Cameron Junk did his best to execute his plan during last

week's Pioneer Athletic Conference Boys Cross Country Championships. Junk kept up with lead group for as long as he could.  "I wanted to start fast," he said. "I felt great. I was mentally and physically prepared."

            Midway through the race, the lead group pulled away from the Upper Perkiomen senior. Junk, earned a medal, finishing16th overall in the 3.1 mile race held Oct. 19 at Heebner Park in Worcester Township.  "I couldn't be happier with how I performed," he said. "It was a good way to end my conference career."

            Serena Detweiler's 14th place finish paced the Upper Perkiomen's girls team to a seventh place overall finish. The junior completed the course in 20:44.

            "Serena ran very well," head coach Todd Niemann said.

            Of the 24 athletes that have run the course previously, 16 of them ran their best times, according to Niemann. "Our league in incredibly competitive," he wrote in an email message. 

            Junk, who posted a time of 17 minutes, 1 second, led the Indians boys to a ninth place finish overall. Dylan Simms (18:58) finished 53rd, followed by Gage Gardner (61st, 19:24), Lance Templeton (62nd, 19:30), Mike Milkowich (63rd, 19:33), Blandin Conklin (64th 19:42), and Lane Homan (66th, 20:09).

            Though he failed to reach his goal of setting the school's home meet record by less than 10 seconds during the regular season, Junk was determined to take a businesslike approach.  "I was bummed, but I wasn't going to dwell on it," he said. "I went into districts with a good mindset."

            Junk said he knew the competition would include several tremendous runners, and that the start of the conference race would be exceptional fast. Seeing several familiar opponents at the starting line, including Owen J. Roberts senior would Liam Conway – who won the race – and two standout Spring-Ford runners, he decided to try and keep up.

            Junk led the race for the initial 1,000 meters, according to Niemann. Junk stayed with the group until the midway point, when he started to tire and the top performers started to pull away.  "I wanted to see how long I could stick with them," he said. "They are all tremendous runners. But the energy was hard to find."

            According to Niemann, the lead group posted a relatively slow first mile, and that the top runners pulled away during the second mile. The coach said Junk couldn't keep up. "Cameron felt like legs were not turning over at quickly as he wanted," Niemann said. Though the competition will be different, Junk said he expects another fast start at Friday's District One Class AA race at Lehigh University in Bethlehem.  "We're going to see how it goes," he said. "If the field out goes out fast, I'll start fast. If the start is too slow, play it how I want."

            In the girls race, Detweiler rallied during the third and final mile to earn an individual medal. After starting fast, she fell out the lead group between the first and second miles.  "I got tired, but I was able to sprint back towards the front of the pack," Detweiler said. "I was happy. It was a hard race, and the end results were good. I made significant strides from last year." 

            Leann Markwalter (31st, 21:43), Sara Adamkovic (41st, 22:23), Natalia Curley (60th, 24:49), Dana Meyer (61st, 24:49) and Carolena Glackin (62nd 24:51) were Upper Perkiomen's top female performers.