Three Emmaus runners competed in the most competitive high school cross country race the state has to offer last weekend in Hershey.

Del Vierling, Abby Dalton and Abby Heilenman represented the Hornets in Saturday’s PIAA Class 3A Cross Country Championship race.

Dalton, a junior who was making her third trip to states in three years, finished in 37th place in the girls race while Heilenman was 157th in her first trip to states for cross country. Vierling, a senior, competed in his first PIAA Championship race, finishing 157th.

Dalton, who placed 18th at states as a freshman, was running a re-routed Hershey course for the first time.

“This is the first time I ran this course the way it is,” she said. “We have to run the hills area backwards and the last mile is different. It’s less difficult, but before I was more prepared in how to run this course because I had done the invitational before.”

Dalton ran the race in 19:38, which was just 30 seconds off her time as a freshman. She finished just 12 places away from earning her second state medal.

“I think I ran smart race but there’s room for improvement,” said Dalton. “My goal was to medal and I got kind of close but not close enough.”

She ran the race she planned against the field of 213 of the state’s best.

“The race started out extremely fast in the first mile, the top people were around 5:20,” she said. “I hit where I wanted to be for the first mile. The second mile I held my place. In the third mile I started picking off people.”

Vierling had the same experience with a torrid pace to the boys race, in which the leaders ran the first mile in under five minutes.

“I wasn’t expecting so many people to come out so fast,” he said. “The last mile I picked up but I don’t think it was enough.”

Vierling, who has been on the team for just three years, ran a 17:30 in his first and only trip to states. He was hoping to go a little faster and place a bit higher, but he looks back on his senior season with pride.

“Other than the fact that this race might have gone bad, I think I left it all out there at districts and leagues,” he said. “I’m proud of how far I’ve come since sophomore year, how much training I’ve put in and the results that have come out of it. The fact that I made it [to states], I should be very happy.”

Heilenman, a sophomore, will have two more chances to get back to states. She gave up field hockey as a freshman to focus on swimming and run cross country. She nearly made states in her first season as a harrier. She went on to a stellar freshman swimming season in which she reached the state championship meet last winter.

After shin splints hindered her summer training schedule, she also suffered from some pulled stomach muscles this season. Heilenman battled the injuries and accomplished one of her main objectives this season.

“I had two main goals this season,” said Heilenman. “One of them was to make states and one was to break 20 [minutes]. I never had a chance to run my best time throughout the season, but making states was just a really exciting experience for me. I’ve been working really hard for it.”

With two of the area’s top runners returning next season, Heilenman and the Hornets are hoping for big things in 2017.

“Being a sophomore and having two more years, I think it’s going to impact how I train,” she said. “I’ll know how to train better and hopefully we can get a team here next year.”