The Gilmour Academy boys and girls cross country programs both had strong performances as they competed at Walsh Jesuit High School's Pat Ritchie Invitational this past weekend.
The Lancer girls placed second of 14 teams in the Division II/III race with a team score of 64 points. Salem High School, the top-ranked Division II team in Ohio, was the only school to finish ahead of Gilmour.
Amy Weybrecht '24 and Clare Valenza '23 were Gilmour's top two runners for the third straight meet, although the sophomore was the top GA finisher for the first time this season.
Weybrecht finished second overall in the race in 19:09.3 while Valenza finished third overall in 19:37.8.
Mary Lombardo '22 just missed a top-10 finish as she placed 11th in 20:33.1. Mia Polisena '22 also garnered a top-20 finish, stopping the clock in 21:07.0. Gia Rosko '24 rounded out the scoring contingent for Gilmour by finishing in 21:54.6.
Ava Moe '22 (22:42.4) and Anna Grossner '24 (22:45.6) were both inside the top 50 as the sixth and seventh Lancers to cross the line.
Kaleigh McNamara '22 and Sadie Gerber '25 also competed for Gilmour, finishing in 24:04.7 and 24:45.4, respectively.
It marked the second straight team runner-up finish for Gilmour, as the Lancers took second at the Early Bird Invitational on Labor Day weekend.
On the boys side, Gilmour pulled off quite a feat as all eight Lancers that competed finished in a career-best time. Gilmour placed sixth in the 13-team field with a score of 174.
Joey Salerno '25 was the top Gilmour finisher, taking 25th in 18:26.4. He marks the third distinct Lancer to be Gilmour's top finisher in the season's first three races.
Scott Vergilii '22 (18:35.0), Michael Piccirrillo '24 (18:42.0) and Tim Papczun '24 (18:54.3) were all among the next 11 finishers in the race after Salerno.
Andrew Lewis '23 was the final scoring runner for Gilmour, finishing in 19:54.1.
Aidan Priestley '22 (20:52.3), Jordan Shininger '25 (20:55.6) and Benjamin Douglas '23 (21:37.6) rounded out the squad for the Lancer boys.
Both the Gilmour boys and girls will be back in action this coming Saturday, Sept. 18, as they compete in the Spartan Invitational at Boardman High School.
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