Northampton harrier Michael Snyder beat last week’s race time by 30 seconds to place 27th at the District XI Class 3A Cross Country Championships on Oct. 28 at DeSales University.

“I hugged more corners than last race so I had a better way to pass people. I passed a few at the beginning and then at the last moment, I passed one kid,” said Snyder, who crossed the finish line in 17:47.0. “The hills were better today. Coming into the finish, I didn’t have anyone behind me and only one person in front of me, and I was just letting everything out, so I started my little jog, and then as soon as I got over the little divot, I gave it everything I got.”

Michael Muessig, Gavin Beam, Nathan Bumback, Isaiah Deveney also competed for the Konkrete Kids in the boys race.

“This year we focused a lot on staying on grass, working on hills, doing interval runs, so we had some speed work,” said Northampton coach Jaclyn Grejda. “I’m so proud of them. They did great. They put everything they had out there. From the beginning of the season until now, all of their times have gotten better, so they’ve all improved tremendously, and I couldn’t ask any more of them. They did good today.”

Addie Sobieski, Sarah Harding, Alexa Wright, Yojeilyn Acosta Pimentel, and Khloe Warner competed in the girls race.

“The course is very challenging, but once you get used to it and push up the hills everything’s fine,” said Harding. “I had to really set my mind on getting up the hill, and if I would’ve gone even a little bit slower, I would’ve been so far behind. You just have to overshoot the amount of power you think you’re using and add more so you can get over it faster. I feel like I did really good. I feel like I pushed harder than I thought I would.”