Wednesday
September 18, 2024 
For Central Bucks West’s Ella Lentini, running has been a family affair.
The Bucks’ senior cross country runner has definitely benefited from her parents’ involvement in running.
Heidi, her mother, and Sal, her father, have been running since their middle and high school days respectively. Her mother has run a marathon, and her father,who began running in middle school, has ran in multiple marathons and triathlons including the Ironman.
So, running was a natural fit.
“Both of my parents are big runners and encouraged me to try cross country,” said Lentini. “I ended up really enjoying the sport.
“My dad has been the biggest influence over me, as he has constantly supported me in my sport, whether it be giving me advice to become better, or doing workouts with me during the summer. He is my biggest role model, and I couldn’t have done it without him.”
Lentini has her sights on breaking the 20-minute mark this season, and helping her team qualify for states. She sees solid team chemistry as the key. Her personal record is 20:01 set last season, and her best finish this season has been 20:17 on their home course at Lake Galena against North Penn on Sept. 20.
“We have a strong team dynamic,” she added. “It has helped us push each other toward success.”
Bucks head coach Kiki Bell is watching her team begin to jell at the right time. Besides Lentini, Bell has looked to senior Abigail Kolbe, junior Malia Mulcahy and sophomores Ariana Beiu, Olivia Nibot, Rachel Folkins and Sofia Pocai to form an evolving core.
“The team is running well and working on tightening our pack,” noted Bell. “We have seven girls who keep it churning. Ariana Bieu is a hurdler during the spring season and brand new with us. Her energy is no quit.”
CB West boys head cross county coach John Mahoney is still experiencing some growing pains with a young squad. They started the season 0-3, but Ben Fuhrmeister had an eighth-place finish in 17:37 recently at the Centaur Invitational at DeSales University.
“It has been rough,” stated Mahoney. “We’re growing and the boys will continue to lower their times.”
At Central Bucks East, head coach Todd Wiley also has a young boys squad, but he has seen some maturation already along the way.
Freshman Tyler Tomlinson, sophomore Kyle Smith, and juniors Dylan Borden and Dan Walsh have helped set the pace.
“We began the season winning two of our first three meets,” said Wiley. “We are doing great. However, we are still young with only one senior.”
CB East head girls coach Keith Sinn finds himself in a similar situation. He has looked to senior team captains Alyssa Curry, Jessica Mauer and Liv Rosica; juniors Lilly Norcross, Amanda Boylan and Ashlee Kanig, along with sophomore Madison Epstein, have been solid contributors.
“Lilly Norcross has been our number one runner and continues to impress,” said Sinn. “We’re getting leadership from our senior captains, and the other girls have been running well.”
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