PC freshman third at Girls Inter-Ac meet
by Tom Utescher

Last Monday at Chestnut Hill Academy, the Irish of the Academy of Notre Dame won the Girls Inter-Ac League Cross Country Championships for the fifth year in a row.

This time, however, there was a little Penn Charter Blue and Gold sprinkled in among the Notre Dame green as the top runners crossed the finish line. Catie Skinner’s own red hair added an additional dash of color as the PC freshman earned third place overall, behind Notre Dame sophomores Maria Seykora (the champion in 19 minutes, 35 seconds) and Caroline Powers (19:41).

Skinner claimed the third spot with a time of 19:49, outsprinting a junior for the Irish, Julianne Garvey (19:50). Placing fifth and sixth were the other two scorers for Notre Dame, senior Stephanie Powers (20:07) and freshman Siobhan Dougherty (20:36), who rounded out the team score of 18 points for the Irish.

Not until another A.N.D. athlete captured seventh place (senior Lizzy VanKula in 21:06) did a runner from a third school appear: Episcopal Academy 10th-grader Kristen Greenwald took eighth place in 21:11. Ninth and 10th place went to a pair from Agnes Irwin, sophomore Vivian Hastings (21:14) and freshman Faith DeVlieger (21:36), who led the Owls to second place in the team standings, with 58 points.

Completing the course just after DeVlieger was the second finisher for Penn Charter, junior Elyse Wilkinson (11th; 21:47). Charter secured third place as a team with 84 points; the other scorers for the Quakers were freshman Ani Schug (18th; 22:43), sophomore Shi Kuang (24th; 23:24) and freshman Rachel Morris (28th; 23:51).

With 100 points in the meet, Episcopal wound up fourth in the team standings, between PC and fifth place Springside School. Senior Katie Fitzkee (20th; 22:55) led the way for the Lions, who compiled 143 points. They were competing without their regular No. 2 runner, sophomore Toni Hall, who was out of action with a hip ailment. Instead, freshman Kelsea Brewer was the runner-up on the  Springside squad, coming in 27th in 23:37.

Sophomore Emily Davis (24:00) and freshman Paris Baldante (24:03) finished back-to-back in the 29th and 30th positions, and junior Rose Donahue (37th; 25:12) was the other scorer for the Lions.

Their efforts allowed Springside to edge out Germantown Academy in the team scoring. The Patriots placed sixth with 146 points, while Baldwin brought up the rear with 174 points.

GA has suffered through much of the season without its leading runner, senior Molly Shapiro, who’s been sidelined by a stress fracture. At last week’s championships, Patriots freshman Bridie Lawlor moved out in front of the field during the first quarter-mile of the race, but she was soon reeled in by the leaders of the main pack and she ultimately finished 26th in 28:30. Two of her teammates, both juniors, completed the course ahead of her: Hannah Lindgren was 21st in 23:06, and Isabel Mann was 23rd in 23:16.

Although PC’s Skinner is a rookie varsity runner, observers of the middle school scene knew about her. A swimmer for much of her life, she took up running in sixth grade, and for three years in a row she was the top female finisher at the (co-ed) Inter-Ac middle school meet.

“Our varsity coach [Renee Skelly] is a great coach, and she’s really helped me improve,” Skinner said. “I ran two days a week with her last year, and that helped my eighth-grade season, as well.”

At last week’s championships, the Quaker freshman spent much of the race in the midst of a pack of Notre Dame runners.