Part of Dan Quigley and Will Alpaugh's fortune at the PIAA Class AAA Boys Cross Country Championships was a great starting position for the two Freedom Patriots, but the rest was all them this past Saturday in Hershey.

Freedom coach Bob Thear said, "They were right in the middle between two teams that were really strong, so I said that they should just go out with them, just follow them."

In the end, Quigley came in 38th place with a time of 16:38, and Alpaugh was 72nd with a time of 16:59. Between them was Liberty High School's Alex Fitch, who placed 60th in 16:53.

Fitch said, "I did 43 places better than last year, and I broke 17:00, so I'm happy. I knew the meet would go out fast, and I went out faster than usual, and I kept moving up the entire race."

Fitch and teammates, Will Masemore and Jonah George, had an unenviable starting point, on the inside right.

Liberty coach Mark-Will Weber said, "I told them to get after it and be a little more aggressive in the beginning. I was hoping for top 50 for Alex. With the other two, I'm really thrilled they both made it. I told them to enjoy it and run hard."

Masemore's time was 17:33, and George's was 18:12.

"Will never broke 18:00, and Jonah improved from the year before on that course," said Will-Weber. "It was a great season for us. The guys were 13-2, and third at districts with three state qualifiers."

Fitch, a senior, ran his best time by 40 seconds on the state course.

"The moment the gun goes off, you have no idea where anybody is. I was trying to look around to find somebody. The first mile, you're rubbing elbows with kids," Fitch said. "When I passed a mile, I was about 80th. I tried picking up on the gravel incline, and I caught a few in front of me. Going up the hill, I passed two, and on the straightaway, one kid ran past two of us, and I ran past him."

For Quigley and Alpaugh, both ran great times on a tough course.

Coach Thear said, "At around a mile and a half, Dan was between 20 and 25 at that point. Will was back a little further, but he fell. He was probably close to 100."

Thear felt that top 50 would be a great race for Alpaugh; top 75 would be really good.

"Will was under 17:00. I was pretty happy. The times were pretty quick. Everyone ran well," said Thear.

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