Sep 7, 2023 3 min read

Meredith Rhodes of Upper St. Clair won the Steel Division Race during the Marty Uher Vulcans Invitational held at Roadman Park in California. She completed the race in 19:42.

“You couldn’t have asked for anything more from Meredith,” said USC head coach Doug Petrick. “She took a big step forward in spring track and her fitness, racing tactics and confidence showed at Cal as she executed a strong race.”

Lydia Rhodes medaled with a fifth-place finish. A senior, she has been consistently scoring for the Lady Panthers since her freshman year.

“She’s a tremendous leader and gifted athlete,” added Petrick.

McKenzey Mack, Olivia Gray and Ella Unice were next in the chute for USC and allowed the girls to finish third overall in the team standings.

In the boys’ division, USC took third as a team. Caleb Gurino finished 13th overall to lead the Panther pack.

“Caleb’s been a strong leader for us throughout the summer and it showed at Cal,” Petrick said.

Petrick added that Andrew Hess and Ryan Arya have steadily provided experience and smart racing skills that were utilized in their plans in the race. Hess and Arya finished in the Top 20 with 15th and 19th places. John Unice and Nolan Sarkett added to USC’s scoring.

During the first two weeks of cross country racing, USC focuses on invitationals, including the Red, White and Blue Classic being held Sept. 8-9 on the WPIAL championship course at White Oak Park. The strategy at Cal was to run all team members as opposed to splitting the squads up into varsity and junior varsity sections.

“This provides us, as coaches, with an accurate view of the depth on the team so to speak. It’s also a challenging course so kids can dial into running by feel and not worry about mile splits so much,” Petrick said. “We spend our first two weeks of racing at invites to ease into our section competition.”

USC opens league action against Moon and Trinity at 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Boyce-Mayview Complex. The Panthers travel to Peterswood Park to battle the Indians and Mt. Lebanon at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 19.

Lebo on the run

Mt. Lebanon used the Marty Uher Invitational to showcase its young harriers.

“It was a great first invite of the season for both the boys and girls teams,” said Lebo coach Ashley Karas. 

Seniors Robert Tang and Ethan Warner finished 11th and 12th overall.

On the girls’ side, sophomore Lyra Stieglitz (13th) and junior Josie Engle (20th) also snagged a medal as awards were given to the Top 20 finishers.

“Robert and Ethan repeated their 1-2 performance from last year for the team, and were accompanied by Jack Ellwein and Henry Szefi as our top senior performers,” said Karas.

Sophomore Evan Yurasko and first year cross country runners junior Colin Doran and freshman Liam Mooney rounded out the top finishers.

“They proved to be valuable members of the varsity team this season,” Karas added.

While Stiglitz and Engle as well as junior Maeve McNamee showed they will be valuable members of the girls’ varsity team, senior Grace Goslin is regaining her past form. She missed all of last season due to a knee surgery caused from a lacrosse injury her sophomore year.

Coach Oscar Shutt noted that Lebo didn’t have everyone running for various reasons but the Lady Blue Devils planned to have their full team, including defending champion Logan St. John Kletter, available for the Red, White, and Blue Classic.