HONESDALE, PA — The Honesdale Hornets cross-country squad celebrated its last homestand meet of the season by defeating the Buckhorns of Hawley’s Wallenpaupack High on Wednesday, October 14.

The combined boys’ and girls’ 5K meet was a Lackawanna League Division II XC contest between the neighboring schools, both of which are part of the Wayne Highlands School District.

The Lady Hornets (5-0) defeated their rivals by posting a total time of 1:54:22.70 (average 22:52.54), while the boys (3-2) won at 1:38:07.30 (20:47.04).

Previous Next

The scholar-athletes from both schools ran hell-bent for leather, the devil on their tails, dashing like the wind to break the beams at the finish line.

The Hornets have five seniors on the roster: four boys (Skyler LeClere, Eric Lukan, Evin Schultz and Ben Swartz) and one girl (Alexandra Skidmore).

Cross-county head coach Lindsey Pender said of her seniors, “All four boys are great leaders, and Alexandra is a rock star.”

Now in her 11th year at the helm, Pender started out at the Home of the Hornets, while she was still in college, as an assistant to former head coach Joseph Macey.

Despite the onslaught on the coronavirus and the challenges it has created in fielding teams, “the kids are hard-working, dedicated, and are absolutely amazing to work with, they have a lot of enthusiasm,” she said.

Last year, the girls were second in the district, which qualified them for the state meet in Hershey, PA. In 2016, they were crowned district champions.

“Our teams have been very successful... both the jayvee and varsity teams have exceeded my expectations,” said Pender, adding that she hopes the varsity girls and boys runners can make it to the districts and then onto the states.