MC girls JH XC team has strong showing Ben Bloser Bulldog Invitational

By Kenny Varner Jr.
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: September 17, 2022

The MIfflin County Junior High girls cross country team ran on the big stage today at the Ben Bloser Bulldog Invitational in Newville, PA. This was big as they ran against 307 girls and 25 teams in their race with many from schools with strong running programs. “The best part of running with that many quality runners is that the race goes out fast and you have girls running around you at all times,” said MIfflin County coach Neil Breneman. “That has the tendency to move you along even when you start to get really tired.”

This race was a 2-mile course as opposed to the 1.55 mile course they ran at BVI two weeks ago. It also had more hills to deal with. Despite those challenges, the team seems to have each gotten stronger and cashed in on season best pace times.

Abigail Anderson was the first to cross the finish for the team with a time of 14:40 and placing 65th. She is only 2 seconds off her PR time from last year which was on a much flatter course. “I am excited to see how she will be running by the end of the season,” said Breneman. “Kahlen McCracken was next for the team at 16:45 followed by Irelynn Milligan at 18:02.”

The Huskies new 7th grade runners posted new PR’s and have been pushing each other to get stronger. They finished nearly together with Bailey Bishop coming in at 18:18 and Kasey Varner at 18:19. “For as new as they are to running I am thrilled with the improvement they demonstrated today,” said Breneman.

“The JH girls team is small but they can be proud of the progress they made. I watched the ending of a girls varsity race today and was quickly reminded of the intensity these girls run races,” said Breneman. “It takes guts, grit, toughness…pick your word…to go out there and do what they do; and they are doing it! I am super proud of them!”