Mirror photo by Calem Illig Portage senior Lauren Shaffer won the girls title at the Heritage Conference championships on Thursday.

By Calem Illig

cillig@altoonamirror.com

MARION CENTER — Throughout her high school cross country career, Portage senior Lauren Shaffer has competed on several different courses against numerous other runners.

Her lengthy experience, however, didn’t make things any easier running on a new course with new opponents Thursday during the Heritage Conference championship.

After overcoming some minor cramping midway through the race, Shaffer used a strong start — and maintained plenty of separation throughout the meet — to claim the Heritage crown with a time of 19 minutes, 31 seconds.

“I had some other girls running with me, but I just kept going, and they sort of dropped off,” Shaffer said. “When you get a big lead, you sort of get a little cautious and wonder if you should slow down. But I got comfortable and sort of just went with it.”

Shaffer finished first with over a 1-minute lead on the Marion Center duo of Lydia Miller (second, 20:39) and Reagan Ryen (third, 20:43).

Had she picked better shoes and opted to go with spikes over sneakers, she felt her time could have improved even more.

“I just felt heavy the whole race,” Shaffer said. “It wasn’t the best I’ve felt during a race, to be honest.”

Shaffer and the rest of the Mustangs, who will be official members of the Heritage Conference next season, were invited by the conference to compete in this year’s meet at Marion Center High School.

Although Portage finished second behind the host Marion Center, who won its 12th-straight conference title with 29 teams, the Lady Mustangs shined and took second with four runners finishing in the top 25 despite never running on the course at Marion Center before.

Sophomore Alex Chobany took eighth in 22 minutes, 28 seconds, and the Mustangs also received a boost from sophomores Cami Burkett (13th, 23:21), Ashlyn Hudak (21st, 24:24) and Jenna Burkett (25th, 24:47).

“We are really pleased with how today went,” Portage coach Lance Hudak said. “We were concerned about being unfamiliar with the course. When you’re not familiar with a new course, it can be a little tough to just let go and let loose. But I think our kids showed up today.”

The Cambria Heights girls took sixth overall with 140 points and received a fourth-place finish from freshman Zoe Adams, who clocked in at 21 minutes, 28 seconds.

“I was chugging up the hills a little slower than I would’ve liked to go,” said Adams, who added that the fourth-place finish was a personal record for her. “I thought I did pretty well overall though.”

In the boys race, Portage senior Josh Canavan remained with Marion Center’s Tim Barrett and Dillion Green for much of the race.

While he raced neck-and-neck with the Stinger stars, fatigue eventually set in as he finished third at 17:54.

“My plan was to stick with them for as long as I could,” Canavan said. “I knew they were eventually going to get out in front of me, but I tried my best to stick with them. That was my plan, and I’m happy with it.”

Portage also received top 20 finishes from Gabe Corte (eighth, 19:13) and Ben Sanner (15th, 20:28), but the Mustangs were unable to score as a team as they did not have five runners compete.

The Cambria Heights boys, however, finished second overall as a team with 49 points — eight shy of champion Marion Center.

Juniors Brock Eckenrode (18:50) and Zechariah Scott (19:32) took seventh and ninth, respectively, and the Highlanders were jolted by additional high scores from pack runners Austin Bender (11th, 20:25), Ian Hall (12th, 21:02) and Daniel Hock (13th, 21:20).

“We’re really pleased with both of our teams, and our boys especially,” Heights coach John Kuskoski said. “We have no seniors on the team, and they might be classified by some as young, but they are an experienced group. Their experience is starting to show, and they are a great group of runners.”

BOYS

1, Marion Center, 41; 2, Cambria Heights, 49; 3, United, 69; 4, River Valley, 77; 5, Purchase Line, 94. DNS– Portage, Homer Center, Penns Manor and West Shamokin.

1, Barrett, MC, 17:15; 2, Green, MC, 17:20; 3, Canavan, P, 17:54; 4, Henning, U, 18:00; 5, Wright, PL, 18:19; 6, Benno, RV, 18:24; 7, Eckenrode, CH, 18:50; 8, Corte, P, 19:14; 9, Scott, CH, 19:32; 10, Jarvie, PM, 19:39.

GIRLS

1, Marion Center, 29; 2, Portage, 68; 3, Penns Manor, 101; 4, River Valley, 114; 5, United, 135; 6, Cambria Heights, 140; 7, West Shamokin, 149; 8, Purchase Line, 152. DNS–Homer-Center

1, Shaffer, P, 19:31; 2, Miller, MC, 20:39; 3, Ryen, MC, 20:43; 4, Adams, CH, 21:28; 5, Ryer, MC, 21:37; 6, Grondin, PM, 22:17; 7, Orner, PM, 22:22; 8, Chobany, P, 22:28; 9, Haggerty, MC, 22:39; 10, Hood, MC, 22:46.