That Southern Lehigh was pegged as the favorite at last week’s Colonial League Cross Country Championships didn’t bother Chris Stitzel.

The Northwestern head coach expected it. After all, the Spartans’ had gone undefeated in both boys and girls competition during the regular season.

But Stitzel knew the Tigers could compete.

Though Southern Lehigh swept the team championships last Thursday at DeSales University, topping Northwestern 32-76 in the girls’ standings and 39-92 on the boys’ side, Stitzel saw the type of effort he hopes will lead to even more success this week at districts.

“We were gunning for Southern Lehigh,” said Stitzel. “We thought we had nothing to lose today. We knew we weren’t the favorites, and that we were the underdogs. On a day like today, you figure it’s up for grabs … and we thought we’d go for it.

“I know we’re going to be here next week for districts, so this was a chance to get a good race in and see how we need to run it.”

Northern Lehigh’s Reagan Pender captured her second straight league title, winning the girls race with a time of 19:28, nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Jenna Groeber of Southern Lehigh (20:25).

Palisades’ freshman Thomas Smigo won the boys’ race in 16:21 ahead of defending champion Alexander Kane of Southern Lehigh (16:29).

While Pender continued to prove herself as the best in the league, Northwestern took another step toward showing it can compete with Southern Lehigh’s boys and girls, both of which went 24-0 during the regular season.

“I wish we had a better start for the boys,” said Stitzel. “It seemed like they started back a little too far, but they made up a lot of time to still finish second. That’s what we did all year.

“And the girls, we’re finally getting healthy … and that’s really going to help us next week at districts. That’s closing our gap now, which is really going to help. I’m excited for next week. They both ran well today.”

A pair of freshmen paced the Tigers. Angelina Klein ran to a fourth-place finish in 20:37 in the girls race, while Samuel Bower finished 10th in the boys race with a time of 17:49.

Klein led five Tigers, who were 20-4 during the regular season, in the top-25 in the girls’ race. Allison Costa (21:30) and Kailyn Jones (21:32) were 13th and 14th, respectively, while Molly McGorry (22:05) placed 20th and Maci Fisher (22:21) 25th.

“She’s motivated,” Stitzel said of Klein. “She came all summer, and it’s showed. She’s a hard worker. Her and Allison (Costa), they trained together and push each other.

“She had a great year for us, and she stayed healthy. That’s the main thing, trying to keep kids healthy, and it’s showing. At the right time of the year, she’s one of our strongest runners. She’s mentally ready for these races, and I think she’ll do really well getting ready for districts next week.”

Alexis Vennera (40th, 24:16), Claire Costa (44th, 24:26) and Madison Santana (49th, 25:12) rounded out the Northwestern girls’ contingent.

“As a team, I think we did extremely well,” said Klein. “I think we all were really motivated today. We really wanted that league title. And even though we didn’t get it, I think we’re all still really proud of getting second and the way that we did.

“I knew there was going to be a lot of competition in this race, but I knew that I had raced against everyone before, so I just had to stay strong mentally, and know that I can run with all these girls, even being a freshman. I just had to keep pushing ahead.”

Bower was the first of four boys in the top 20 for Northwestern, which went 22-2 during the season. Cole Chukoskie (18:12) was 15th, Matthew Santana (18:22) 18th and RJ Zack (18:24) 20th.

“I ran better than I thought I would,” said Bower. “I was just trying to get a top-20. I just started off faster, and then I kept that going through the race.

“Our top three is normally pretty close, and we try to push each other as much as we can during practice, and in the meets, too.”

Joseph Chukoskie (30th, 18:43), Joseph Pleban (38th, 19:01), Nathan Vincent (41st, 19:03), Matthew Boushell (43rd, 19:07) and Joshua Heilman (48th, 19:17) all secured top-50 finishes for the Tigers.

“We had a good day,” said Stitzel. “Hats off to Southern Lehigh. They just put it together today. But hopefully we’re holding up some district trophies next week.”

UP NEXT … The District 11 Cross Country Championships will be held Wednesday, Oct. 23 at DeSales University, beginning with the boys’ Class A race at 1 p.m. The PIAA Championship meet will be held Saturday Nov. 2 in Hershey.

A CHANCE TO ADVANCE ... Both Tiger teams will run in Class 2A next week and neither will have to contend with Southern Lehigh, which moves up to 3A.

In girls Class 2A, Northwestern will have to win the district title for the team to qualify for states, while the boys team can finish first or second as two boys team move on out of District 11 Class 2A.

Individually, the top five girls finishers who are not part of state-qualifying teams and the top 10 boys who are not members of state-qualifying teams will earn a trip to the state championship meet.

COLONIAL LEAGUE

CROSS COUNTRY

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES

1. Southern Lehigh (SL) 32, 2. Northwestern (NW) 76, 3. Notre Dame Green Pond (NDGP) 93, 4. Wilson (W) 123, 5. Palisades (Pali) 144, 6. Catasauqua (C) 161, 7. Moravian (M) 173, 8. Palmerton (Palm) 211, 9. Northern Lehigh (NL) 214, 10. Saucon Valley (SV) 229, 11. Bangor (B) 267.

Individuals (top 5 plus all Northwestern finishers)

1. Reagan Pender (NL) 19:28, 2. Jenna Groeber (SL) 20:25, 3. Grace Medei (NDGP) 20:36, 4. Angelina Klein (NW) 20:37, 5. Jillian Pote (W) 20:45, 13. Allison Costa (NW) 21:30, 14. Kailyn Jones (NW) 21:32, 20. Molly McGorry (NW) 22:05, 25. Maci Fisher (NW) 22:21, 40. Alexis Vennera (NW) 24:16, 44. Claire Costa (NW) 24:26, 49. Madison Santana (NW) 25:12.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES

1. Southern Lehigh (SL) 39, 2. Northwestern (NW) 92, 3. Palisades (Pali) 97, 4. Notre Dame Green Pond (NDGP) 115, 5. Moravian (M) 155, 6. Pen Argyl (PA) 166, 7. Saucon Valley (SV) 188, 8. Bangor (B) 193, 9. Palmerton (Palm) 226, 10. Wilson (W) 229, 11. Salisbury (S) 294, 12. Catasauqua (C) 356.

Individuals (top 5 plus all Northwestern finishers)

1. Thomas Smigo (Pali) 16:21, 2. Alexander Kane (SL) 16:29, 3. Matthew Chaikowsky (SV) 16:52, 4. Anthony Coppolella (PA) 17:01, 5. Shane Artis (S) 17:10, 10. Samuel Bower (NW) 17:49, 15. Cole Chukoskie (NW) 18:12, 18. Matthew Santana (NW) 18:22, 20. RJ Zack (NW) 18:24, 30. Joseph Chukoskie (NW) 18:43, 38. Joseph Pleban (NW) 19:01, 41. Nathan Vincent (NW) 19:03, 43. Matthew Boushell (NW) 19:07, 48. Joshua Heilman (NW) 19:17.