     | The Rocky Grove boys cross country team has pushed each other all season with one thought in mind – making it back to states. “Our goal from day one was to win the district… and have the district champion,” said coach Josh Beightol. On Saturday, they accomplished that and in a dominating fashion. The Orioles recorded 54 team points, nearly half the score of second place Lakeview. And senior Ethan Knapp took first place with a time of 16:43, by three seconds over Mercyhurst Prep’s Kamden Skelton. “He’s found his groove… he fell into some confidence, and he’s ran with it,” Beightol said of Knapp’s performance on the soggy Titusville course. Key to Knapp’s victory was learning from last year’s race and pacing himself at the start and before taking over near the 2-mile mark. Knapp came out of the gate into the ninth spot and kept the leaders in sight to make his move. “This year, I had it figured out,” Knapp said about his strategy of holding back a little at the start. “Then I just ran to run,” he said of his finish. At the front of the pack Saturday and keeping Knapp on his toes all season was teammate and fellow senior Easton Adamczyk, who led the first two miles of the race. “They were on each other’s hips,” Beightol said of his top two runners. Adamczyk finished the race in fourth with a time of 16:52. Not too far behind was sophomore Gauge Gierlach, who captured seventh place and put Rocky Grove in good shape for the team title. “Our one, two, three, they ran basically all season together, practices and everything,” Beightol said. “Definitely, a fairly tight group (of runners).” Recording the important fourth and fifth team spots were Schiffer Anderson (17th) and Cael Dailey (25th). Maxx Baker and Nathaniel Bolley also ran for Rocky Grove. It was vindication for Rocky Grove, which missed qualifying for states last year by just a few points. |
| While it is the third time the team has qualified in 10 years with Beightol as coach, it is the first time Beightol had a girl earn a spot in the state competition. Sophomore Isabel Griffin improved on her 2022 performance, finishing seventh overall with a time of 20:42, guaranteeing her a trip to Hershey. Beightol was proud of Griffin’s performance despite the runner's disappointment in her seventh-place finish. "I think she wanted to be top three," he said. "She got in, that's all that matters." He also understands the importance of her performance on the future of Rocky Grove girls running and the future implications for the program. “She hopefully set up future girls who want to follow that lead,” Beightol said. |   |
On Saturday, she ran with teammates Kaylin Jacoby, Sophie Werhl, Ellie Coyer and Ryleigh Baughman.
| As Beightol and his team look forward to their return to Hershey, they are happy to recognize some of their competition. “It’s nice to see Cranberry or Lakeview(also qualify for states), cause we know those kids, so we can kind of get out with people we know and not (unknown) teams from across the state,” he said. “Every kid’s good when you get to the state meet.” “Now we go see what we can do with the big boys, right?” Beightol said toward Knapp. “What do you mean? I am one of the big boys,” Knapp responded. “There you go,” Beightol replied before heading off to accept the team trophy. Rocky Grove’s eight runners are among the large contingent of Venango County athletes who earned spots in the A and AA cross country races. |   |
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