Whitehall High School senior, Gabe Lamm, took fifth place with a time of 16:52 at the East Penn Conference Cross Country Championships on Tuesday at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.

"I was feeling great [at the start]. I was trying to break away from the other guys as soon as I could," said Lamm. "I could have done better on the hills, but I pushed as hard as I could. I was with the chase pack after the last hill."

Soon after, Lamm set his sights on Michael Geiger from Parkland.

"I was trying my best to work through the golf course and catch up. We were really pushing each other," Lamm said.

Next, Lamm tried to run down Pleasant Valley's Seth Slavin.

"I made up some ground there," said Lamm.

In the end, Slavin placed fourth, and Geiger was sixth.

Easton's Colin Abert won the boys race with a time of 16:01. Kevin Lapansky, also from Easton, placed second, and Liberty's Alex Fitch was third.

Lamm said, "I use this to see where I'm at for districts next week. I just want to go all out, and go crazy, and have fun with it. My goal is under 16:00, and cool weather is when I do my best, so I can't wait for that."

In the girls race, Emily Brand placed 30th in 21:36.

"I could have started a little bit stronger. I didn't really notice the hills that much, but I tried to push it on the uphills because when you pass people there, it breaks their confidence," said Brand. "The last half mile was rough for me. I definitely wanted to kick it in at the end. Hopefully, next week, I'll be able to take off a lot of time."

The District XI Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.