The Upper Perkiomen girls cross country team will compete in the PIAA Championships.  Left to right, Abigail Rowland, Maren Landis, Amy Rohl, Lauren Donahue, Nadia Frydle- wicz, Margaret Milkowich, and Reagan Miles.

          Upper Perkiomen's girls cross-country team delivered a historic performance last weekend at the District One Class 2A Championships in Bethlehem. Six of their seven participants ran near-perfect races.

            "It was pretty exciting," head coach Todd Niemann said.

            Two runners reached the individual medal stand on Oct. 27 at Lehigh University. The team finished second in the overall standings.

            Abigail Rowland and Maren Landis led the Tribe to its first-ever appearance in the PIAA Championships, scheduled for Friday afternoon on the Parkview Course in Hershey. Niemann described the district team accomplishment, the first in school history, as the highlight of his career as a cross-country coach.

            The Indians' top three runners each posted a season-best performance. Rowland, a sophomore, finished fifth overall at districts with a time of 19:47.4. Landis, a junior, ended up in 6th place (20:06.6).

            Amy Rohl was the Indians' third-best finisher. The sophomore ended up in 18th place overall (21:38.2). Lauren Donahue (21:46.5) finished two places behind.

            Nadia Frydlewicz finished 26th overall (21:58.8). Margaret Milkowich (22:19.5) ended up in 34th place. Reagan Miles finished 51st overall (23:55).

            John Kuzmission will join his female teammates at States. He finished in sixth place at districts with a season-best performance of 16:52.6. Roman Macedo finished in eighth place (17:00.9) to help the boys post a fourth-place team finish. 

            "John ran the race of his life," Niemann said.

            Niemann credited the efforts of the Tribe's captains – Donahue, Milkowich and Frydlewicz – for preparing the team. He said the girls were nervous because they understood what they could accomplish. 

            "Those three really made the difference," according to the coach.

            Niemann said it was clear the Indians would be vying with Lower Moreland and Gwynedd Mercy Academy for two spots at states. The coach assigned each of his runners a Gwynedd Mercy Academy opponent to defeat.

            "We made it a dual meet," Niemann said. "We wanted the girls to focus on the task at hand."

            Rowland and Landis started in the lead pack. They were both in the top eight for most of the race.

            Rowland got as high as fourth but was passed by two runners from Bishop Shanahan down the stretch. She rallied to recover one of those spots before crossing the finish line, according to the coach.

Landis fell to 10th place with 1/8 of a mile remaining. However, she passed competitors from Springfield (MontCo.) Township, Gwynedd-Mercy and Pottsgrove to end up one place behind Rowland.

            Rohl's performance helped allow the Tribe to edge out the Monarchs for the second-team berth at states by 10 points. Lower Moreland finished first with 36 team points.

            "Amy has been awesome the second half of the year," the coach said of Rohl, who started the season as Upper Perkiomen's No. 8 runner.

            Rowland and Landis – who will each make their second appearance at states – will look to improve, according to Niemann. He said he has no expectations for the rest of their teammates.

            "The other girls will run hard," the coach said. "But they won't have any pressure. This is a reward for them. I'm sure they are going to enjoy it."

            With 400 meters left in the boys race, Kuzmission and Macedo battled David Gober, a senior from Collegium Charter School, for the two final spots at states. Niemann said he noticed Macedo laboring more than the other two.

            "It was disappointing and heartbreaking for Roman," the coach said. "He really gutted it out."

            Kaden Dennis (18:18.8) finished in 22nd place. William Godshall (18:34.2) ended up in 28th place.

            Evan Snyder (18:52.5) finished in 32nd place. He was followed by Ben Sensinger (18:57.1, 34th place) and Gavin Dunn 19:07.5, 35th place).

            Kuzmission, Dennis, Godshall, Snyder and Dunn each posted season-best performances.