Cross Country runners hitting their stride
Severe swings in the weather have not deterred area high school runners. This cross-country season they are determined to be the best.
For example, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park, braving the 90-degree heat to start the season, dominated the California University and Gateway Invitational meets, respectively. Despite soggy conditions during last weekend’s Red, White and Blue Classic, Nick Wolk from Peters Township dominated.
“Rainy weather and muddy trails is what cross country is all about,” said USC head coach Douglas Petrick.
Wolk certainly concurred as did the Lebo ladies and gentlemen, not to mention the Lady Hawks and South Fayette runners. Wolk captured the Class AAA boys’ division. He covered the 5,000-meter course in Schenley Park in 15:48.40, more than 17 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Domenic Peretta from Beaver Falls.
Aaron Pfeil shattered a South Fayette school record. His time of 16:36 netted him eighth place behind Wolk. Pfeil’s teammate Sam Snodgrass followed in 16:46 for 15th place overall.
Additionally, Shaun Hay submitted a Top 10 performance. The Winchester-Thurston junior, who resides in McMurray, secured seventh place overall with a 16:35.70 time.
Led by Ian Harris (12th overall in 16:39.10) and Joshua Kalapos (14th, 16:45.70), Lebo finished runner-up to North Allegheny, 52-91, in the boys’ team standings. Todd Gunzenhauser and Bryce Brandenstein followed in 17th and 18th place for the Blue Devils and Rob Doncourt completed the scoring, finishing as Lebo’s fifth harrier.
Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks and Lebo ladies finished sixth and seventh overall in the team standings behind Villa Maria Academy, which competes outside of the WPIAL. Individually, Danielle Hinish of Bethel Park was the top local finisher, placing sixth overall in 19:40.70.
“Dani has a great performance,” said BP head coach Scott Steranko. “When you take out Villa Maria, she was the third fastest girl in the WPIAL. That is outstanding. We are real pleased with her. She had a fantastic day.
Only a week earlier, over the hot Labor Day weekend, Hinish helped the Lady Hawks capture the Gateway Invitational. Karissa Coffield, Claire Makowski, Megan Fedkoe and Avery Hill completed BP’s line-up in both the RWB and Gateway meets.
“We are very proud of the girls. They have done well so far. Our goal was to win Gateway and to be competitive at the Red, White and Blue Classic. We wanted to be among the top five WPIAL teams. These early meets gave us a chance to see where we are. Our girls have been working real hard. At this point, we like our chances at the WPIAL meet.”
Though not until the end of October, the WPIAL championships will be run at Cooper’s Lake and the Lebo ladies anticipate being a contender, too, for one of the top three slots. The Blue Devils won the California Invitational to start the season. They ran that meet as well as the Red, White and Blue Classic without Kelsey Potts, who finished third in the district last year and fifth in the state.
Claire Dougherty led the charge for Lebo at both events. She finished fifth at Cal and 17th overall in Schenley Park. “Claire has had a great summer of training,” said Oscar Schutt.
Freshmen Aoife-Ruby Dunne and Gillian Livingston finished 18th and 19th overall for Lebo at Cal while sophomore Rory Vigrass and senior Frankie Kavalir rounded out the top five as the Blue Devils finished runner-up to University High School from West Virginia.
At Cal, the Lebo boys dominated, registering a team score of 27. Harris finished second overall while Brandenstein took third. Gunzenhauser rounded out the top five. Josh Kalapos and Doncourt placed sixth and 11th overall.
According to Schutt, Morgan Grudi had a “great race” at Cal U. The Canon-McMillan sophomore finished second overall. “She just missed out on the victory by only seven seconds,” Schutt said.
Schutt added how impressed he was also with the USC team during the Cal U. event. “They had a great day,” he said. “Their boys’ team was the runner-up and they had a girl finish fourth overall. Doug (Petrick) is doing great things over there with that program.”
Petrick, indeed, is pleased with the progress of his Panthers.
At the RWB Classic, Savannah Shaw earned a Top 25 award. “With such a competitive field,” Petrick said, “it’s a big deal to place.” The sophomore was fourth at Cal. It was her first race since moving to USC from Seattle. Over the summer, Shaw ran a local 5K in under 20 minutes so, says Petrick, fourth overall as a female finisher at Cal was “the next logical step.”
The USC ladies also received strong showings from Lydia Lucas, Casey Kavanaugh, Steph Grunwald and Tori Kane. Seniors Caitlyn Pyles and Erin Pacalo have provided strong leadership while Anvi Kumar and Mary Wilding made their racing debuts in the RWB meet.
The USC guys earned eighth overall as a team at the RWB meet. Bennett Sneath was the Panthers’ top performer. He, too, earned a Top 25 award. He posted a personal record of 16:51.
The boys took home three trophies at Cal U. Sneath and Mike Stemmler placed seventh and eighth respectively. Chris Adamo followed in the Top 12. All three are seniors that have put into a lot of hard work over the summer. “They’ve really modeled doing all the right things for the rest of the troops,” Petrick said. The rest of the troops to score and help USC take home runner-up honors at Cal U. included freshman Chris Hess and sophomore Mike Gallagher.
The local showings have set the scene for some interesting section meets. Section action began Sept. 15 and the focus of the competition surrounded Mt. Lebanon.
“Lebo has a great program,” said Steranko. “They have great coaches, runners and tradition. It’s always a great battle when you run against them. We like to compete with them.”
Petrick agreed. “The Lebo girls and guys are so consistent. It’s great to have someone like them in the section. With strong teams like them, Canon-McMillan and Baldwin, it’s fun to test your fitness against the top teams in the WPIAL on a weekly basis. We can’t wait for section meets.”