While the football team was warming up for Wyomissing, the boys' cross country team was battling the Spartans' harriers in the District Three Championships at Big Spring High School. L-S, the defending 2A champs, came home with four medal winners, including Colin Whitaker's gold medal performance, but it wasn't quite enough. L-S finished with 66 team points, just 12 points behind Wyomissing.

"The boys knew Wyomissing would be competitive," said head coach Mari Cunningham. "The boys ran well and pushed themselves, but Wyomissing's spread was less.

"Colin moved from second to first this year," she continued. "He had a lead at the beginning and kept it the entire race. He broke the AA record for the district course and looked relaxed the whole race."

Whitaker's 15:40.5 winning time becomes the new district course record for AA, passing last year's champ Weber Long of Greencastle-Antrium and his 15:45.9.

Seniors Ben Devine and Parker Stoner also improved on last year's times and places. Devine moved from 9th (16:51) to 4th with a 16:21.3 while Stoner dropped from 17:08 (15th) to 16:51.3 and placed 12th overall. Luke Smith, a junior, showed the biggest improvement, dropping over a minute off his time and moving from 40th to 18th place and rounding out the L-S medal winners.

The Pioneers fifth and final counter was freshman Michael Colosi (51st in 18:36). Andrew Cramer (58th, 18:47.5) and Owen Witmer (60th, 18:48.2) rounded out the lineup.

"Michael, Owen and Andrew were close throughout the race," said Cunningham. "Michael had a strong last mile. He has been improving throughout the season and is motivated to continue to improve."

The girls' team also competed as a team at the District Championships and settled for 9th place in a field of 18 teams. Sophomore Keira Smecker was the only medal winner, grabbing 17th place in 20:50.7. Last year she was 32nd in 22:08.

Morgan Wright, a junior, followed in 32nd place with a 21:42.9 and Merin Kauffman was 56th (22:59). She was the seventh freshman to cross the finish line.

Rounding out the top five was Abby Welchans (92, 24:01.9) and Jocelyn Wolff (94th, 24:04.3) while Mikayla Coe (122, 25:28) and Jenna Guyer (137, 28:27) completed the lineup.

"Abby and Morgan both improved their times," said Cunningham. "Both ran hard. So did Merin, Makayla, Jocelyn and Jenna. It wasn't their best race but overall, but they all have improved from last year to this year."

The boys' team, along with Smecker, will compete in the PIAA Championships in Hershey.

FOOTBALL

In a battle for the Section Four title, the 8-1 Pioneers traveled to Wyomissing for a Saturday afternoon contest, Oct. 29, against the 9-0 Spartans who were going for their 35th regular season win. A lot on the line for both squads who came in with 6-0 regular season records. Wyomissing, outscoring teams 44-8, emerged with a 21-0 shutout, Lampeter's first regular season shutout loss in 14 years.

"Wyomissing is a very good football team," said head coach Victor Ridenour. "I thought we were better, but we have some work to do, especially on offense."

That offense was held to 77 total yards and just five first downs.

After forcing the Pioneers to punt on their opening possession, Wyomissing put together an 82-yard drive that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by Matthew Kramer, the team's leading scorer.

L-S punted again and again the Spartans drove the length of the field and pushed in another 4-yard touchdown, this one by Ryker Jones with 5:01 left in the half.

The Pioneers, who dropped their season opener to Solanco but powered their way through the next eight games racking up three shutouts along the way, looked to challenge late in the quarter but Trent Wagner's pass was intercepted at the Spartans' 32.

The third quarter was a defensive battle. Each team forced two punts. But Wyomissing, who's closest game this season was a 41-24 win over Berks Catholic, found its way to the endzone again. Kramer scored his 19th TD of the season on a 16-yard run with 34 seconds left. Kramer finished with 85 yards on 18 carries.

"I thought the defense as a whole played really well," said Ridenour. "Wyomissing is very physical, and our defense matched that for most of the game. They had to work for every stripe. I am proud of our defensive effort.

"Offensively, we made mental mistakes, missed some opportunities and struggled to put more than two good plays together," Ridenour continued. "We allowed too many negative plays and when you do that against an opponent like Wyomissing, you're going to have a long day."

The Spartans finished with 259 rushing yards and 19 first downs.