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Mary Everdale
Senior
Hazleton Area
Everdale was the veteran leader of a Hazleton Area team that went 15-3 to finish fourth in the WVC. She won multiple conference cluster races, finished second in the conference meet to help the team also finish second, then qualified for a return trip to the state meet by finishing third in the District 2-4 Class 3A Subregional.
Sam Dyer
Senior
Berwick
Dyer led Berwick to a winning season in the WVC and finished fifth in the conference championship meet. She finished 12th in the District 2 Class 2A meet to earn a medal and a chance to finish her career at the state meet.
Arianna Boccardi
Senior
Pittston Area
Boccardi led Pittston Area to a second-place finish during the WVC season at 17-1. She finished fourth in the conference meet and eighth in the District 2-4 Class 4A Subregional. She was a four-year member of team, contributing to 56-10 record in her career.
Megan Borton
Freshman
Dallas
Dallas returned to the top of the Wyoming Valley Conference with Borton providing the individual win in the title-clinching victory in the regular-season finale. She continued to lead the team through the postseason, finishing third in the conference meet to lead another team championship, then placing 13th in District 2 Class 2A to qualify for the state meet as an individual.
Ariana Stranko
Freshman
Hazleton Area
The freshman was the second finisher for the Cougars when they finished second in the team standings at the Wyoming Valley Conference meet and District 2-4 Class 3A Subregional. Stranko made the state meet with her seventh-place subregional finish after placing eighth in conference meet.
Riley Oremus
Senior
Dallas
Oremus sealed the 2013 state Class 2A championship for Dallas as a freshman when she got to the finish line in time to support the four older girls who won individual state medals that day. She completed her career with a fourth straight trip to Hershey by qualifying individually with her 16th-place finish in the District 2 meet. She placed 12th at conference meet for WVC regular-season and conference meet champions. Oremus was part of three WVC champs as team went 65-1 in her career.
BOYS & GIRLS COACH OF THE YEAR
Matt Samuel
Dallas
Neither of the Dallas cross country teams, both coached by Samuel, lost a meet in the Wyoming Valley Conference this season. That was just the start of the accomplishments for the Mountaineers boys team. Dallas repeated as Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A state champion as well as District 2 champion and ran its conference winning streak up to 102 meets and six straight perfect seasons along the way.
Under Samuel, Dallas has had success unmatched by any other cross country program in the WVC and rivaled by only a select few in the state. Dallas has had six state championships in the last four years, getting at least one each from boys team, girls team, boys individual and girls individual categories during that time. The boys and girls cross country teams have won more than 97 percent of their conference meets in Samuel’s 14-year career, which has produced eight state team or individual titles, three state runner-up finishes, 12 district team championships and 21 conference titles.
Samuel finished 13th in the state in cross country while a senior at Dallas in 1992. He went on to letter all four years at the University of Pittsburgh in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track before making his way back to his alma mater as a teacher and coach.