LANEY BELCHER

Eisenhower senior Laney Belcher had an impressive display of perseverance on Saturday as she earned the final PIAA Cross Country Championships individual spot.

Belcher’s time of 20:49 earned her a 15th-place overall finish, but when removing runners from the top two teams in Mercer and Lakeview, she was able to slide up five spots, cracking the top 10. Just 11 seconds separated her from the 11th spot, which meant her senior season would have ended, but Belcher dug deep to secure the bid.

“Laney earned the last state qualifying spot, 15th place, to run at Hershey this weekend,” Knights head coach Darlene Beach said. “Joining the team as a senior and not having run cross country before, this is quite an accomplishment. She has shown a lot of grit and determination, as her teammates also did on Saturday. Our runners on both the girls and boys teams stepped up to the challenge and ran strong races.”

Also representing the Knights were Izzy Grosch (27th), Lainey Font (38th), Callie Delp (52nd), Bryn Lindell (53rd) and Addyson Britt (61st).

In the boys race, freshmen Parker McBride (36th), and Joseph Fanelli (45th) paced the Knights. Mason Britt (46th), Alex Lund (55th), Brice Ludwick (67th), Carson Ferman (85th) and Jonathan Bogniak (104th) also ran strong races for Eisenhower.

Belcher will travel to Hershey to compete in the PIAA Championships on Friday.