In the WPIAL Class 2A boys race, Knoch sophomore Carter French placed four spots behind Freeport’s Michael Braun, who led the field with a finish of 15 minutes, 18.9 seconds

French’s run qualified him, too, for the PIAA championship meet — held on Nov. 2 in Hershey — with a time of 15:58.2. North Catholic junior Tyler Carroll (16:05) and freshman Jack Steineman (16:44.5), seventh and 17th, respectively, will join Braun and French.

With a total score of 184, the Yellowjackets finished fifth, just one spot from making states as a team. Other finishers for Freeport included freshman David Kristine (36th, 17:26.7), junior Calvin Lindsay (43rd, 17:38.2), senior Ben Brestensky (49th, 17:46) and junior Jacob McClymonds (75th, 18:25.1).

“Our team as a whole has really grown the last couple years,” Braun said. “We put in a really good effort and this is the best team Freeport’s had probably ever. … It’s a pretty cool thing to be a part of.”

North Catholic (220) was eighth as a team and Knoch (334) 13th.

Girls

North Catholic finished as the runner-up, totaling 75 team points — 10 behind champion Hampton and 52 ahead of third-place Quaker Valley.

Freshman Anna Morris paced the Trojanettes with a time of 19:39.5, good enough for fifth overall. Classmate Caroline Sell (19:49.6) crossed the finish line three spots later and junior Sydney Dunn (20:15.6) was 19th, freshman Maggie Killian (20.25.9) 23rd and junior Tessa Driehorst (20:31.1) 25th.

Knoch sophomore Natalie Zolinas (21:27.2) placed 46th for the Knights. Freeport sophomore Mackenzie Magness (22:35.3) finished 81st. Both were the highest finishers for their schools.

Boys

Seneca Valley senior Max Smith finished 10th, pacing all Butler County runners in this race with a time of 16:01.6. Also qualifying for Hershey were Mars senior Kyle Kochanski (15th, 16:17.2) and a Butler trio — juniors Logan Rogers (17th, 16:21.4) Ethan Thomas (24th, 16:28.4) and senior Zachary Slear (19th, 16:23.3)

Butler finished fourth in the team competition with a score of 151. Seneca Valley nestled behind the Golden Tornado with a 184.

Girls

Butler freshman Zari Golojuh earned a trip to the PIAA title meet with a time of 19:26.8. That effort netted her a 23rd-place finish and helped the Golden Tornado to the fifth spot (207 points) in the team competition. Seneca Valley (344) was 13th.