Bethel Park harrier leads individual qualifiers
Danielle Hinish is undecided about many things. Regarding college, she’s trying to choose between Duquesne, Lehigh and Pitt. Concerning her career path, she’s torn between science and business. “I like everything,” she said.
The Bethel Park senior is sure of one thing though. “I love running,” she said.
That passion translated to success this cross-country season. In fact, she finished fifth overall during the WPIAL Class AAA championships.
“I said to myself this season that I wanted to enjoy every race. Do it because I love this sport,” Hinish said. “I think I accomplished that. It’s my best season so far.”
During the District 7 finals, Hinish’s time of 19:38 proved the fastest among all female contenders from the South Hills.
“I don’t really look to beat people. I look to run my best time,” she explained. “It really feels good to run well for my team and represent Bethel Park well.”
On Nov. 7, Hinish will represent her school during the PIAA championships in Hershey. She’s hoping for a Top 20 finish.
“I’m really looking forward to (states),” she said. “I’d like to run faster at states.”
Before she even started the WPIAL race, Hinish knew she would run a personal record.
“Warming up, I felt good. My legs felt good,” she explained. “Personally, I felt good the whole time.
“I knew with the wind I really had to draft behind people and play it smart,” she continued. “Kept my strides a little conservative and then after that first mile was done I went in and attacked and tried to pick off every girl I possibly could.”
Morgan Grudi picked off plenty of girls, too. The Canon-McMillan junior placed 10th overall with a 19:43 time and earned a berth in the PIAA championships.
“Top 10 was my goal,” she said. “I achieved my goal and I made it to states. So I am really happy.”
USC advances 2
Upper St. Clair cross country coach Doug Petrick is quite pleased with Savannah Shaw. The sophomore finished 15th overall with a 19:55 time, which was also good enough to qualify for the PIAA championships.
“Savannah ran a great race. She is so mentally strong and really rises to the level of talent in big time races. What a competitor,” Petrick enthused.
“Her composure and talent in races is really something amazing. She’s young and will keep improving because she values doing all the right things. She is process-focused and knows improvement is a result of keeping healthy, staying injury free, and stringing together consistent training cycles.”
According to Petrick, Shaw’s performance set the tone for the rest of the Lady Panthers. They improved upon last year’s showing. Sophomores Mary Wilding, Anvi Kumar and Nicole Naumann along with freshmen Stephanie Grunwald and Lydia Lucas helped USC place 13th overall. Caitlin Pyles, the lone senior in the line-up, also contributed to the Panthers’ performance.
“The entire team should be proud of its effort,” Petrick said. “The competition in the AAA race was exactly as advertised – lots of talent and athletes setting the tone early. It’s crazy to see how much the level of competition has advanced.”
On the male side, Bennett Sneath also earned a trip to states. The USC senior finished 29th overall with a 17:49 time.
“We are so happy for him to finish strong and get a chance to run at Hershey. It’s a feather in his cap,” said Petrick. “This is a testament to his attitude and team approach to racing.”
According to Petrick, the rest of the Panthers fed off Sneath. Michael Stemmler, Chris Hess, Christopher Adamo, Ethan Mann, Alex Lindstrom and Justin Densmore helped USC to a Top 10 finish in the boys’ standings.
“Our boys raced aggressively throughout the entire 5K. You really can’t ask for much more at WPIALS,” Petrick said. “The boys’ race was extremely tactical; the front group went out very aggressive and stayed as a pack for about two-thirds of the race. This was all very exciting to watch.
“Coach Chermak and I are proud of what our runners accomplish,” continued Petrick. “They moved forward as a team from last year and to get one girl and one guy to states is just icing on the cake.”
More qualifiers
There was plenty of icing on Chartiers Valley’s cake. The Colts, who won a section title by edging Mt. Lebanon earlier this season, finished fifth overall in the Class AAA boys’ team standings. Plus, they advanced two runners to the PIAA championships.
Joseph Westrick placed eighth overall with a 16:45 time. Czar Tarr finished 21st overall with a 17:07 time. Other top performers for CV included: Matthew Thomas, Elias Zajicek, Micah Colson, Patrick Beatty and Mark Golebiewski.
Additionally, Jonas Wudkwych gained a berth in the state finals. The Canon-McMillan junior placed 28th overall with a 17:26 time.
In Class A, Bishop Canevin advanced two females to the PIAA championships. Becca Volz secured sixth overall. The junior clocked in at 20:34. Senior Leah Narkevic placed 14th overall with a 21:15 time.