzel was the top finisher for the Warriors with a time of 23:38. She finished 37th overall. Fellow sophomore Sarah Holweg finished two places behind Orzel. The girls did not figure into the team scoring portion of the event.
On the boys side, Wyoming Area finished 10th overall, while Pittston Area finished 12th.
Leading the way for the local boys was senior Ryan Marvin and his time of 18:38. He finished 33rd overall. Pittston Area sophomore Hunter Kraklio was the top finisher for Pittston Area with a time of 19:32.
Districts set for Wednesday
Johnson earned a silver at last year’s District 2 meet.
The teams will be competing in the PIAA District 2 Cross Country Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Elk Lake High School. The Wyoming Area girls will compete at 12:40 p.m., followed by the boys at 1:20. The Pittston Area girls will go off at 2 p.m., followed by the boys at 2:40.
The top two teams from Class AA will advance to states, with the top-10 non-team individuals also advancing. In Class AAA, one team will advance with the next five non-team individuals.
