South Fayette repeats as WPIAL cross country champions
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette celebrates its second straight WPIAL Class AA girls cross country title.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Zack Marmol is out in front during a portion of the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ cross country championship race. The Peters Township junior finished seventh overall and qualified for states.
Hailey Poe is a great cheerleader and an even better runner.
After finishing her 3.1-mile race at the WPIAL Cross Country Championships at Roadman Park, the junior didn’t head for the water table or search out friends and family waiting at the finish line.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette runners Emma Fleck reacts to learning the Lions qualified as a team for the PIAA championships and won first place in the WPIAL for Class AA. Coach Joe Winnas said good teams run together, but great teams runs for each other.
No, the South Fayette runner simply turned and yelled her teammates on.
Did it help? Well, it certainly didn’t hurt.
The Lions roared again, capturing the WPIAL Girls Class AA team title for a second straight season on a cold afternoon Oct. 25.
Poe crossed fourth in 20:15, tying her personal record and giving a huge boost to South Fayette’s team title aspirations.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
An exuberant Zack Marmol of Peters Township celebrates after a day’s hard work at the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ cross country championships. The junior finished seventh overall.
“I was so proud of my teammates because they pushed me,” said Poe, who was 50th in last year’s state tournament. “I love cheering for my team. When I watched them come in, I started crying. I was so overjoyed.”
Joining Poe in Hershey are freshman Gabby Baiano, who was seventh with a time of 20:45; freshman Lauren Iagnemma (8th, 20:49); sophomores Emma Fleck (16th, 21:18), Baylee Carpenter (20, 21:30) and Delaney Parisi (31st, 22:02) and junior Peyton Yater (51st, 22:53).
There was a lot to cheer about for local runners as several additional individuals performed well enough to qualify for the PIAA championships set for Nov. 3 in Hershey.
Patrick Anderson and Peter Cosentino led Mt. Lebanon to a third-place finish in the Class AAA boys’ team standings behind champion North Allegheny and runner-up Seneca Valley. Anderson placed second overall with a 16:20 time and Cosentino finished fifth in 16:36. Alex Brokaw, Barak Asher, Quinn Mitchell and Duncan Laduke all clocked in under 17:36 and Clark Mitchell contributed with his 18:38 time.
On the Lebo girls’ side, Aoife-Ruby Dunne qualified. The senior placed 27th overall with a time of 20:31.
Robert O’Brien helped Upper St. Clair finish fourth in the boys’ Class AAA division with his sixth-place showing overall. The senior timed in at 16:47. Alex Shaw was 17th overall while Chris Hess was 24th. Ryan Sarkett, Kasey Turner, Ethan Mann and Joseph Markovitz contributed to USC’s showing.
For the Lady Panthers, Claire Hoffman qualified for states with her 12th-place finish (19:53) overall as did Sophia Shi in 23rd position (20:24)
Chartiers Valley had two runners advance. Elias Zajicek finished 23rd overall in the Class AAA division in 17:14. Kiki Thornton placed 14th overall in the girls’ Class AAA race in 19:56
Emily Carter took third overall in the girls’ Class AAA division. The Bethel Park sophomore posted a time of 19:03, 20 seconds off the winning pace set by two-time champion Hannah Schupansky from Oakland Catholic.
Two additional BP harriers will accompany Carter to states. Eli Allridge was 18th overall in 17:05 and Antonio Burkhart placed 28th in 17:25
South Fayette junior Zach Conner finished 14th in Class AA with a time of 17:40.
Peters Township senior Zack Marmol finished seventh at 16:48 to qualify at the Class AAA level.
After his race, Marmol pulled a construction helmet from his belongings and posed for pictures with it on. He said it stood for all the hard work he had put in.
“I was nursing an ankle injury all week,” he said. “I wasn’t sure I could even run here. I eased off practice a little this week and was ready to go. I am super excited about going to states.”