HERSHEY - It was going to be history no matter what happened in Hershey.

Northwestern’s boys cross country team rode a wave of momentum through an unprecedented regular season and dominant postseason.

The opportunity that remained at Saturday’s PIAA Cross Country Championships was the pinnacle for a program that has been at the peak of its powers this season.

It also highlighted the strides the Tigers have made over the years.

After claiming a Colonial League Championship and third straight District 11 title, Northwestern - which went 24-0 this season - was third in the Class 2A team standings with 130 points.

“Still finishing third in the state, that’s nothing to sneeze at,” said Tigers’ head coach Chris Stitzel. “I know it’s not what the guys wanted; I know they were going for it. We just had said to lay it out on the line today, and whatever happened, happened.

“But they just ran well all year. This is actually the first loss of the year, really. We won every invitational we went in this year, plus we went undefeated. I know the guys are upset, but they had a great year. I’m just so proud of them, the hard work that they put in to get to this point, that we had a chance.”

Matthew Santana ran to a 12th-place finish with a time of 16:53.8 in the Class 2A race to earn his first state medal for Northwestern.

“It feels good,” said Santana. “For some reason, I always do a lot better in Hershey; it’s probably one of my favorite courses.

“I just wanted to put it all out there to see what our team could do, and hopefully we’d get a top spot. We came up short today, but that’s all right.”

Lewisburg was first with 87 points, followed by Grove City (107). Lewisburg had five runners in the top 46, and three in the top 34.

Senior Jacob Hess was the team’s top runner with a third-place finish in 16:05.4.

At the one-mile mark, Northwestern was scored sixth in the team standings. The Tigers were still sixth after two miles before moving up to fourth at 4K.

Lewisburg was scored in first throughout the race.

The Tigers had three runners in the top 50. Cole Chukoskie was 32nd (17:16.7), while Samuel Bower was 48th (17:13.5). Nathan Vincent was 60th (17:41.7), followed by Gavin Nelson in 76th (17:53.1), Joe Chukoskie in 101st (18:06.6) and William Gruen in 191st (19:10.4).

“It’s been a great season,” said Cole Chukoskie. “Ever since last season, this meet has been a goal. And our coach talks about taking steps toward that goal, and we did a great job with that. Regular season champs, league champs, then district champs. We did a good job of taking those steps.”

The Tigers won the DeSales Invitational and the Lion Invitational at Moravian Academy earlier this year. They also claimed a massive win at the PIAA Foundation Invite in Hershey, topping Grove City 89-94 for the Class 2A title.

“They can’t take that away from them. They’re league champions, they’re district champions three years in a row,” said Stitzel. “They can’t take that away from them. They’re still champions.

“Their work ethic is unbelievable. They’re a close group; they train together every day, and it showed. That’s what it takes to get to this level. They have to train together, and they just ran with confidence all year.”

Santana’s 31st-place finish (17:44) paced the Tigers to a sixth-place result in the team standings a year ago. Bower (18:02) was 49th.

“I’d say it’s really cool,” Santana said of the team’s chemistry. “We’ve got a good group of guys. We work together all summer, all year ‘round. It’s almost like a second family. It’s great to be a part of.”

Santana moved up steadily throughout the race. He was 49th at the first mile, 18th at the two mile and 16th at the 4K mark.

“The start I was definitely in the 100s. I did not get a good start,” said Santana. “In the last mile, I just moved my way up. I just wanted to see how far I could get.

“I wasn’t really worried (after the start), because at the (Foundation) Invite, I was in the same situation and managed to get up to sixth. So I was a little bit comfortable. I knew what I could do.”

Though Northwestern loses seniors Cole Chukoskie, Joe Chukoskie and Nathan Vincent, three juniors (Santana, Bower and Gruen) and Nelson, a freshman, will return next season.

“We still have a good group coming back,” said Stitzel. “I know we have three seniors in the this group, but hopefully the underclassmen see what kind of work it takes to get back to this level, and go at it again.

“I’m just so proud of these guys. This is still our best finish ever with the boys. We had all these girls teams finishing third, but this is our best finish with the boys. They had a great year, and we’ll be ready to go at it again.”