Northampton harrier Liv Jusinski had to wait many stressful minutes before confirmation came that the Konkrete Kid senior had indeed qualified for states after competing in the District XI Class 3A Girls Cross Country Championships on Oct. 22 at DeSales University.

“I was the last runner to make it, so it was definitely nerve-racking, not sure if I was counting right or if I was going to make it,” Jusinski said. “I didn’t know when I crossed the finish line. I didn’t find out until five to 10 minutes after I crossed, and that was still just a guess.”

Jusinski placed 16th of 86 runners with a time of 20:18.3.

“I PRed (personal record) by over 10 seconds, which made this my fastest time ever on this course. I could feel that the pace was a lot faster for this race, and I was trying to let that carry me along. I knew where I had to be in the first pack of girls, trying to position myself where I knew I needed to be to make it,” she said.

“The biggest challenge is the second mile. There are very steep, very long hills, so powering up those and then continuing my speed through the third mile is definitely the most challenging part. I felt that I had run the best that I could. [Our coach] been incredibly helpful in making sure our training plan was good and that we were mentally and physically prepared for the race. She’s been incredible.”

Juliana Joseph (23:35.0), Alexa Wright (25:05.3), Brielle Torres (29:40.5), and Allison Rounsaville (31:44.1) also competed in the girls race.

In the boys race, Michael Muessig was Northampton’s top runner, placing 53rd of 124 (18:46.8).

Marc Jusinski (18:49.4), Michael Snyder (18:56.1), Gavin Beam (21:21.4), Liam Sekol (22:46.5), Isaiah Deveney (26:36.7), and Benjamin Forte (32:46.3) also competed.

The PIAA State Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Nov. 1 in Hershey.