LEHMAN TWP. – It was a cold 28 degrees, windy and spring was nowhere in sight Sunday but that didn’t stop runners from enjoying the Wyoming Valley Striders 42nd Annual Winter’s End 4.5 Mile Run at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
First-time winner Daniel Danilovitz, 16 of Moosic took top honors finishing in 24 minutes, 31 seconds. Daniel took second place the last two years and is now the youngest overall winner of this race, breaking the record of Eric Reese who won the event at 17 in 1998.
“This is great! I didn’t expect to do this good actually, and I hope it’s a better time than last year,” Danilovitz said
Daniel’s sister, Lacey Danilovitz, 17, of Moosic, repeated her top female performance placing sixth overall in 26:42.
“It’s awesome,” Danilovitz said after her win. “This is a great race and course but a little bit tougher than last year to be honest.”
The second female to finish was Madison Hedglin, 15, of Dallas with a time of 27:30.
Some finishing in the top ten included past overall winners. Second-place finisher Robert Moulton, 30 of Edwardsville finished with a time of 24:51 and John Ciccone, 29 of Williamsport placed fourth in 26:17. Moulton won in 2021 and Ciccone in 2022.
There were 17 teens in the under 19 age group this year, 10 boys and seven girls. The Crestwood cross country team had 10 runners and two coaches participate while the Dallas cross country was represented by one runner and her coach.
Sunday’s race had 157 entries and 138 finishers.
This race is the first leg of the 4th Annual Vince Wojnar Triple Crown. The series also includes their Cherry Blossom 5 Mile Run/Tim Thomas Memorial on May 7 in Wilkes-Barre’s Kirby Park and their 20K Run at the Susquehanna Warrior Trail in Shickshinny on Nov. 12.
The Wyoming Valley Striders trail runs take place May 21 and Oct. 29 at Frances Slocum State Park in Wyoming.
For complete results, go to tinyurl.com/3k2ey8wa.