The last time Colin McGuigan ran at the EPC Cross-Country Championships, he was an eager freshman who broke onto the scene with a fifth-place finish, just behind three seniors and a junior.
Last year, he was confined to the classroom and forced to check the league tournament results on his phone as a case of pneumonia that developed into a form of exercise induced asthma kept him out for his highly anticipated sophomore season.
In Tuesday afternoon’s 2025 EPC Cross-Country Championship at DeSales University, McGuigan pushed through to capture the gold medal he’s waited his time for.
“It was definitely a difficult nine months. At some points you felt like you were never going to be able to get better, you know?” McGuigan said. “But I think, now getting back, it was just thinking about all the times where you thought it wasn’t going to happen and just seeing where I am now, it feels great.”
The battle on the girls side represented the final installment of a dominant reign rather than the potential beginning of one.
Emmaus senior Madelyn McCartney broke away from the pack to capture her third consecutive EPC championship with a personal-best time at the competition of 18:11.30.
“I was excited. I was really happy,” McCartney said. “I always look forward to these races because I get to go against everybody.”
While McGuigan’s effort was able to pace a championship effort on the boys side, McCartney and the Green Hornets came up just short of Easton for the second straight season as Lama Mahmoud (fifth), Lyla Knoble (seventh), Vivian Clark (eighth), Lena Mahmoud (19th) and Liliana Michalska (20th) helped the Red Rovers defend their title.
Parkland’s Colin McGuigan won the boys race at the 2025 EPC Cross-Country Championships at DeSales University. (Derek Bast/Special to The Morning Call)
Parkland (36 points) finished ahead of Emmaus (46 points), Allentown Central Catholic (97 points) and Nazareth (114 points). Easton (59 points) held off Parkland (80 points), the Green Hornets (83 points) and Liberty (98 points).
Madelyn McCartney wins the EPC cross-country girls championship race Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at DeSales University in Upper Saucon Township. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)“We just pride ourselves in being a family. That’s how I look at it at Easton,” longtime Red Rovers coach Bobbi Jo Powell said. “We lost a lot of big meets early last year, so to repeat for them took a whole lot of work and a whole lot of leadership. We just had great leaders this year, and I’m just super proud of them.”
McGuigan broke a school and course record in the first meet of the season, and he’s only grown in confidence since.
That led to what he considered to be one of his better races of the season.
“I think, strategically, I went into it pretty well,” McGuigan said. “That last mile was pretty tough … this course is just different.”
Madelyn McCartney wins the EPC cross-country girls championship race Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at DeSales University in Upper Saucon Township. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Coach Kelly Bracetty couldn’t say enough about the growth she’s seen from her star runner amidst a challenging and frustrating nine months.
“It was so great to see Colin and his comeback today. It’s been a long time coming,” Bracetty said. “It’s awfully hard when any athlete has a setback, but for the talent that Colin has, to see him bounce back and just be so resilient … it’s definitely an inspiration to everybody on our team and even others outside of our program.
“This is why running is such an awesome sport, because it teaches you so many life lessons that you are able to connect with other areas of your life, and his resilience through all of this, and his positive attitude, and the way that he was such a good teammate to others, even when he couldn’t run, just shows so much about his character. We’re really proud of him, and he’s got such a bright future.”
She was also impressed with her deep group of runners – Jaiden Zabler (second), Luke McEvoy (eighth), Logan McEvoy (ninth) and Isaiah Wilson (12th) – who helped the Trojans come away with a fourth consecutive boys EPC championship.
“Every week we have guys rotating in and out of our top positions, which is really cool because if you look at where they were just a few years ago, even a few months ago, they keep working hard and they keep pushing themselves.
“It’s exciting to see how those spots kind of move around each week. But they’re all in it together. We’re such a family. We’re such a team,” Bracetty said. “Our motto this year is stronger together. When somebody maybe falls back, another person is right there to step in.”
McCartney battled congestion during her league-winning run last season, but at full strength on Tuesday, put together the best run of her impressive career at the league championships.
“I’ve been crossing my fingers that the sickness would stay away,” McCartney said. “I definitely have a lot more training under my belt. I took a different approach this year to how I run my races and also my training, so that definitely makes a difference from how I ran this course last year to this year.”
Despite yet another win for the senior University of Kentucky commit, she knows there’s plenty still ahead with two more postseason meets on the horizon and a boatload of expectations.
“I went out hard right from the start, and I just tried to hold onto that,” McCartney said. “And I think it works pretty well for me. There’s always something to improve on, and for this case, I know for next week I’ve got to make sure I hold onto it between miles two and three.”
The teams and runners will look to defend their titles at next week’s District 11 Cross Country Championships set to take place back at DeSales University on Wednesday, Oct. 22. The last meet of the season, the PIAA Championships, is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 1 at the Parkview Cross Country Course in Hershey, Pa.
EPC CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At DeSales University
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Parkland 36, 2. Emmaus 46, Allentown Central Catholic 97, 4. Nazareth 114, 5. Easton 143
Top 12 medalists: 1. Colin McGuigan (Par) 16:27.3, 2. Roen Woolf (Emm) 16:44.4, 3. Will Haring (CC) 16:50.3, 4. Ryan Fach (Emm) 16:59.2, 5. Evan Guydish (Eas) 17:00.5, 6. Jaiden Zabler (Par) 17:00.6, 7. Jacob Casey (Naz) 17:11.9, 8. Luke McEvoy (Par) 17:12.8, 9. Logan McEvoy (Par) 17:13.3, 10. David Hearn (Emm) 17:19.9, 11. Joshua Cazares (Lib) 17:23.2, 12. Isaiah Wilson (Par) 17:24.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Easton 59, 2. Parkland 80, 3. Emmaus 83, 4. Liberty 97, 5. Nazareth 122.
Top 12 medalists: 1. Madelyn McCartney (Emm) 18:11.3, 2. Hannah Brodhead (Fre) 19:00.1, 3. Elizabeth McClarin (Lib) 19:07.5, 4. Katie Drabouski (Lib) 19:20, 5. Lama Mahmoud (Eas) 19:27.1, 6. Harshita Keerthi (Par) 19:30.3, 7. Lyla Knoble (Eas) 19:54.1, 8. Vivian Clark (Eas) 19:57.2, 9. Helaina Acker (Naz) 20:10.9, 10. Taylor Vidumsky (Fre) 20:12.4, 11. Emma Carlson (Par) 20:25.0, 12. Delaney Schoeneberger (Naz) 20.28.6.
Derek Bast is a freelance writer who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.
