First Posted: 9/10/2014

Lindsey Oremus is off and running early in the Dallas girls cross country season, but it’s what comes later — in the sport’s postseason — that’s on her mind.

“My coach and I are training for that,” Oremus said after finishing in 19:37 Wednesday to win a six-team Wyoming Valley Conference meet by more than a minute while leading the Mountaineers to three more victories. “We’re looking more toward the end of the season. I’m kind of focused on states and even regionals beyond that.”

Oremus was the second runner last season when Dallas captured a state championship. Four-time District 2 champion Regan Rome, who twice used regionals to qualify for the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships, has graduated, leaving Oremus to lead the way for the Mountaineers.

The senior has shown she is ready by taking first in the first two league cluster meets, finishing second at the Cliff Robbins Invitational and placing third in a strong field at last weekend’s PennTrackXC.com.

“I was very happy with that,” Oremus said of the PennTrackXC meet in Kutztown.

Oremus, who earned a state cross country medal for a 14th-place finish last year and also took 13th in the state in the 1600 meters in track season, dominated Wednesday.

“It’s a tough course,” Dallas coach Matt Samuel said. “There were some tough opponents. She did very well.”

Wyoming Seminary’s Paige Kupsky and Tara Kupsky were second and third, followed by Ally Rome of Dallas, another returning state medalist.

There was a family feel to the top 10.

Erin Rome, Ally’s cousin from Tunkhannock, was fifth.

After Krystin Chaga of Lake-Lehman placed sixth, Riley Oremus, Lindsey’s sister, was next for Dallas.

Katie Grose of Dallas and the Lake-Lehman combination of Julia Hutsko and Lindsay Pembleton completed the top 10.

Dallas, which is also the defending conference and district champion, swept its three meets on the day.

The Mountaineers easily handled Tunkhannock, last year’s third-place team, by an 18-39 margin and Lake-Lehman, which had posted a higher team finish at the Robbins Invitational, by a 20-35 score. The other win was a 15-50 forfeit over Wyoming Valley West, which did not have enough runners for a team score.

Wyoming Seminary and Lake-Lehman each went 2-1 for the day while Tunkhannock and Wyoming Area were 1-2.

Other dual meet scores included: Lake-Lehman 16, Wyoming Area 47; Lake-Lehman 25, Wyoming Seminary 35; Tunkhannock 21, Wyoming Area 39; and Wyoming Seminary 23, Tunkhannock 32.