Shaw second in WPIAL
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Savannah Shaw and Hannah Schupansky battle during the WPIAL cross country championships.
Schupansky won the Class AAA individual title with a time of 17:58 and led Oakland Catholic to the team championship. Shaw finished second in 18:10.
There was a silver lining after all for Savannah Shaw.
With her second-place showing in the WPIAL cross country championships Oct. 26, she produced the best showing ever by any Upper St. Clair harriers. The senior also led the Lady Panthers to its best finish (fifth) in program history in the Class AAA girls’ race.
“Savannah ran awesome,” head coach Doug Petrick said. “At a high stakes meet, it takes a calm mind to perform and she did just that. She improved on last year’s place and time. She’s an amazing competitor.
So was Hannah Schupansky. The sophomore won the race in 17:58, a full 12 seconds ahead of Shaw’s 18:10 time, and paced Oakland Catholic to victory in the team standings with a 43 score. Fox Chapel (56) and North Allegheny (74) followed in front of USC while Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township were seventh and eighth respectively.
Shaw qualified for the PIAA championships along with Claire Hoffman. The USC freshman finished 11th overall in 17:27.
“Claire ran a great race and looked like she was having a blast out there,” Petrick said.
The rest of the Lady Panthers also had fun. Sophia Shi and Nicole Naumann posted top 45 showings. Lauren Hart, Steph Grunwald and Carly Abraham turned in “gutsy” performances, added Petrick.
On the male side, the Panthers placed ninth as a team to surpass any other USC team in the last 15 years. Tommy O’Brien placed 13th and qualified for states. Matt Higgs and Ethan Mann were in the Top 60. Kasey Turner, Ryan Sarkett, Alex Shaw and Mike Gallagher were next in the chute for the Panthers.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peter Cosentino of Mt. Lebanon, Robert O’Brien of Upper St. Clair and Antonio Burkhart of Bethel Park jockey for position during the WPIAL cross country championships.
The three harriers all qualified for the PIA championships set for Nov. 4 in Hershey. Cosentino finished 11th overall in 16:39 while O’Brien and Burkhart placed 13th (16:46) and 15th (16:51) respectively.
Lebo qualifies 5
Mt. Lebanon missed a shot at qualifying its boys’ team for the PIAA championships. The Blue Devils finished fourth. Seneca Valley won the team title with 87 points. Butler, which had the top overall finisher in Noah Bevidge, a Syracuse recruit, took the runner-up trophy.
Patrick Anderson finished fifth overall for Lebo. He posted a 16:13 time. Peter Cosentino and Alex Brokaw followed in 11th and 24th position with times of 16:39 ad 17:04. Bryce Brandenstein (37), Quinn Mitchell (38), Clark Mitchell (40) and Thomas Cosentino (42) all finished in the Top 50.
The Lady Blue Devils placed seventh as a team and will send two harriers to the state championships-Allison Small and Aoife-Ruby Dunne. A sophomore, Small finished 26th overall with a 20:08 time. A junior Dunne placed 28th in 20:14.
Among the other area qualifiers were:
- Antonio Burkhart. The Bethel Park sophomore placed 15th overall in the Class AAA boys’ race with a 17:04 time.
- Zack Marmol. This Peters Township sophomore was 21st in Class AAA with a 16:59 time.
- Donavin Meriwether. The Bishop Canevin senior finished 22nd overall in the Class A race with a 17:55 time.