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Back Mountain runners claimed three of the available four state championships in Class AA Saturday at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Cross Country Championships.
While Dallas senior Ally Rome and Lake-Lehman senior Dominic Hockenbury were repeating their individual titles, a young Dallas boys lineup produced a team championship.
Sophomore Jack Zardecki earned the last individual state medal with a 25th-place finish to lead the Mountaineers to the state team championship.
The five-runner lineup that produced the winning team score featured two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior.
Sophomore Adam Borton was 28th, junior Jason Culp was 36th and freshmen Stephen Postupak and Mitchell Rome placed 64th and 73rd among the race’s 225 finishers.
The complete seven-man team included senior Robert Martin (121st) and another sophomore, Josh Jarden (170th).
Rome won the girls title by 19 seconds over District 2 rival Erin Feeney from Scranton Prep by finishing the 3.1-mile course in 18:30.
Dallas had a second individual medalist with sophomore Rebecca Balara taking 21st. The Mountaineers finished ninth in the state girls team standings.
Lake-Lehman’s Jade Fry placed 40th.
Hockenbury finished in 15:49 for a five-second win and his fourth PIAA state championship, including a pair of 3200-meter run titles in track and field season.
Jacob Toczko from Tunkhannock repeated as a medalist in 11th place.
Maggie Toczko from Tunkhannock qualified for, but missed the Class AA girls race because of an injury.
Tara and Paige Kupsky, Wyoming Seminary runners from Trucksville, placed 71st and 86th in Class A girls.