Bartlett takes silver at ICC’s
Jenna Bartlett (center) poses with Juniata Valley’s Morgan Hess and West Branch’s Hailey Prestash. The trio took the top three spots at the ICC cross country meet yesterday, with Bartlett earning silver.
October 18, 2018
Jenna Bartlett is no bragger by any means.
Humble and quiet, she’s more likely to praise a teammate than say anything about herself.
So you know she’s sincere when she talks about her cross country performance, which has been nothing short of dominant for the last two seasons.
It culminated yesterday when she finished second at the Inter-County Conference championships at Mount Union.
Bartlett ran a personal-best time of 20:57, 20 seconds behind West Branch’s Heather Prestash, and in a rare occasion this season she was not running alone ahead of the pack, which helped, she said.
Jenna has grown so much in her four years. There’s a possibility she could run even lower than what she did.
“It was really exciting to be competing against girls who are very fast,” Bartlett said. “Sometimes I find myself alone on the course, so running with people who were fast was a treat.”
Coach Julie Roseborough said Jenna’s performance is a fitting way for her to go out in ICC competition considering how she has performed against the ICC as a junior and senior.
“She’s had a very good year,” she said. “She’s won every dual meet the last two seasons. She’s really put in the work. This season, she has also set a good example for our other runners and turned out to be an excellent leader.”
Bartlett was the highest finisher on the girls side, while for the boys sophomore Kennny Robinson placed fifth with a time of 18:12, shaving more than a minute off of his season’s best time.
Both runners have Districts to look forward to, and Coach R. feels Bartlett still has the potential to run faster times.
“Jenna has grown so much in her four years,” said Coach R. “There’s a possibility she could run even lower than what she did.”
Bartlett feels the same, and she is motivated to advance to the PIAA meet.
“I want to get to states this year,” Bartlett said. “Altoona (where Districts is held) is a hilly course, so we’ll see.”
