The gun has sounded and the cross country team has started the 2023 season with some big wins for the school—and hopefully some future wins too.

For the first scrimmage of the season August 22 at Brady’s Run, the boys’ team crossed the line in first place with a score of 20 while Hopewell (53 points) and Riverside (90 points) followed.

The top-five boys at Brady’s Run were senior Eli Bechdel with a time of 17:22, junior Tyler Biss with a time of 17:44, and senior Connor Young with a time of 18:15 on the 3.1 mile course.

As for the girls’ team at Brady’s Run, they also beat the competition and gained Beaver Area a first place seat with 17 points with Hopewell (40 points) alongside New Brighton (63 points) following suit.

The top-five girls were junior Danica Purtell clocking in at 21:10, junior Rylie Teapole with 21:48, and senior Ali Tate with 21:56.

Beaver Area got off to a fast start against Avonworth at Brady’s Run August 29. The boys scored 15 to 48 and the girls were 17 to 42.

Against Avonworth, Bechdel led the boys to victory with a time of 17:40 and Purtell brought the win in for the girls with a time of 21:42.

September 2, the Bobcats ran their first regular season meet at the Cal U Marty Uher event where both the boys and girls teams earned first and second place respectively. Bechdel once again showed his athletic skills by reining in a second-place position out of all the boys that day.

Some of the best male runners at this meet were Bechdel with a 17:02, senior Dom Bumblis with a 17:49, and Biss with a 17:57.

“The team has really pulled it together this year; we have a great opportunity at WPIALs this year and have definitely put ourselves on the radar. I’m very excited to see where the season goes,” said Bechdel.

Even though the girls landed at second place, that doesn’t mean they didn’t do well with Purtell earning a 21:18, Teapole with a 21:32, and Tate with a 21:52.

September 9, the White Oak Park meet resulted in the Beaver Area team earning a second place position overall.

As a common trend in this year so far, Biss, Bechdel, and Young led the boys’ team to another successful meet with times of 16:54, 17:04, and 17:14 respectively.

“I feel like we are about to do something incredible. We’ve been training hard for months, and now it’s time to put it into action. Let’s shock em,” Biss said.

For the girls at White Oak, a similar group of runners seem to be doing just as well with Purtell earning a 20:17, Teapole a 20:22, and Tate a 20:36.

The most recent meet September 12 at Brady’s Run brought home some major wins for both teams with Bechdel earning second with a time of 17:04 for the boys and Purtell obtaining a 20:51 for the girls.

However, the meet included some controversy as there was some alleged cheating by a few Montour girls who may have cut the course to improve their scores.

Otherwise, the cross country team is off to a great start this season and we should expect some WPIAL winners inbound.