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Cross country runners ready to leave it all on the course

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 9 min read
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Logan St. John Kletter of Mt. Lebanon is one of the many sophomores hoping to keep pace with defending district and state champion Mia Cochran from Moon during the WPIAL cross country championships being held Oct. 28 at California University of Pennsylvania.

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Chartiers Valley's Kaden Crump is looking to improve on his top 30 showing in the district last year enough to earn a berth in the PIAA cross country championships this November. 

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Swapnil Rana of Mt. Lebanon rounds the bend and heads for a victory during a meet with rivals Upper St. Clair and Chartiers Valley earlier this cross country season. 

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Bethel Park's Jenna Lang approaches the finish line at last year's WPIAL cross country championship race. Lang was the district runner-up and a seventh-place finisher at states last fall.

The WPIAL cross country championships return Oct. 28 to Roadman Park on the California University of Pennsylvania campus.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the District 7 racers were held over two days last year at White Oak Park. Only the team champion and a limited number of individuals advanced to the PIAA championships.

This year, racing is staggered with Class A girls starting at 11 a.m. and concluding with Class AAA boys at 3:45 p.m.

The top three Class AA and Class AAA teams advanced to states along with the top 15 finishers. Class A takes the top four teams and top 20 finishers.

The PIAA championships are set for Nov. 6 in Hershey.

“We are excited to move back to Cal U.,” said Chartiers Valley coach Lori Poe. “The course is a great mix of fast racing and challenging hills.”

The five-kilometer course is wide open at the start, some hills, flat terrain and a curved finish that affords great visibility for coaches and spectators alike.

“We love racing the course,” Upper St. Clair coach Doug Petrick said. “It’s fun as it has a little of everything within one race.”

Teams have had the opportunity to compete on the course twice this year.

“Having the chance to run at Cal U. several times gives the runners multiple looks at the course to help fine-tune their strategy on how to attack the course, Petrick said. “Anytime you can race on the WPIAL Championship course more than once, it’s absolutely helpful from a tactical point of view.”

The cross country season opens with the Marty Uher Invitational. Runners returned to Cal U. for the TSCTA Invite Oct. 21 for the final tune-up before the district finals.

“It helps fine-tune strategy on how to attack the course,” Lebo head coach Oscar Shutt said.

Tactics play a critical role in team and individual success at the WPIAL championships.

“Cal U. requires strategy and patience when running the course,” Poe said.

“The hills are an equalizer for teams. You can’t run away with the title without working hard as a team through the ups and downs in the second mile of the course. Athletes have to be strong at all aspects of cross country running, up hills, down hills, flat fast and rolling sections to excel at the course.”

Peters Township, especially Brett Kroboth, expects to excel. Kroboth finished runner-up to Butler’s C.J. Singleton in this year’s Marty Uher Invitational.

“Cal U. is close to Peters Township. So that is the upside,” said Indians head coach Tim Wu. “It’s a nice challenging, well-maintained course with one very big hill just past mile two.”

A Butler senior and Notre Dame recruit, Singleton is the favorite to capture his second straight WPIAL Class AAA title. North Allegheny freshmen Jack Bertram is also a challenger. Bertram edged Kroboth for first in the Red, White and Blue Classic.

“It’s a doozy,” said Bethel Park coach John Allemang of the course. “The giant hill near the second-mile marker is the biggest challenge. My girls struggled with it earlier this year but I’m confident that they won’t find it as menacing this time around.”

BP sophomore Jenna Lang and Mt. Lebanon’s Logan St. John Kletter must contend with Moon senior Mia Cochran, who is the two-time defending WPIAL and PIAA champion.

Lang was the WPIAL runner-up last year as a freshman. This fall, she won the Mingo Classic, went undefeated in dual-meet competition and set course records at Trinity and Canon-McMillan.

A sophomore, St. John Kletter has significantly dropped her times from last year and finished first at the Foundation, Bald Eagle and Legends Invitationals. She was runner-up at the Marty Uher Invitational to start the season.

A positive mindset benefits runners as they attempt to conquer the course.

“The course definitely has its challenges relative to some of the other places we race,” said Lebo’s Kyle Cranston. “I know most of the runners don’t love it for that, but I think the difficulty of the course brings out the best in some people. That hill is a true test of mettle. We spend a lot of time working hills in practice, so they’re mentally and physically prepared when they encounter them during the race.”

Allemang agreed. He said his runners have worked very hard throughout the season and they have dealt with many changes, including in the coaching area, remained focused and demonstrated resilience.

“Physically we are there and we are doing the right things at practice,” Allemang said. “We just need to believe in ourselves. It’s just as much mental as it is physical.

“As long as we go out there with a positive mindset, believe in ourselves, and don’t leave anything behind on the course besides sweat and footprints, then that’s all they can do. If they cross the line and know they couldn’t have given it even a little more, then they should be happy with themselves.”

These are the area runners to watch during the WPIAL cross country championships to be held Oct. 28 at California University of Pennsylvania.

The names were provided by the coaches surveyed from The Almanac’s coverage area.

Bethel Park–Jenna Lang and Madelyn Sellati.

A sophomore, Lang was undefeated in all her dual meets and set course records at Trinity and Canon-McMillan. She placed in the top 8 of every invitational, winning the Mingo Classic most recently. Lang finished fourth at the Marty Uher Invitational, eighth at the Red, White and Blue Classic, second at Uniontown and third at Bald Eagle meets.

“(Lang) is very talented,” Bethel Park head coach John Allemang said. “When running at her best, she can be a threat.”

Chartiers Valley – Kaden Crump, Santo Riccardi, Ethan Snyder, Landon Smith and Kyle Witte have been the top male performers this season.

Eva Kulbago, Lilah Turnbull, Dani Thornton, Juliana Betts, Rachel White, Abby Betts, Grace Magilson and Isabel Giancola lead the Colts girls team.

The squads finished in the middle of the pack in Section 6-AAA. The boys team finished with a 5-3 record and the girls ended with a 3-5 record.

The boys won the Big South Championship and took third in the Mingo Classic. According to head coach Lori Poe, their goal is to finish in the top 10 and advance a few individuals to the state meet.

Meanwhile, the CV girls repeated as Mingo Classic and Big South champions. The Colts also finished fifth at the Foundation Meet in Hershey.

Although their section opponents are all Class AAA, the CV girls are a Class AA squad. They finished third as a team in 2020 but because of COVID-19 restrictions did not advance to states. Only the champion qualified.

“Our goal since last year is to the get back to the top 3 and qualify for states,” said Poe. “The girls have been pushed hard all season against great competition. The section is loaded with talented teams so it prepares us well for the AA championships.”

Mt. Lebanon - Logan St. John Kletter and Caroline Adams should be near the top of the leader board among individuals at the WPIAL championships.

Juniors Emma McGreevy, Grace, Kraemer and Grace Ganoe along with sophomores Grace Goslin and Kate Mooney plus freshman Phoebe McNeil put the Lebo girls team on pace to challenge for one of the top 3 slots open to teams to qualify for the PIAA state meet.

The girls tied South Fayette for the section crown. They beat the Lions in the final dual meet but lost to Peters Township previously to finish 7-1.

Under first-year coach Kyle Cranston, the boys also posted a 7-1 section slate and finished runner-up to South Fayette.

“We faced great competition,” Cranston said. “Each dual was exciting to watch. I’m proud of what this team accomplished.”

Seniors Swapnil Rana, Ryan Cawley and Eli Lehman have been the boys team’s top 3 for most of the season with sophomore Ethan Warner and senior Weston Barber supplementing their showing.

“We have a deep roster and are fortunate to have so many contributors,” Cranston said.

South Fayette - Lauren Iagnemma and Lilly Colombo are tops for the girls while Jake Borgesi, Roman Galioto and Alaa Guetari paced the boys.

SF head coach Joe Winans hopes for strong finishes from Iagnemma and Colombo. He says all three boys have a “great chance” to qualify for states with Borgesi challenging for a top 5 finish.

The Lions have a shot at the third state qualifying spot. The girls race is tougher to crack the top 3.

“But we still see ourselves as a solid Top 5 team with a chance for the right day to pay off for us,” Winans said.

The boys captured their second consecutive section title with an 8-0 record. The girls were 7-1, losing only to Mt. Lebanon. Since Lebo lost to Peters Township, the girls shared the section crown with the Blue Devils. It was the girls team’s third straight title.

Peters Township – Brett Kroboth, Zach Byers and AJ Waffstaff led the boys while Sydney Shock, Grace Senneway, Megan McKenna, Chloe LoCastro, Nicole Lusk, Alexis Conway and Mari Grim pace the girls.

Head coach Tim Wu expects the boys to be in the top 20 among teams at WPIALs and the girls to be in the top 6 based on their finishes in invitationals and regular-season duals. The boys finished 3-5 in section while the girls were runners-up in their division with a 6-2 slate.

Upper St. Clair - Jaclyn Martinelli, Lydia Rhodes and Meredith Rhodes have been top female athletes while Sawyer Weinmann, RJ Shontz and Evan Sarkett have been the top male runners for the Panthers.

“It’s been exciting to watch these different runners step up and fill roles when opportunity has arisen,” said USC coach Doug Petrick.

Both teams posted 6-2 section slates.

“We feel fortunate to be in a very competitive division, which definitely helps week to week as there are many state caliber athletes on each team in the South Hills,” Petrick said. “This helps everyone as we shift to post-season races.”

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