Liberty High School's Alex Fitch, Will Masemore, Jonah George, and Robert Appleby led the Hurricane boys cross country team to a third place finish with 98 points in the East Penn Conference Cross Country Championships last Tuesday at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.

Fitch and Masemore medaled, placing 3rd and 11th, respectively.

Fitch said, "I went into it, figuring that me, Dan Quigley, and the Pleasant Valley kid [Seth Slavin] would go 3-4-5."

With Easton's Colin Abert, who won the race in 16:01, far ahead of the field of runners, Fitch's biggest competition would prove to be Kevin Lapsansky, also from Easton, and Slavin.

"Coming through the golf course, I was pushing hard and staying behind Lapsansky and Pleasant Valley. Coming up the fourth fairway, Lapsansky pulled away, and I passed the Pleasant Valley kid," said Fitch. "I kept my sights on Lapsansky. I was closer to him than I thought, so I'm happy."

Lapsansky placed second with a time of 16:25. Fitch's time was 16:36, and Slavin came in fourth place in 16:50.

Masemore's time was 17:28. George placed 17th in 17:50, and Appleby was 23rd with a time of 18:09.

Freedom High School's boys team scored 111 points to finish in fourth place.

Leading the way for the Patriots was Will Alpaugh, who placed 7th with a time of 17:00.

"I felt I did pretty well with my place, but not necessarily with my time. I wasn't expecting to come in first [for Freedom], but I was able to keep the lead. Overall, it was a good day," Alpaugh said.

At first, Alpaugh's strategy included trying to stay with Whitehall's Gabe Lamm, who placed 5th in 16:52. Later, Alpaugh set his sights on Parkland's Michael Geiger, who placed 6th in 16:53.

"Our P.R.s are the same. I passed him going down the hills, but he passed me going up. I would have liked to go faster, but at the finish, I couldn't pick it up. I saw I was a little under 17, so I tried," said Alpaugh.

Patriot teammate, Dan Quigley, placed 8th in 17:13. Isaac Gross placed 28th in 18:15, and Tom Salerno placed 33rd in 18:28, both for the Patriots.

Medals were awarded to the top 12, which included Fitch, Alpaugh, Quigley, and Masemore.

Bethlehem Catholic's boys team came in 11th place with 321 points. Parkland's boys team won the meet with 80 points.

Becahi's Andrew Shaffer placed 46th out of 148 runners with a time of 18:51.

The District XI Boys Cross Country Championships are scheduled for this Wednesday at the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.