Gabe Lamm was in, and Calvin Schneck was on the bubble, but by the end of the District XI Class AAA Boys Cross Country Championships last Thursday at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course, Whitehall High School would be sending both runners to the PIAA State Cross Country Championships, scheduled for this Saturday in Hershey.

Lamm took fourth place in the district race, but with Schneck placing 15th, it was initially unclear whether he would make the cut for the state meet. The top ten, excluding those whose teams placed first and second, would qualify. Schneck was the second-to-last to make states, and Bangor's Charlie Sell was the last.

Schneck said, "I'm really happy. This is exactly what I wanted to do. I'm in a lot of pain right now, but it was worth it. Definitely worth it."

Schneck, who finished the race in 17:25.60, came out of the top hill, feeling a hard side sticker. Although that was nothing new to the Whitehall junior, it affected his performance in the East Penn Conference Cross Country Meet the week prior.

"I did everything I could to push through it [this week]. I knew at the end, if I could kick, I would have a chance. I was a lot more motivated this week because I knew what was on the line," he said.

At one point, Schneck was in 25th place.

"At about 800 meters left, I passed a big pack of people," said Schneck.

Lamm, a senior, finished the race with a time of 16:34.40.

"I'm happy I ran better than last week. I still feel like I gave everything I had and left it all on the course," said Lamm. "I definitely went out slower because I didn't want to go too crazy. I was a little conservative. After the last hill, I really started pushing."

In the lead, with the exception of Easton's Colin Abert who was way out in front, were Lamm, Freedom's Dan Quigley, Easton's Kevin Lapsansky, Pleasant Valley's Seth Slavin, and Liberty's Alex Fitch.

Lamm said, "I passed Alex Fitch on a hill and got past Kevin. I was third behind Quigley and Colin, so we just paced off each other. At about two miles, we separated a little, and Seth had some distance, so it wasn't until the last 200 meters that I caught him."

In the girls race, Emily Brand placed 23rd.

"I'm happy, and I just know I gave it my all," said Brand. "The finish, that was tough. The last half mile I was trying to hold on."

Brand's time was 20:57.30.

"The last mile or mile and a half was tough because it's all open. I tried to hold back a little to pick people off. I was 28th coming out of the hill," she said.

Teammate, Alexandra Dorner placed 33rd with a time of 21:33.20.

The Zephyr girls placed ninth out of 16 teams and scored 217 points. The Zephyr boys placed sixth out of 17 teams and scored 193 points.

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