BY MARK ZIMMARO
HUNTINGTON VALLEY, PA--The Germantown Friends School boys’ cross country team doesn’t know what it looks like to see another team win the Friends School League cross country championship. They haven’t been alive that long.
“Twenty years in a row,” said senior Simon Donovan. “GFS started winning before I was born, which is crazy to say. But it’s just awesome to carry on the legacy and tradition. It’s such an awesome program and I think we really strive to push each other and that’s what allows us to be so successful.”
Donovan did his part winning the boys varsity race in a time of 17:22.43 at the 3.1 mile course at Lorimer Park in Huntingdon Valley. He was joined by teammates PJ Kresloff (17:54.24) and Shuford Kirk (18:27.89) for a 1-2-3 Germantown Friends finish. Jiasheng Shi also cracked the top-10 for the Tigers with a tenth place finish at 19:31.86.
Although Germantown Friends established a historic run of team dominance, Donovan’s win was the first Tiger individual FSL championship since 2016 when Nick Dahl won his fourth straight.
“I felt great,” Donovan said. “It’s an awesome day for running and I was super excited. It’s a hard course out there so you just have to get out there and run those hills and I felt awesome.”
GFS SENIOR SIMON DONOVAN CHERISHED HISTORIC WIN. (VIDEO/ MARK ZIMMARO FOR PSD)
Moorestown Friends took second place in the team standings, led by Isaac Linden (19:08.09) who placed fifth, and Andrew Mercantini (19:22.55) who took eighth.
Other top-10 finishers include: Shipley freshman Ben Brasfield (18:52.48), who finished fourth, Isaiah Marshall of Friends Select (19:13.53) in sixth, Santi Benbow of Westtown (19:!3.66) in seventh and Theo Strauss of Friends Central (19:30.27) was ninth.
For Germantown Friends, not only was it the 20th in a row for the boys, it was the 26th boys FSL cross country title overall. They are hoping to keep these great winning traditions in motion.
“It feels really good knowing we could uphold that 20-year win streak,” said Kirk, a senior. “It’s sort of a way to honor everyone else that’s been through the program. When I’m racing at the FSLs, I like to think of the history of GFS cross country and how we are continuing that today.”
Things were just as thrilling on the girls’ side as Germantown Friends won its first girls team title since 2014.
The Tigers had finished runner up the last four times the FSL championships were held. This time, they clawed their way back to the top.
“This is the first girls win since I’ve been on the team,” said Germantown Friends senior Katya Henisz. “We’re super excited about that.”
GFS senior Katya Henisz is elated about the girls' team win. (Video/ Mark Zimmaro for PSD)
Henisz finished second in the girls’ race at 21:12.74. She was the first of five Tigers to cross the finish line and claim a top-10 finish. She was followed by Emma Nam in fourth (22:17.19), Cora Rosin in seventh (23:31.96), Audrey Ling in ninth (24:31.27) and Zoe Lallas in tenth (24:40.03).
“It’s pretty crazy, because when I was a freshman, I didn’t really understand how important it was and we lost by one point that year,” said Nam, a senior. “It goes full circle for us because we finally made it.”
Quin Stovall of Friends Central was the individual winner in the girls’ race with a time of 20:46.73. She became the fourth straight female from Friends Central to win the individual FSL title, following Olivia Cieslak, Lydia Russell and Rebecca Wusinich. Stovall and Henisz separated early from the pack and battled the whole way.
“I felt really strong,” Stovall said. “I thought the hills would be a lot harder than they were, but I trained for them and I feel like I had a really good race. (Henisz) was the biggest competitor going into this so I just wanted to stay with her. We really duked it out the first half of the race and then the hills separated us a bit but we’ve been neck and neck with how good of a season we’ve both had."
Other top-ten finishers included Dagny Shiffler of Shipley (21:54.89) in third, Margaret Massengill of George School (22:18.13) in fifth; Ella Viscardo of Shipley (22:31.61) in sixth, and Jamilla Derga of Westtown (24:31.27) in eighth.
Friends School League Cross Country Championship. (photos/ Mark Zimmaro)
Friends School League Cross Country Championship. (photos/ Mark Zimmaro)
Germantown Friends ended Friends Central’s six-straight league championship run. The Tigers had won 13 in a row right before that. It was the 19th FSL championship overall for the girls, who are earning their fair share of the bragging rights around school.
“I’m really happy,” said Rosin, a senior. “I’m just so proud of all of my teammates and I really can’t believe we actually won. It’s the first time we won in a while and it’s so great that it gets to be this team.”
Germantown Friends School Boys' Cross Country Champions 2022. (Photo by Kathy Leister)
Germantown Friends School Girls' Cross Country 2022 Champions. (Photo by Kathy Leister)