Freshman Anna Pucilowski made her varsity debut by leading the Abington Heights girls cross country team to the title in the Lions Invitational at Moravian Academy Friday.
Pucilowski finished second in the 107-runner field and first among the runners from the 13 schools pursuing the team championship.
Only another freshman, Virginia Kraus from the host school, finished ahead of Pucilowski. She posted a time of 18:37.45
Pucilowski finished a full minute ahead of the rest of the pack in 19:23.26.
Delaware Valley’s Ryan O’Connor was fourth.
Abington Heights won with a team score of 44, beating out Notre Dame Green Pond at 50.
Delaware Valley was third with 119.
Reese Morgan (seventh), Emma Horsley (12th), Maia Arcangelo (16th) and Hailey Hirtz (22nd) completed the five-runner team score for Abington Heights.
Anna Vogal was 20th and Margaret Holderith 27th for Delaware Valley.
In other Friday events:
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Tommy Walsh finished third individually and led Abington Heights to a second-place finish in the Lions Invitational at Moravian Academy.
The meet drew a field of 21 full teams and 139 runners.
Thomas Smigo from Palisades won in 16:33.13 for the 3.1-mile course.
Matthew Santana from Northwestern Lehigh was second in 17:01.03.
Walsh took third in 17:21.75.
Nazareth Academy edged Abington Heights, 41-43, in the team race with both finishing well in front of Holy Ghost Prep’s third-place score of 125.
Delaware Valley had a team score of 316 to finish 10th.
Alex Duffy, Nicholas Booth and Sean Rooney finished in succession in eighth, ninth and 10th.
Jack Sorensen and Jack Farrell added 18th– and 27th-place finishes for the Comets.
Nixon Kameen led Delaware Valley, placing 41st.
BOYS GOLF
Defending champion Lake-Lehman got its Wyoming Valley Conference Class 2A Division season off to a late start, but quickly picked up its first two victories while shooting under-par as a team.
The Black Knights played a tri-match at Huntsville and defeated Wyoming Seminary, 141-171, and Nanticoke, 141-214. Wyoming Seminary got a win over Nanticoke.
Lake-Lehman placed three of six golfers under par and, with only the best four scores counting for the team total, wound up 3-under as a team.
Cael Ropietski led the way with a 4-under-par, 32. Michael Lugiano shot 33 and Eli Ropietski 35.
Charlie Weidner shot a 41 to complete the team score.
Nick Werner shot 39 and Thomas Iskra 40 for Wyoming Seminary. Shane Holcombe added a 44.
Nanticoke was led by Ali O’Connor with a 47.
Wyoming Area defeated rival Pittston Area, 160-172, and Crestwood remained unbeaten with a 155-178 victory over Wilkes-Barre Area in Wyoming Valley Conference Class 3A Division matches.
Brady Noone’s 1-over-par, 36 led Wyoming Area to its win.
Patrick Ruane shot 37 for Pittston Area.
Derek Johnson shot a 2-under-par, 34 for Crestwood while Owen Blazick finished at par.
Jordan Wychock led Wilkes-Barre Area with a 39.
Riverside went on the road and ended Montrose’s 21-match Lackawanna League unbeaten streak with a 5½-3½ victory in the Class 2A Division match.
Scranton Prep remained unbeaten by shutting out Old Forge, 9-0.
Lorenzo Domiano and Sami Duffy won the first five holes individually and as better-ball partners as once-beaten Lackawanna Trail handled Mountain View, 8-1, in another Class 2A Division match.
In other Class 2A Division matches: Western Wayne defeated Elk Lake, 7-2; Dunmore edged Forest City, 5-4; and Carbondale and Blue Ridge played to a 4½-4½ tie.
GIRLS TENNIS
Wyoming Seminary lost just 5 games in 10 sets while defeating Berwick, 5-0, to become the first Wyoming Valley Conference team to reach 3-0.
No. 3 singles player Lisa Martens and the No. 2 doubles team of Elisabeth Moules-Sarah Connors each won, 6-0, 6-0.
In other WVC matches: Dallas defeated MMI Prep, 4-1; Holy Redeemer downed Hanover Area, 4-1; and Tunkhannock shut out Wilkes-Barre Area, 5-0.
Kendall Orozco won at first singles for MMI Prep, but Dallas won the other four points in straight sets.
Sophia DePolo, Haily Yakus, Chloe Dudick-Hayla Bryant and Abby Quinnin-Sam Alaimo won for Dallas.
Scranton Prep shut out Honesdale, 5-0, in a Lackawanna League match.
BOYS SOCCER
Musa Conteh scored four goals and assisted on another to lead Wilkes-Barre Area over West Scranton, 7-1, in a non-league game on Opening Day.
In other games: Delaware Valley edged Wyoming Valley West, 3-2, and Gregory the Great defeated Nanticoke, 3-1.
GIRLS SOCCER
Pittston Area overcame a three-goal deficit to defeat Nanticoke, 4-3, on Julia Rucco’s overtime goal in the non-league game on Opening Day.
In other games: Spring-Ford defeated Dallas, 3-2; Northwestern Lehigh edged Scranton Prep, 2-1, and Pleasant Valley downed Wallenpaupack, 5-2.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Nanticoke swept Abington Heights in three sets in a non-league match that was the only one in District 2 in the sport on the first legal playing date of the fall within the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
FIELD HOCKEY
Abington Heights shut out Delaware Valley, 4-0, in a non-league opener.
In other games: Episcopal Academy shut out Lake-Lehman, 5-0, and Lower Dauphin defeated Wyoming Valley West, 6-1.
MORE FRIDAY COVERAGE
Lakeland wins football showdown: Chiefs overwhelm Cavaliers early – NEPA Sports Nation.
Other Friday night football game stories can be found at: Football – NEPA Sports Nation.
