Last week’s 1-2-3 finish for Freedom’s boys’ cross country team helped the Patriots defeat East Stroudsburg North 19-44, East Stroudsburg South 18-48, and Stroudsburg 24-32.

Will Alpaugh and Dan Quigley crossed the finish line together, but first place was given to Alpaugh. Isaac Gross came in third. Strategy figured in to the Patriots’ race as Coach Bob Thear had Alpaugh and Quigley pace Gross to try and better his time.

Gross said, “During the downhill part, my legs were really dying, but I saw I was still close to them. I was pretty surprised.”

The strategy worked. Alpaugh and Quigley’s time was 16:48, and Gross’s was 17:07, down from 17:25.

Liberty’s Jonah George placed sixth, Brendan Reilly was ninth, and Pedro Larotta was 11th.

Reilly said, “I tried to pace off Jonah. His running style is like mine. It was a pretty non-physical race. We weren’t scoring against Freedom, but we push each other very well.”

The Hurricanes came in to last week’s meet with a record of 6-0, but then lost to Stroudsburg 26-30. Liberty defeated East Stroudsburg North 20-48 and East Stroudsburg South 19-33.

“This year has been surprisingly good. We lost seven of our top ten, but we have a slew of freshmen and new guys. We should rebuild quickly,” said Reilly.

Bethlehem Catholic’s Bryce Orloski placed eighth while setting a personal record of 17:43, and Austin Tucker placed 12th in the Hawks’ 20-40 victory over East Stroudsburg North, 28-34 victory over East Stroudsburg South, and 22-36 loss to Stroudsburg.

“I passed a kid I was watching for most of the race. Then I caught another one, and I ran with him, and at the end, I sped up,” said Orloski. “I’m happy with the boys’ team. We have four pretty strong runners. Once a fifth steps up, we should look good for districts.”