As predicted, Freedom and Liberty's girls cross country teams battled it out for an end-of-season victory over their neighboring rival, resulting in a 26-29 win for the Patriots last week.

The Patriots also defeated Allen (15-50) and Dieruff (19-45), and the Hurricanes were victorious over Allen (15-50) and Dieruff (20-43).

Winning the race at Illick's Mill in 19:55 was Freedom junior, Shaina Palmer.

"I just felt myself pulling away on the first part of the hill, and then I let the hill take me," Palmer said. "Our girls did really well. We were hoping to finish 7-4 [for the season]. We came really close [to winning other meets] twice. We tied Northampton but lost on the tiebreaker, so that was disappointing."

The Patriots were successful, however, in reaching the 7-4 goal.

Also in the top ten for Freedom last week were Olivia Salerno, who placed third, Bridget Tarnowski, who placed sixth, and Sarah Dunn, who came in tenth.

In the top ten for Liberty were Nikki Nelson, who placed fourth, Raisa Kochmaruk, who placed fifth, Rachel Finn, who came in eighth, and Julie Vernarr, who was ninth.

Teams are now preparing for the Lehigh Valley Conference Championships, which are scheduled for Oct. 15 at Illick's Mill.

"We'll focus a little more on speed and cut down on the longer workouts, and at leagues, I'll go out with the front back," said Palmer.

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Bethlehem Catholic girls competed in Saturday's Northampton Invitational at Bicentennial Park in East Allen Township and they finished 10th overall.

Kassie Yocco was third overall with a time of 20:05. Northampton's Hayley Jackson won with a time of 19:52.

Rowan Peppe also had a top-10 finish taking ninth in 20:56. Alyssa Regan was 29th in 23:25 and Annie Fecanin was 63rd in 26:51.

Northampton's girls won the event.