One thing is certain about the Emmaus girls cross country team: it doesn’t quit.

Without two of its top runners in Kera Reinhard and Clara Kennedy, it would have been easy to offer excuses and marginal resistance during the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Cross Country Championships on Oct. 16 at Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course. Instead the Green Hornets pulled together and offered a solid performance, finishing third overall with 105 points. Easton claimed first place with 78 points and Parkland finished second with 99 points.

Emmaus coach Kelly Bracetty said she did not specifically talk about the absence of Reinhard and Kennedy before the meet. Rather, she focused on the opportunity her younger runners had to step up.

“I told them that we cannot control what other teams do,” Bracetty said. “Our goal was to have them focus on the positive.”

A big reason for the team’s performance has to be Keerstin Augustin. The surprising sophomore was the top Green Hornet finisher and ran a smart, yet aggressive race. Augustin surprised many in the field, finishing fifth overall in 20:03

Bracetty noted that Augustin is the type of runner that gets stronger as the race goes on.

Freshman Isabella Lees was the second Emmaus finisher at 21:06, good enough for 17th in the field. Senior Amanda LaVana was third on the squad and finished in 21:26, just six seconds in front of Maddy Toretta, a freshman, who finished fourth on the team and 27th in the race. Sophomore Ashleigh McNellis finished fifth for Emmaus and 30th overall at 21:41.

“They work well together as a team,” Bracetty said.

Individually, Freedom’s Lauren Charboneau was the top girls finisher, running an impressive race in 19:36.

The Emmaus boys squad also had a memorable afternoon, finishing fourth overall out of 16 schools. The showing was its best in recent years. More impressive was the strong showings of everyone on the team.

“I’m really proud of them,” Bracetty said.

Fueling the strong showing was sophomore Keshav Shankar, who finished first on the team and 15th overall with 17:33 time. Not far behind him senior Jacob Brown, who finished 17th at 17:38.6 and junior Paul Petre, who was an eyelash behind at 17:38.9, which claimed 18th place. The Hornet roster showed good balance. Not far behind Petre was the squad’s fourth-place finisher junior Mark Magee, who finished at 17:44, good enough for 22nd overall.

Junior Mason Brown finished fifth on the team and 31st in the meet at 17:57.

Perhaps even more impressive is the future. This year’s version of the Green Hornets is primarily a youth-laden squad. Bracetty said her goal is to get the packs to “break out of their comfort zones” and gradually start to push the more elite runners for higher finishes.

“I really think they are only going to get better,” the coach said.

Parkland finished first overall in boys competition with 39 points, followed by Easton at 66 points and Stroudsburg at 71.