Wolk, Mt. Lebanon dominate at Slippery Rock
Nick Wolk and the Mt. Lebanon men flexed their muscles at the Slippery Rock Invitational and continued to establish themselves as the front runners to dominate the WPIAL cross country championships to be held on the last Thursday in October at Copper’s Lake.
For the second time this season, Wolk dominated the competition. The winner of the Red, White and Blue Classic earlier this month won the race in 16:28.9. Joseph Westrick from Chartiers Valley followed in fourth place with a 16:46.4 time.
With Top 10 showings, Ian Harris and Todd Gunzenhauser led Lebo to victory in the varsity team standings. Harris placed ninth with a 16:58 with Gunzenhauser following behind, six-tenths of a second off the pace.
After Sam Snodgrass from South Fayette placed 11th, Bryce Brandenstein finished 12 for the Blue Devils, running at a 17:02.4 pace. Lebo’s other top five runners were Joshua Kalapos (19th, 17:18.8) and Rob Doncourt (42nd, 17:48.2).
CV’s Micah Colson (14th) and Canon-McMillan’s Jonas Wudkwych (18th) were among the other area runners to place in the Top 20.
Meanwhile, the Lebo ladies took home third-place honors, finishing behind Seneca Valley and Butler.
Claire Dougherty and Sadie Saxton paced the Blue Devils, who ran without Kelsey Potts. Dougherty placed 23rd overall while Saxton was 25th.
“Overall the girls had a good day,” said Oscar Shutt. “Kelsey was held out but is scheduled to return for us on Saturday when we travel to Hershey. Claire and Sadie worked closely together for most of the race with Claire pulling away by about 10 seconds in the final stretch.”
Shutt was pleased with the efforts of Aoife-Ruby Dunne. The freshman worked her way up through the pack to finish only a few seconds behind Saxton and in 26th position overall.
“This was her best race of the year so far, as she keeps improving,” Shutt said. “Aoife-Ruby is new to our school district and new to cross country. We’re excited to see where her times end up as she gains more experience.”
Freshman Gillian Livingston was Lebo’s fourth runner on the day and sophomore Cora Broadhurst finished as its fifth.
Frankie Kavalir did not run for the Blue Devils because of an illness. The senior played a pivotal role in Lebo’s section win against Bethel Park, 26-26. Dougherty, Potts and Saxton finished in order behind Dani Hinisch, who won the race in 19:21. Dunne was eighth overall and Lebo’s fourth finisher in the tri-meet with South Fayette.
“It was another tough race against Bethel Park,” Shutt said of the section meet. “The girls showed a lot of grit.”
At Slippery Rock, South Fayette demonstrated a lot of determination as the girls took third overall in the AA division and the boys finished fifth. Allison Gates, Hannah Kenawell, Maria DeCello, Sydney Lerda, and Kate Satlerled the Lady Lions. Mike Cusick, Colin Dunn, Michael Hasis and Ryan Hayes followed Snodgrass’s strong showing.
Individually, Chloe Grzyb from Peters Township finished 12th overall in the girls’ division. Morgan Grudi from Canon-McMillan added a Top 20 time of 20:07.1 for 17th place overall.
In junior varsity action, the Lebo boys secured second, while the ladies took third.
While Upper St. Clair did not participate in the Slippery Rock Invitational, the Lady Panthers had a successful week, opening section action with victories against Char Valley and Baldwin. The boys, however, split decisions, falling to the Colts but beating the Highlanders.
Savannah Shaw was the first finisher overall, a good 30 seconds ahead of the pack. Lydia Lucas, Casey Kavanaugh, Caitlyn Pyles and Steph Grunwald all pitched in on the wins for the Lady Panthers.
“All in all, three out of four wins at a section meet is fantastic with the strong runner in our section,” said USC skipper Doug Petrick.
The USC ladies have a strong future as Pyles is the only senior in the line-up. Shaw is a sophomore while Lucas, Kavanaugh and Grunwald are all freshmen.
On the boys’ side, Westrick won the race for CV. He set the course record, which Petrick described as “challenging.”
Bennett placed third overall for the Panthers. Mike Stemmler, Chris Adamo, Mike Gallagher and Alex Lindstrom were the rest of the supporting cast for USC.
This week, USC hoped to get a measure of where they are when they hosted Bethel Park and Trinity in a tri-meet at the recreation center.
“Bethel Park has a strong tradition with their coaches. They have a great distance program. So it’s going to be an exciting race and it will be fun to measure our kids against their depth.”