Clinton, PA - The air is crisp, carrying the scent of fallen leaves and the great outdoors. Rays of sunlight filter through the trees in the beautiful woods, decorated with colors of crimson, saffron, and orange. Autumn is officially here, meaning only one thing… North Catholic Cross Country is in full swing and better than ever! On Saturday, September 27, 2025, the Trojans and Trojanettes XC teams clashed with 22 other schools in Clinton, PA, for the Youthtowne Clash Invitational. This meet began the gauntlet run of 3 meets in a short 6 days.  

The Trojanettes delivered a commanding victory over all 2A schools as well as the 22 other teams, winning the entire invitational! All placing in the top 20, Madeline Meuff, Caroline Sell, Maggie Killian, Sydney Dunn, and Anna Morris scored a total of 64 points to win the day. Even though they crushed all of their opponents, they know there is still a lot of work to be done. The coaching staff and the team know that better, faster days are around the corner, and they are determined to unveil their full potential as WPIALs draws closer. 

The Trojans had a decent day considering the team's unfortunate circumstances. The boys were missing 3 of their 4 top runners in Jack Steineman, Brandon Szuch, and Jack Davison. However, the Trojans made the most out of their day with senior Tyler Carrol winning the meet with a commending time of 16:12. Following him, Gavin Bartus, Jacob Birchok, Jacob Hauser, and Victor Wagner rounded out the scoring top 5. Bartus, Birchok, and Hauser all had PRs which allowed the Trojans to stay competitive in the field of 23 teams. The NC boys placed 1st among a weak 2A division, but 10th overall as a team. The Trojans hope to get some of their key runners back quickly in order to restore the dominant tone they had set earlier this year.  

Though the Trojans and Trojanettes both came home with golden hardware after the meet, they were not satisfied. Hungry for more, NCXC will work diligently over the next few weeks to devour their competition at WPIALs.