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Mt. Lebanon, USC dominate meet at Cal U.

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 4 min read
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Patrick Anderson captured first place in the men’s 5,000-meter race and led Mt. Lebanon to the Class AAA team championship during the 47th annual Marty Uher Invitational held Sept. 1 at Roadman Park on the California University of Pennsylvania campus.

In dominating fashion, the junior harrier finished more than 13 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, clocking a winning time of 16:40.

“Pat is a very aggressive runner,” explained Lebo coach Mike Agostinella during an interview with pa.milesplit.com. “He enjoys pushing himself. He’s one of those guys that likes to self-test. He does an excellent job with that.”

Anderson did an excellent job with the course, which will be the site for the WPIAL championships on Oct. 25. According to Agostinella, the course is “half muscle” and “half speed,” and runners have to be aware of what they are doing and where.

Anderson made his move at the 2-mile mark, which features challenging undulations in terrain.

“The hill there is pretty intimidating but I like to think hills are part of my strategy,” Anderson said. “I tried to work the hill and go from there. At the 2-mile mark, I felt good there and I just wanted to hang on.”

With Anderson leading the pace line, Lebo held on for the team victory. The Blue Devils won with 47 points. Greensburg Salem (56) and Upper St. Clair (89) claimed second and third places. Peters Township (7th), Canon-McMillan (8th) and South Fayette (9th) rounded out the Top 10.

Peter Cosentino (17:23.40) and Alex Brokaw (17:25.30) followed Anderson in seventh and eighth place overall while teammates David Deniziuk, Clark Mitchell and Quinn Mitchell finished in top 20 in 15th, 16th and 20th position. All are seniors.

“We have some excellent depth,” acknowledged Agostinella.

“We are strong 1 through 5,” agreed Anderson. “We are working on getting that,” he added of the team score of 47, “down as low as we can.”

Several other local boys whittled their times down enough to finish in the Top 10. Among them were Robert O’Brien from USC in third place; Zack Marmol of Peters Township, fifth; and Alex Shaw, also from USC, in 10th position.

Others helping USC to its third-place showing in the boys’ competition were Kasey Turner (14th), CJ Hess (27th) and Ryan Sarkett (43rd).

In girls’ action, Upper St. Clair (87) claimed runner-up honors while Mt. Lebanon (100) took third place. University High won the AAA division with a 41 score.

Lebo senior Aoife-Ruby Dunne finished fifth overall followed by USC sophomore Claire Hoffman in sixth place. South Fayette’s Hailey Poe finished seventh while Peters Township’s Jennifer Massucci and Samantha Dusch rounded out the Top 10 in eighth and 10th position.

What helped the Panthers wrest the second-place trophy from the rival Blue Devils were the performances of Steph Grunwald (14th), Sophia Shi (15th), Lydia Lucas (18th) and Morgan Meddings (34th). The entire group finished within a two-minute spread.

USC head coach Doug Petrick noted the first big meet of the cross country season gave runners, including his team members, an opportunity to get their feet wet for the more important events, including the WPIAL championships.

“It’s comforting to know that this is one of three takes on the course that we get to race on during WPIALs,” he said. “We love racing at Cal U. It’s got a little bit of everything: hills, flats, shady areas and nice open finish. It’s a great representation of the topography in southwest PA, and helps get athletes adjusted to racing tactics needed for later in the season.”

The next big meet of the season occurs Saturday, when the top teams and harriers in Western Pennsylvania and surrounding areas compete in the Red, White and Blue Classic set for Sept. 8 at Schenley Park.

“We can’t wait to race again,” Petrick voiced for all coaches and competitors. “The RWB and Schenley Park contrast nicely with Roadman Park so the athletes get a chance to keep building their racing toolkit.”

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