- Athletics
Winston Watkins '25 finished second individually to lead the Blue Storm to a fourth place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League Cross Country Championship held at Peddie School (Hightstown, NJ) October 25.
Mercersburg Runners:
#2 – Winston Watkins ’25 – 16:53.6
#10 – Bryson Brown ’24 – 17:42.3
#18– Jake Cruikshank ’24 – 18:16.3
#19 – Brendan Shorb ’24 – 18:17.8
#34 – Ahman Habib ’26 – 19:07.9
#37 – Oscar Su ’25 – 19:57.9
#44 – Will Wallace ’27 – 21:05.7
Head Coach David Grady commented, "Winston Watkins ran a smart race to earn second place. He was careful not to get drawn out too hard, staying within range of the top several runners but running well within himself in the early stages of the race. By the halfway point in the race he pulled into second place. From there he ran a very strong second half of the race and distanced himself from the rest of the field. His time of 16:53.6 is his fastest ever on a 5k cross country course and his first time under 17:00. He earns First Team All-MAPL honors by virtue of his finish. Watkins is the highest individual male finisher for Mercersburg since Aakash Koduru '20 was second in 2019. Bryson Brown got out aggressively early and maintained a strong pace throughout the race. He battled runners along the way, including on the final straightaway, to earn a hard-fought tenth place finish. Jake Cruikshank, Brendan Shorb, and Ahman Habib rounded out the top five scorers with solid races. We were within range, but we needed our third, fourth, and fifth runners up a little further in the pack to challenge for the team championship."
The Blue Storm actually finished tied for third with Lawrenceville, but lost the tiebreaker (which was the placement of the sixth finisher for each team) to wind up fourth.
For complete results of the MAPL meet click here.
On Saturday, October 28, team members who recorded qualifying times during the season will compete in the PAISAA state cross country meet at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia. The race begins at noon.