Burlington Township’s Payton Falkenstein, a sophomore at East Stroudsburg, placed 6th out of 100 runners Saturday morning at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships in Maxatawn Township, Berks County.
Falkenstein ran an all-course best 22:43.6 over 6K at the Kutztown Farm Course and was East Stroudsburg’s No. 2 runner, behind senior Daniella Napoli, who was 5th. That’s 18:56 5K pace for an extra 1,000 meters.
East Stroudsburg placed 3rd of 17 schools with 91 points, just 21 behind team winner Slippery Rock. Shippensburg was 2nd with 88.
Falkenstein’s previous fastest time for 6,000 meters on any course was a 22:52.4 last November at the NCAA Division 2 Atlantic Region Championships in Lock Haven, Pa.
East Stroudsburg is ranked 5th in the Atlantic Region going into Regionals back at Lock Haven on Nov. 9.
Falkenstein was 35th in this race last year and ran 24:41 on a different course. She was runner-up last spring in the 5,000 on the track at the PSAC Championships at Lehigh.
Falkenstein did not run cross country at Burlington Township.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 