Dylan Mountain reached down, grabbed some grass and flung it into the air.
Most runners would have been happy with a third-place finish in a boys field of 162 runners, but the Altoona Area High School senior had trouble disguising his disappointment at the Altoona Cross Country Invitational on Saturday morning at the Logan Elementary School course.
"I've had [Altoona graduate] Wade [Endress] the last two years,'' Mountain said of the now Penn State University runner who was a two-time Altoona Invitational champ. "This year was my year.''
Mountain improved his placing three spots from sixth last year, and his time of 16 minutes, 25.46 seconds was 35 seconds better than his best time on the Logan course, but he finished behind Mifflin County senior Zach Moon (16:21.01) and Wellsboro Area's Jordan Jackson (16:24.22). The Altoona boys also finished third in the team race behind Mifflin County and Wellsboro.
"I woke up this morning and couldn't breathe through my nose,'' Mountain said. "I couldn't sleep much [Friday] night, so I was expecting not to have a great day. Even if I was healthy today, I ran a time that I would have been happy with. I'm just disappointed I didn't win.''
Mountain led the early part of the boys race before getting overtaken by Moon, a runner whom Mountain beat in winning the Big Valley Invitational two weeks prior to the Altoona meet.
"Dylan may have started off too fast,'' Altoona boys coach Lee Baranik said. "He ran with those boys at Big Valley, and I had a bad feeling those runners were sitting back and waiting for their chance to move up on Dylan. They took off coming off the hill, and Dylan just didn't have enough to catch them at the end. When you're leading, you have no clue what's going on behind you, and when there are good runners, it's a dangerous situation.''
Altoona's Patrick Reade placed 11th, Williamsburg's Bryce England was 16th, Chestnut Ridge's Jim Farnan was 17th, and Altoona's Dalen Stroh was 19th. The Mountain Lions were without senior Korey Replogle, last year's second-place finisher, due to a one-week suspension for insubordination, according to Baranik.
"The District [6-AAA] race [on Oct. 29] is going to be the most interesting one in the last seven years,'' Baranik said. "State College is back and has some very good runners. The merger for Mifflin County has definitely helped them immensely. Put Altoona into the mix, and not only will it be interesting for the individual race, but the team one as well.
Northern Bedford County junior Maria Snyder was the top area girls finisher, placing fourth in 20:00.36 after finishing 11th in 2010. St. Marys Area junior Adair Gennocro, the third-place finisher last year, won the race in 18:33.42 with Charlotte Lampenfeld of team champion Oakland Catholic second and DuBois Area's Catherine Sheffo third.
"The first mile I was OK,'' Snyder said. "The second mile I got real tight, and the third mile I worked it out.''
Snyder is the only female runner for Northern Bedford and practices with boys teammates Michael Heck and Collin Sherlock. She competes in invitationals on weekends and runs in a few meets during weekdays. She placed 17th in Class AA in the PIAA Championships as a sophomore.
"There are always new people each year,'' Snyder said. "I'm just going to keep trying my best and keep working toward [peaking at] the state meet. Anything can happen.''
Other area girls to finish in the top 20 included Bedford junior Carrie Baker (11th, 21:00.00), Hollidaysburg junior Lauren Pheasant (12th, 21:01.26) and Philipsburg-Osceola senior Lauren Simcox (15th, 21:12.32).
Altoona freshman Todd Taylor won the junior varsity boys race in 18:11.79.
VARSITY BOYS
Teams: 1, MC-Mifflin County, 57; 2, W-Wellsboro, 73; 3, A-Altoona, 81; 4, SA-Somerset Area, 166; 5, SM-St. Marys, 190. Others: 11, H-Hollidaysburg, 287; 13, C-Central, 405; 14, B-Bedford, 411; 15, T-Tyrone, 448; 17, BA-Bellwood-Antis, 458; 19, PC-Penn Cambria, 484; 23, JV-Juniata Valley, 705.
Individuals: 1, Moon, MC, 16:21.01; 2, Jackson, W, 16:24.22; 3, Mountain, A, 16:25.46; 4, Monroe, MC, 16:26.73; 5, Owlett, W 16:28.76; 6, Colwell, MC, 16:35.49; 7, Woelfel, SM, 16:41.87; 8, Bagamery, Shady Side, 16:53.26; 9, Dailey, Westmont Hilltop, 17:04.87; 10, Patrick, LV, 17:07.20. Others in the top 100: 11, Reade, A, 17:27.76; 16, England, Williamsburg, 17:51.64; 17, Farnan, Chestnut Ridge, 17:53.79; 19, Da. Stroh, A, 17:55.86; 21, M. Brumbaugh, C, 17:58.17; 24, Nail, A, 18:01.07; 29, Williams, B, 18:14.97; 30, McGinnis, A, 18:15.96; 32, Heck, Northern Bedford, 18:19.69; 33, Delozier, A, 18:20.00; 42, Heasley, A, 18:30.21; 45, Jennings, H, 18:33.95; 47, Wiser, T, 18:36.08; 48, Sherlock, Northern Bedford, 18:37.17; 49, Frank, PC, 18:37.70; 55, Monts, H, 18:48.60; 57, Hess, H, 18:53.00; 59, C. Wheland, Williamsburg, 18:55.57; 69, Gildea, H, 19:20.78; 78, A. Brumbaugh, C, 19:33.83; 80, Mills, BA, 19:36.69; 81, A. Wheland, Williamsburg, 19:37.78; 83, Lewis, H, 19:44.58; 84, Long, H, 19:44.82; 86, Hoeft, C, 19:49.17; 88, Karns, B, 19:51.27; 89, Oldham, B 19:51.92; 90, Anello, BA, 19:52.28; 94, O'Shea, BA, 19:57.04; 96, Harrison, B, 20:07.35; 98, Crabtree, T, 20:09.99; 100, Mills, BA, 20:13.26.
VARSITY GIRLS
Teams: 1, OC-Oakland Catholic, 56; 2, SA-Somerset Area, 84; 3, D-DuBois, 163; 4, WH-Westmont Hilltop, 172; 5, SM-St. Marys, 172. Others: 8, PC-Penn Cambria, 209; 9, A-Altoona, 225; 11, B-Bedford, 229; 15, PO-Philipsburg-Osceola, 346; 16, JV-Juniata Valley, 469; 18, BA-Bellwood-Antis, 497.
Individuals: 1, Gennocro, SM, 18:33.42; 2, Lampenfeld, OC, 18:35.14; 3, Sheffo, D, 19:55.06; 4, Snyder, Northern Bedford, 20:00.36; 5, Lamm, Shady Side, 20:06.54; 6, Snyder, SA, 20:11.63; 7, King, Mifflin County, 20:20.37; 8, Means, OC, 20:27.20; 9, Zeh, OC, 20:28.73; 10, Foster, SM, 20:30.35. Others in the top 100: 11, Baker, B, 21:00.00; 12, Pheasant, Hollidaysburg, 21:01.26; 15, Simcox, PO, 21:12.32; 23, Pensyl, A, 21:35.99; 27, Bruce, PC, 21:58.45; 29, Diehl, B, 22:02.13; 31, Kurtz, JV, 22:06.39; 34, Smithmyer, PC, 22:17.71; 40, Clauto, PC, 22:38.62; 45, Slobodnick, Bishop Guilfoyle, 22:44.78; 46, B. Geist, A, 22:45.37; 53, Stoltenberg, A, 23:05.48; 56 Sohmer, A, 23:12.02; 57, Pompa, PC, 23:13.76; 59, Grimes, B, 23:19.36; 64, Albert, PO, 23:29.41; 65, Jacobs, A, 23:35.34; 67, Clark, Central, 23:39.39; 68, Roberts, PC, 23:47.77; 72, Brisbin, Tyrone, 23:58.75; 73, Carpin, PO, 24:00.28; 75, Caddy, B, 24:08.81; 76, Sigler, B, 24:10.89; 79, Smith, Central, 24:15.77; 83, Port, A, 24:22.58; 84, Rosenberger, Hollidaysburg, 24:23.80; 85, Schobel, A, 24:27.00; 88, McKeranan, Tyrone, 24:39.04; 90, Taylor, BA, 24:41.52; 93, Ginhardt, Bishop Guilfoyle, 24:57.17; 95, Crouch, Williamsburg, 25:04.32; 98, Cherry, Central, 25:12.11.
JUNIOR VARSITY BOYS
Teams: 1, A-Altoona, 15; 2, MC-Mifflin County, 65; 3, SA-Somerset Area, 78. Others: 6, H-Hollidaysburg, 156.
Individuals: 1, Taylor, A, 18:11.79; 2, Lingafelt, A, 18:27.80; 3, Albright, West Branch, 18:39.16; 4, Burkett, A, 18:45.12; 5, Endress, A, 19:04.13. Others in the top 25: 6, Do. Stroh, A, 19:06.53; 7, Rouzer, A, 19:09.95; 8, Flanigan, A, 19:11.34; 9, O'Brien, A, 19:22.03; 10, Sunderland, A, 19:24.69; 12, Kunstbeck, A, 19:36.13; 13, Miller, A, 19:36.82; 24, Marx, A, 20:05.04; 25, McClain, H, 20:08.76.
JUNIOR VARSITY GIRLS
Teams: 1, OC-Oakland Catholic, 15; 2, MC-Mifflin County, 73; 3, BM-Bishop McCort, 89. Others: 6, A-Altoona, 113; 7, PC-Penn Cambria, 177.
Individuals: 1, Derenzo, OC, 21:53.24; 2, Kirk, OC, 22:52.85; 3, Devine, OC, 23:22.27; 4, Lewand, OC, 23:36.94; 5, Gloninger, OC, 23:40.28. Others in the top 25: 14, P. Geist, A, 25:00.09; 24, Taylor, A, 26:09.76.
