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D2 cross country: Class 2A boys titles for Redeemer, Dallas’ Rome

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District 2 boys soccer: Alieu Jallow lifts Wyoming Valley West over Tunkhannock

CHAPMAN LAKE &#8212; Scranton Prep&#8217;s Mia Bellucci was the only returning girls champion after taking the District 2 Class 2A cross country title in 2017.Bellucci was fast enough that she would have won either the Class A or 3A races Wednesday at Lakeland High School, but she was no match for a newcomer to the Class 2A field.Crestwood&#8217;s Molly DeMarzo continued a stellar freshman season by running through the mud and wind on the 3-mile course in 20:08.2 to leave Bellucci behind while winning by more than 30 seconds.DeMarzo took up distance running in Miami, one of the southern locations her family called home, even though her school did not have a team. When her parents, both graduates of Riverside High School in Lackawanna County, decided to move back to Northeastern Pennsylvania in February 2017, Crestwood added a standout to its junior high track and cross country programs.Technically, as a ninth grader, DeMarzo was eligible to still be running on the junior-high team this season. She clearly was more than ready, however, for the varsity level, something she proved by winning the prestigious, season-opening Cliff Robbins Invitational in her debut.DeMarzo never slowed down, going unbeaten in the Wyoming Valley Conference season and going 2-for-3 against Bellucci, the only District 2 runner to finish ahead of her in any event this season.&#8220;Mia, she&#8217;s amazing,&#8221; DeMarzo said. &#8220;I was just going to try to stay behind her and push myself.&#8221;That was not necessary for long Wednesday. DeMarzo made it look easy, moving to the front just past the 1-mile mark and steadily expanding her lead.On a day when several runners left shoes on the course after they were sucked up by mud, DeMarzo was able to run free on nearly two-thirds of the course, shifting left and right when necessary.&#8220;It was a little windy and, in the beginning, it was a little soupy, so I think we just had to pick the parts that were less soupy and run around the others,&#8221; DeMarzo said.Running in front reduced complications and DeMarzo was also happy to be in the third of the day&#8217;s seven races.&#8220;Eventually with all the races that have to go through, it&#8217;s going to get worse, so I&#8217;m glad we ran when we did,&#8221; she said.With Lackawanna League teams Valley View and Honesdale landing the two state team berths in Class 2A, the WVC&#8217;s top runners were left to fight for individual berths. The top 10 runners from teams other than Valley View and Honesdale qualified.WVC champion Holy Redeemer, which finished third in the team standings, and Lake-Lehman each advanced two runners to the PIAA Championships Nov. 3 in Hershey. Dallas joined Crestwood by getting one runner there.DeMarzo led that group.Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Abby Paczewski was next, finishing fifth and breaking the 21-minute mark in the tough conditions, which included freezing wind chill temperatures. Her teammate, Madison Brdaric was 10th.Kaitlyn Hodakowski from Dallas was eighth.Holy Redeemer had Cameron Marcinkowski in 11th place and Madison Dewees in 15th while posting a team score of 101, 10 points better than defending champion and fourth-place finisher Scranton Prep.Megan Borton from Dallas received the last available medal by finishing 20th, but missed a return to the state meet by one place.Valley View beat Honesdale out of the team title, 57-73.Class 3A Katie Balay and Sarah Myers earned state berths while leading Hazleton Area to a second-place finish in the eight-team District 2-4 Class 3A Subregional field.Abington Heights posted the day&#8217;s lowest score in any race, winning with 23 points.Balay was fourth and Myers also claimed one of the five individual state spots by placing eighth while five of the runners ahead of her were from the champion Lady Comets.Kristie Semanchik added a 13th-place finish for Hazleton Area, which edged District 4 member Williamsport, 61-64, for second place.Pittston Area&#8217;s Nicole Zambetti took the last district medal. She finished 12th, but two of the runners ahead of her were from Williamsport, which does not receive medals from District 2.Class A The WVC had only the MMI Prep team and individuals from Northwest and Wyoming Seminary entered.Northwest freshmen Abigail Zielecki and Alivia Wright finished 18th and 24th out of 71 to lead the way.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Molly DeMarzo followed up her WVC title last week by dethroning Scranton Prep&#8217;s Mia Bellucci to win the District 2 Class 2A girls championship on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_IMG_1625.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crestwood&#8217;s Molly DeMarzo followed up her WVC title last week by dethroning Scranton Prep&#8217;s Mia Bellucci to win the District 2 Class 2A girls championship on Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tom Robinson | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

D2 cross country: Crestwood’s Molly DeMarzo dethrones Class 2A girls champ