On October 27, the PIAA District 9 Cross Country championships were held at Ridgway Area School District in the worst possible conditions imaginable. The day was rainy, cold, muddy, and overall despicable. That alone won’t stop cross country though, and as the athletes pushed through the bone-chilling, piercing rain the District 9 champions were decided, and two Clearfield runners prevailed to earn the opportunity of making it to States.  

To qualify for States the athletes had to be within the top 5 finishers, not counting the winning team, or be part of the overall winning team in the district. For the overall winning teams, it was Cranberry that took the win in the Girls A overall, Elk County Christian for the Boys A overall, St. Marys for the Girls AA overall, and Punxsutawney for the Boys AA overall. Clearfield came in a strong 3rd place overall for the Girls AA, right behind Punxsutawney, and Boys AA came in a solid 3rd place overall as well, right behind Bradford.  

The individual times for the athletes were highly inflated due to the weather conditions. For the Girls AA qualifiers, it was Kate Horner from Punxsutawney in 4th place with a time of 22:37, Hannah Lary from Bradford in 5th with a time of 22:46, Olivia Roberts from Punxsutawney in 6th with a time of 22:49, Elizabeth Gianvito from Punxsutawney in 9th with a time of 22:56, and finally Bethany Bednez from Bradford in 10th with a time of 23:10.  

For the Boys AA qualifiers, it was McKellen Jamarillo from DuBois in 1st with a time of 19:16, our very own Issac Swanson in 3rd with a time of 19:31, Ryan Cottillion from Bradford in 6th with a time of 19:45, also our very own Jeremiah Vezza in 8th with a time of 19:55, and finally Tyler Kraft from Bradford in 9th with a time of 20:14.