District 2 Runners Shine at Hershey’s Foundation Invitational
By: Kevin Borrelli | Sportzwire | September 21, 2025 | Photo courtesy Kevin Borrelli
Some of the best District 2 has to offer showed up today at Hershey to preview the state course at the Foundation Invitational. Click Here for the Full Photo Gallery
The conditions for the first race of the day were ideal, low 60s with cloudy skies and a light breeze. As the day progressed the sky got clearer and each race got hotter.
In the Single A girls race the ladies of Elk Lake took 6th place as a team. They were led by Kendyl Weisgold who claimed a 5th place finish in a time of 20:12. Kendyl established herself early as one of 10 girls to break 10 minutes at the halfway point. Madison Kerr of Elk Lake was the area’s second runner taking 27th in 22:10. Close behind her was Holy Cross’s top runner Gemma Bistran finishing 33rd with a time of 22:37. Next across the line in 22:41 was Elk Lake’s number three runner Kylee Pond in 36th place. Rounding out the area’s top five was Adele Deemer from Holy Redeemer with a time of 23:00 in 46th place. Other local teams Holy Redeemer and Holy Cross finished 15th and 16th.
For the AA girls the temperature started to climb but the times dropped as the overall winner Baylee Espinosa from Lewisburg ran the fastest time of the day with an 18:21. Lake Lehman and Dallas finished 25th and 26th as teams. Top local runners were Mid Valley’s Olivia Thomas who finished 80th in 23:41. Close behind was Lake Lehman’s top runner Olivia Corcoran in 82nd with a time of 23:43. The Olivias were the only local runners to crack the top 100.
The last of the girls races was AAA where Hazleton Area was the only local team to compete. The Cougars finished 33rd and were led by Ava Hinkle who finished 120th in 22:47.
Things really heated up as the Single A boys took to the course. Elk Lake and Riverside had another epic showdown finishing 2nd and 3rd. Elk Lake was 1 point away from the win with 96 points and Riverside close behind with 107. Holy Cross also put up a respectable showing without their top runner, taking 21st out of 31 teams.
District 2 really flexed its muscle taking 8 of the top 16 spots in the race, all earning medals. Leading the way was Elk Lake’s Kendel Jones, who pushed the pace from the start and held on for one of the fastest times of the day, 16:17, good enough for 2nd place and just 4 seconds off the lead. Cody Adams from Elk Lake, Mikey Schimelfenig of Riverside, and Parker Upright of Elk Lake were less than 5 seconds apart at the halfway point. Cody worked the second half to take 3rd in 16:40. Mikey and Parker swapped positions a few times before Mikey used his kick to secure 4th in 16:53, with Parker right behind in 5th at 16:58. Henry Decker of Lakeland grabbed a top 10 finish crossing the line 8th in 17:11. Jack Davies of Riverside, Trevor Upright of Elk Lake, and Andrew Connor of Riverside all ran close together throughout the course and locked down top 20 finishes. Jack took 12th in 17:42, Trevor broke out with a strong run in 13th at 17:44 (giving Elk Lake four of the top 13 runners), and Andrew was right behind in 14th at 17:46.
In the boys AA race Mid Valley finished 3rd, just 4 points away from the win. The Spartans used a strong second half to close the gap from 35 points down to 4. Lake Lehman finished 13th out of 30 teams.
The top local runner was Mid Valley’s Jacob Borrelli who used a strong start, running with the lead chase pack through halfway, and held on for a 6th place finish in 16:55. The next four local runners all belonged to Mid Valley. In 30th was Matthew Repecki at 17:54. After Matthew, a pack of three Spartans traded spots throughout the race before finishing with Josh Burns 39
The boys AAA race produced the fastest two times of the day by Carter Smith and Nicholas Mazzeo as the only two athletes to crack the 16:00 barrier on the day. They were stride for stride though the first 4k of the course before Carter pulled away to win in a 15:53. The top local runners and only local runners to crack the top 100 was West Scranton's Seamus Wallace who finished just outside the medals in 25th place in 17:08. As a team Hazelton Area took 38th and West Scranton 42nd.
In the Merged Results across all three divisions the Boys of Elk Lake (11th), Mid Valley (15th) and Riverside (18th) all put up top 20 finishes as a team out of the 108 teams that competed.
Kendle (7th), Cody (15th), Mikey (27th), Jacob (28th) and Parker(31st) all broke 17:00 and were among the top 31 fastest times of the day out of the 777 runners.
Kendyl Weisgold's (29th) time was also a top 30 time for the girls out of 657 finishers.
