Warren senior Katie Beyer finished 12th at districts and 40th at states to lead the Region 4 all-stars from the county. Photo submitted to Times Observer

Warren’s Katie Beyer and Hugh Harrison are perfect examples of what it takes to lead a pack of county cross country all-stars.

Beyer, a senior, and Harrison, sophomore, were named first-team all-region all-stars by a vote of their Region 4 coaches.

Beyer’s teammate, junior Shyann Rulander, was named to the region’s second team, along with Youngsville senior Julia Bojaczko and freshman Cassie Britton.

Bojaczko was 20th out of 100 at the District 10 Class A championship race. She missed out on states, but gained much more.

“I’ve never been the best at running and I’ll never be as good as a lot of people, but I’ve worked hard the last four years to be where I’m at,” said Bojaczko. “At first, my goal when joining cross country my freshman year was just to be able to run a whole 3.1 miles without stopping. I am no natural athlete and my personal best landed about 25 minutes. I no longer wanted to just be able to finish a race, I wanted to keep improving and catch up to others… I went from a 7-minute mile in 8th grade track to a 6:12 freshman year. To some people, that’s just a mediocre time that’ll get a person a few points for the team. But to me, that’s when I realized I could work for this to be better at my sport. Since then, I’ve worked year-round and managed to improve every season with multiple setbacks. I had a goal of making it to states this year, but I mentally burned out and couldn’t tough out the districts race enough. Surprisingly, I was okay with that and realized performance isn’t everything. I am grateful for all my teammates and coaches who have pushed and believed in me.”

Beyer finished 12th and qualified for states at the D-10 3A race. Rulander was 14th and also qualified for the PIAA meet.

“This cross country season for me was a comeback from last season because it didn’t end how I wanted it to due to physical setbacks,” said Beyer, 40th at states as a senior. “As an athlete, achieving your goals doesn’t always go as planned. You have to adjust to circumstances and overcome those challenges. I wanted this season to be the best, achieve the goals I set for myself and end it on a good note. Evolving as a runner and an athlete takes dedication, trusting your coaches, listening to your body, fueling it properly and having a strong mindset.”

Warren senior Graham Carr and Eisenhower senior Alex Hummel were named to the Region 4 boys’ second team.

Hummel qualified for states his senior year, finishing 14th in the D-10 Class A race in “a great cross country career,” his coach, Darlene Beach, said.

Harrison was off to a running start before an injury ended his season early.

“After a long summer of hard work, I started off the season strong and immediately saw personal-best times,” he said. “I continued to listen to my coach Kevin Dustin as he was leading me to my main goal, going to states. Unfortunately, due to injury, my season came to an abrupt end, causing me to miss the end of the season. This injury taught me a very important life lesson… Coming into my junior season, my eyes are set on states.”

BOYS’ REGION 4 ALL-STARS

FIRST TEAM

Logan Byerly — Harbor Creek — 11

Max Dailey — Harbor Creek — 12

Hugh Harrison — Warren — 10

Stephen Brady — Corry — 11

Lucas Boyd — North East — 11

Landon Myer — Union City — 12

Peyton Brewer — Harbor Creek — 11

SECOND TEAM

Graham Carr — Warren — 12

Fabian Fourspring — Corry — 10

Tavon Kornikoski — Corry — 10

Michael Werner — Seneca — 10

Zac Shumac — Seneca — 11

Aidan Reinsel — North East — 12

Alex Hummel — Eisenhower — 12

Region champion – Harbor Creek

Region runner of the year – Logan Byerly, Harbor Creek

GIRLS’ REGION 4 ALL-STARS

FIRST TEAM

Jordan Fox — Corry — 9

Veronica Brewer — Harbor Creek — 9

Katie Beyer — Warren — 12

Lexy Hasbrouck — Corry — 12

Haeleigh Bayle — Corry — 10

Maddy Hammond — North East — 12

Maddie Hartner — North East — 12

SECOND TEAM

Allie Gladitz — Seneca — 9

Monica Curtis — Harbor Creek — 12

Shyann Rulander — Warren — 11

Teya Bailey — Corry — 11

Ava Reagle — Union City — 9

Cassie Britton– Youngsville — 9

Julia Bojaczko — Youngsville — 12

Region champion – Corry

Region runner of the year – Jordan Fox, Corry