The Northampton cross country team celebrated senior day on Tuesday, Sept. 10 in a home meet at Bicentennial Park in East Allen Township.

The team honored Vince Gallagher, Thomas Martinez, Marcus Newhart, Isaiah Tyler, Lena Kugelman, Marissa Mele and Olivia Rigo.

As for the meet itself, both the boys and girls had successful days. The boys went 3-0 on the day with wins against Central Catholic, Emmaus and Whitehall. The girls went 2-1 with wins against Central Catholic and Whitehall.

“We raced strong and for the most part stayed focused throughout,” head coach Dan Benner said. “I feel we are in good position at this juncture of the season. Obviously, there is always the need to keep working hard and preparing for the postseason in October, so there is still a long ways to go and a lot of miles still to run. But, it was a good step in the right direction.”

There were lots of key performances for the boys, including: Zeke Colyer (5th – 16:58), Owen Nahf (8th – 17:04), and Vince Gallagher (9th – 17:06).

Benner has been impressed with the boys team so far.

“It has only been two races so far this season, but they are starting to form a really strong 1, 2, 3,” he said.

Isaiah Tyler had a strong day finishing 15th in 17:37. Benner feels he is a key piece in to the team’s success.

The top-seven were rounded out with Wyatt Poniktera (27th – 18:18), Johnny Breslin (44th – 18:49), and Nick Amato (49th – 19:57).

“One of our big goals between now and the end of the season, is to close some of the gap from our 1, 2, 3 runners to our 4, 5, 6, and 7 runners,” Benner added. “If the back half of the varsity lineup can pull closer, the boys team has the potential to be a very good team.”

On the girls side, Amber Poniktera (2nd 19:51) continued her strong start to the season after an impression opening day at NHS Invitational. Brianna Tyler (13th – 21:29) ran in her first race of the season and looked good, Benner said.

“Brianna has a ton of potential and has about five weeks to put it all together for a postseason run,” he added.

The girls top-five were rounded out with Olivia Rigo (23rd – 22:18) and Reia Sanchez (32nd – 23:14). Benner said Rigo has had a nice bounce back year so far and looks much stronger and healthier. Sanchez has been a pleasant surprise so far after taking two years off from running since 7th grade.

“I was proud of the girls as they still fought for two tough wins without our top girl, Georgia Wiswesser, finishing the race,” Benner said. “Georgia was dealing with some sickness and battled as much as she could, but couldn’t finish the race.”

Other season performances included Thomas Martinez in 20:37, Marissa Mele in 26:27, and Lena Kugelman in 26:39.

Both teams are back in action next Tuesday, Sept. 17 at Easton High School again Allen, Dieruff, and Parkland.

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In golf, Parkland defeated Northampton 427-254 at Woodstone Country Club’s par-72.

The team got nice performances from both Nate Wheeler and Andrew Sawarynski as they both shot 77 on the day to lead the way for the Kids.

Ryan Kovach added an 89 while Madison Salter shot 104 and Keller Repasch had a 107.

For Parkland, Trevor Grimm carded the high score with a 76. Sam Mortazavi added a 77.

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In tennis, the NHS girls team improved to 6-4 on the season with a 4-3 win on the road at Pocono Mountain East.

Liz Hozza fell at number-one singles to Sarah Naughton 6-2, 6-1 but Rose Sharga followed at number-two with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Samantha Passmore.

Caitlyn Stoudt fell to Jessica Passmore at number-three singles 6-3, 6-1.

But, the Kids doubles team picked up three wins.

Hozza and Sharga defeated S. Passmore and J. Passmore 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). Kat Beenders and Talia Hemingway topped Shaniqua Hilliman and Kaitlin Solomon 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Abby Mikszca and Rachel Zeitner won over Allyson Mettler and Brianna Lyons 6-2, 6-1.

Caroline Gray and Olivia Tepea fell to Sabela Zablackis and Mariam Bangurah 7-5, 6-3.