Area harriers place in PIAA cross country meet
Brett Kroboth from Peters Township and Caroline Adams from Mt. Lebanon were the top area finishers during the PIAA Cross Country Championships held Nov. 5 in Hershey.
A senior, Kroboth finished fourth overall in the Class AAA division with a time of 16:13.5.
Penn State commit, Brian DiCola from Hatboro Horsham dominated the competition and set a winning pace of 15:24.2. That was 11 seconds ahead of WPIAL champion Drew Griffith. The Butler junior finished in 15:35.
Jack Bertram from North Allegheny clocked a 16:09.7 for the bronze medal. His pace helped the Tigers win their third consecutive PIAA team title with an 85 score, ahead of La Salle College (161) and Penn Crest (182).
The NA girls also claimed a state crown for the fifth consecutive year. The Tigers won with 60 points, outdistancing State College (118) and Phoenixville Area (177).
Thanks to Adams, the Lebo ladies finished 12th in the team standings. A junior, Adams submitted an 18:59.1 mark for fifth place overall among Class AAA runners.
Logan St. John Kletter, who was the WPIAL champion, followed in eight place with a 19:12.1 time.
Among Lebo’s other top finishers were Justine Meta, Phoebe McNeil, Kate Mooney, Evelyn Smith and Grace Kraemer.
The Peters Township girls had two runners in the top 50 and three in the top 100. All are juniors.
Sydney Schock and Meagan McKenna placed 41st and 49th overall with times of 20:29.8 and 20:35.7 while Grace Senneway was 62nd in 20:49.5.
Meredith Rhodes also placed in the Top 50. The Upper St. Clair sophomore finished 48th with a 20:34.9 mark.
Two South Fayette runners ranked in the top 100. A junior, Lilly Colombo placed 90th (21:15.8) while freshman Abby Poe finished 92nd in 21:18.3
SF finished 16th in the Class AAA boys team standings.
Alas-Eddine Guetari crossed the line in 17:10.1 for 23rd place while Roman Galioto followed in 45th position (17:48.2).
While Tim Danziger (70th) and Josh O’Korn (95) placed in the Top 100, other top finishers for the Lions, who were WPIAL team runners-up included: Zack Warchol, Brandt Scholar and Ryan O’Neill.
In Class AA, Lilah Turnbull placed eighth among girls with a time of 20:02.3 while Santo Riccardi was 47th in 17:49.4. Both are Chartiers Valley High School students; Turnbull a sophomore and Riccardi, a senior.