by TOM UTESCHER

It was championship week for most of Mount St. Joseph Academy's fall sports teams, and the Magic's tennis and cross country squads were both in the thick of the action.

Capping their undefeated season within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies, the Mount racquetwomen (17-2-1 overall) captured their fourth straight AACA championship by knocking off Gwynedd Mercy, 4-1, last Thursday afternoon in the finals at Arcadia University. At the same time, the cross country team was on its way to a fourth-place finish (in a 12-team field) in the Bicentennial League championship meet at Tyler State Park near Newtown.

Earlier in the week, semifinal matches had been held in tennis, with the Mount going by Merion Mercy, 5-0, while Gwynedd defeated Nazareth Academy, 3-2.

On Thursday, seniors squared off at first singles, and Rhea Gargullo of Mount St. Joe's racked up a straight-sets win over Jacqui Bonder, 6-3, 6-2. With the victory, the MSJ senior upped her overall record to 17-3 this season, and she completed the Catholic Academies campaign with a 12-0 mark, winning all of her league bouts in straight sets. In a number two match featuring a pair of tenth graders, Gwynedd picked up its lone win of the day thanks to Megan Smith, who rallied to beat Liz Pacheco of the Magic, 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

In another three-setter, Mount sophomore Kathleen Hubbert took out Gwynedd senior Lauren Splane in the third spot, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-2.

At first doubles, the Mount duo of senior Jackie Wise and freshman Caroline Bacca remained undefeated in league play, winning 6-3, 7-5 over two Monarchs seniors, Gina Poletti and Andrea Martynec. Overall, Wise and Bacca compiled an outstanding record of 18-2 this fall.

A senior/sophomore combo for the Magic, Diana Glinski and Christina Ensslen, were pitted against Gwynedd juniors Kelly Doyle and Morgan Bettinger at second doubles. The Mount players, who defeated their Monarch counterparts in both regular-season matches, took a 2-0 lead in the finals, then a severe knee injury to Bettinger (thought to be a dislocation) forced the Gwynedd pair to retire.

Gwynedd would receive much better news from Bucks County, where the Monarchs outran archrival St. Basil Academy in the Bicentennial cross country championships, 44-60. Kate Vernon won in 18 minutes and eight seconds, and another GMA junior, Kahki Mealey, was third with a time of 18:39. For Basil's, junior Lynn Morelli wandered off the course briefly but still finished second in 18:14, while her freshman sister Christina was fourth in 18:41.

Merion Mercy was third in the team standings with 77 points, while Mount St. Joseph came in fourth with 86, well ahead of fifth-place Villa Joseph Marie (146). All of the first five schools compete within the AACA in most other sports.

The Magic placed three runners in the top 15, starting with junior Katie McClernand, who finished the 3.1-mile circuit in 19:51. Freshman Chelsea Clark (19:52) and junior Megan Badolato (20:03) were next for the locals, in 11th and 15th place, respectively.

The other members of the Mount's seven-woman contingent were Lisa Prybella (24th; 20:58), Siobhan O'Connor (26th; 21:04) Orla Treacy (29th; 21:29) and Melina Diaconis (39th; 22:00).