Upper St. Clair runner finishes fourth in WPIAL
Successful athletes follow specific regimens and Savannah Shaw is no different. The Upper St. Clair junior trains hard and adheres to a strict diet before running. Asian pasta proves the perfect pre-race meal and cereal, the ideal breakfast food.
“I’m a fan of cereal. It’s very simple. Cheerios,” she added. “There’s nothing that can hurt you.”
A granola bar, on the other hand, might. Before Shaw stepped to the starting line for the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ cross-country championships, she enjoyed such a snack. She had second thoughts when the gun went off. Mentally, she felt “calm” but, physically, her stomach balked.
“(Before I ran,) I was thinking I needed to eat more food but I shouldn’t have had that,” she said. “I shouldn’t have had that extra thing.”
Despite an ill sensation throughout her race, Shaw finished fourth. She posted a time of 19:15, a solid 75 seconds behind champion Clara Savachik of North Allegheny. Oakland Catholic’s Lauren Finikiotis (19:08) finished as runner-up and Butler’s Maggie Welty also snuck ahead of Shaw by two seconds.
“It really was a fast pace. They really pushed ahead,” Shaw said of her competition.
Unfortunately, Shaw added, her unsettled stomach forced her to slow down on the straightaways and on those long parts there were times where she felt nauseous. “Something I think I ate,” she said made her feel like she “might throw up a little bit.” But, Shaw pushed hard. “I’ll try to fix that next time,” she added of her race recipe.
Next time comes quickly. Thanks to her showing at the District 7 finals at Coopers Lake Campground, Shaw qualified for the PIAA championships set for Nov. 5 in Hershey.
“We were so proud of Savannah,” USC coach Doug Petrick said. “Finishing fourth in the WPIAL is awesome. She did an outstanding job and we can’t wait for her to race at Hershey. She is amped as well.”
For Shaw, it is the second straight season that she earned a state berth. She embraces the opportunity to shine on the big stage, compete and have fun.
“Qualifying for states is the coolest experience,” she said. “As a runner to get to go to a state meet and be around the best people around the state and go to a real cool course and meet all these neat people around you who are breaking records, really is one of the coolest things. The highlights of my running years,” she added.
To date, there have been many highlights for Shaw. Already, she owns several course records as well as school marks. She captured championships at several big invitational meets this year, including the California and Mingo classics.
She is preparing to better her Top 80 showing in last year’s state finals. Her goal is to break into the Top 30. Petrick predicts she will make the South Hills proud but Shaw, herself, has a plan of attack that differs from her past strategies.
“When I raced last year, I feel I had the mentality that I just wanted to get through states and when I was at states I could have had a better mentality. I really wished I had gone harder than I did. This year, I am going to really push it.”
Regardless of her health issues, it was difficult to push it during the district finals because of the conditions. Rain made the course muddy and runners raced with a consistent stiff breeze.
After that effort and a nice jog around the course to cool down, Shaw resumed her post-race routine.
“I want to make sure I relax and get some snacks. Racing snacks. Those chewies you buy at Fleet Feet,” she said with a laugh. “The ones that are supposed to be good for you.”
Small qualifies
Allison Small of Mt. Lebanon qualified for the PIAA championships. The freshman finished 24th overall with a time of 20:39. She was the lone female Lebo harrier to advance to states.
The Blue Devils placed seventh in the team standings. Aoife-Ruby Dunne, Patrice Smith, Moira Anderson, Roy Vigrass, Cora Broadhurst and Gillian Livingston helped fashion Lebo’s finish. All of the team members are underclassmen.
Nagy helps OC
Peters Township resident Megan Nagy helped Oakland Catholic maintain its national and state ranking by propelling the Eagles to victory in the Class AAA girls’ team standings during the WPIAL cross-country championships. The junior finished sixth overall with a 19:33 time.
The Eagles won the title with 39 points by placing five runners in the Top 15. Lauren Finikiotis (19:08) finished runner-up to champion Clara Savchik (18:00) from North Allegheny.
Oakland Catholic, which has been coached by George Rudolph for 40 years, is ranked No. 1 in the state.
Class A girls
Three local girls qualified for the PIAA championships at the Class A level.
Seton-La Salle seniors Caitlin Guinee and Liz Farnan placed 20th and 25th overall with times of 21:42 and 21:55 respectively.
Becca Volz placed 27th. The Bishop Canevin senior recorded a time of 21:57.