Perry finishes 2nd at District IV Championships to qualify for States

By: Ed Weaver  /  October 27, 2017

Junior Aidan Perry finished 2nd overall in the PIAA District IV Class A Championships to qualify for States on Thursday, October 27.

"I'm excited. It's my second time (going to States) so I'm a little less nervous than I was last year," Perry said.

Perry got off to a great start and hovered in the top 5 after the first lap and second laps. As the race came to a close, Perry worked his way up to third and out-kicked Wyalusing's Alex Patton down the stretch. Both runners ran 17:15, which was also a season PR for Perry.

The Hornets finished 5th overall with 107 places behind Mount Carmel (61), Wyalusing (75), Southern Columbia (86), and Northeast Bradford (86).

"It's the best race I think I've ever run here," continued Perry. "Given that it wasn't as wet as it normally is there really wasn't that much that was torn up so it was pretty great."

Senior Connor Brought ran 17:55 in the final race of his career to bring home a 10th place finish. Junior Bergen Weiner (19:09) was 25th, junior Zack Busch (19:29) was 31st, senior Logan Morral (21:07) was 53rd, sophomore Lucas Citrino (21:29) was 59th, and junior Taylor Wheeler (24:06) was 68th.

Next up for Perry is the PIAA State Championships in Hershey on Saturday, November 4. Last year Perry was 55th. This year, he is hoping for more.

"I want to get in the top 25 rather than the 50 I had last year and to beat the time I ran last year (17:45)."

Just like Perry, head coach Ron Brought is excited that he's making a return trip to States.

"He had a gutsy race today," Brought said of Perry. "He ran a season PR and just came out and put it to the guys from Wyalusing that out-raced him twice this year, at the home meet with them and at the NTL Coaches Invite."

Now Brought and Perry have eight days to prepare for Hershey.

"Goal number one is to stay healthy. We'll maintain the intensity, drop the mileage back some, give him a little bit of rest so that when he hits the course he's at his best. Aidan knows how to race, that's his best attribute is the fact that he knows the race. I think we're in good shape."

In the AA girls race, Wellsboro finished 11th overall (312) to finish behind Athens (273) as the 2nd highest NTL team. Senior Anna Bleggi ran 21:55 in the final race of her career for 21st overall. Junior Kara Doane (24:15) was 60th, junior Rachel Chamberlain (24:36) was 68th, freshman Aislinn Hoose (25:46) was 84th, and sophomore Cathryn Brought (26:43) was 92nd.

Brought was proud of how his team ran on the challenging Bloomsburg course. 

"Team-wise everyone ran really well. I set some aggressive goals for each runner and if they didn't exceed the goal came pretty close to matching it. They were just excited because we had a dry day. Generally when we're down here the winds are at 40 miles an hour and its raining or sleeting or snow but today was pretty fair conditions."

While Perry is moving on to States, others just missed the cut in Bleggi and Brought.

"It was a little bit heartbreaking. Two seniors, their last meet. Connor missed by three spots, top 10 finish which is outstanding. Anna again was right on the bubble and missed by three spots in a very competitive field. These seniors have been with me for the three years I've coached and so it was a little bit bittersweet to see the season end but they showed that they were right there."