On Friday afternoon, the girls’ cross country team shook off an early autumn chill to turn in a strong performance at the annual Tom Knipfing Invitational at Fireman’s Field.

The Bears finished 5th in a strong field that included much larger NYSPHSAA schools, thanks to personal record times from the Bears’ top four finishers. Eighth-grader Sophia Dabbraccio finished in 8th place overall, covering the 5,000-meter course in 21:33. Evelyn Apazidis (14th/22:10), Mia Trama (18th/22:43), and Nikki Quartuccio (38th/24:18) followed with personal best times, and Yasmin Tinaz rounded out the scoring in 44th place with a time of 24:50. Aubree Yoder (75th/29:47) and Danielle Lam (81st/34:42) also ran to the best times of their career.

The Bears are back in action tomorrow afternoon when they host the PSAA on the S.T. Hsaio home course.