South Fayette repeats; West Greene qualifies in WPIAL cross country championships
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette celebrates its second straight WPIAL Class AA girls cross country championship.
Katie Lampe
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Katie Lampe of West Greene crosses the finish line during the WPIAL Class A girls cross country championships.
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.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Grace Henderson of Belle Vernon (right) and Hailey Poe of South Fayette try to stay in step with Annie Wicker of Quaker Valley. Wicker won the Class AA race in 19:18, while Henderson finished third and Poe fourth.
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.
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.
Grace Henderson of Belle Vernon streaks to the finish line during the WPIAL Class AA girls' cross country championship race.
Brooke Barner from West Greene outsprints her opponent to the finish line during the WPIAL Class A girls' cross country championships.
Lucas Pajak works through the final hill on his way toward the finish line during the WPIAL Class AA boys' cross country championship race.
Lucas Pajak sprints to the finish line during the WPIAL Class AA boys' cross country championship race.
Gionna Quarzo of Brownsville finished second in the WPIAL Class AA girls race.
CALIFORNIA – 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.
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 Thursday afternoon.
Poe crossed fourth in 20:15, tying her personal record and giving a huge boost to South Fayette’s team title aspirations.
“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. West Greene, which has been at the varsity level for only five seasons, finished third in Class A girls and qualified for the PIAA Championships for the first time in the program’s short history.
Freshmen Katie Lampe (13th, 22:20) and Brooke Barner (18th, 22:25), seniors McKenna Lampe (20th, 22:32), Ashley Cumberledge (26th, 22:57) and Madison Lampe (53rd, 24:09), freshman Sarah Collins (104th, 28:05) and sophomore Danielle Fox (117th, 30:20) make up the Pioneers team.
Katie Lampe said the course was difficult. The WPIAL switched the site from Cooper’s Lake in Slippery Rock after last season.
“There were a lot of hills,” said Lampe. “We ran on this course earlier this season and that helped.”
Barner said the course was fair and she beat her personal record by 17 seconds.
“The hills and the flat parts were balanced,” she said. “It was a tough course under these (cold and wet) conditions but you have to just push through it. I’ve had a good feeling about this since (Wednesday). It means a lot to everyone to make it.”
On the individual level, sophomore Grace Henderson of Belle Vernon was third in Class AA with a time of 20:05. She joins sophomore Makayla Boda (33rd, 22:33 Class A) of California; freshman Alex Sieg (24th, 18:16, Class A) and senior Mat Clark (28th, 18:23) of Chartiers-Houston; sophomore Lucas Pajac (7th, 17:21, Class AA), junior Ethan Gamble (15th, 17:42) and senior Eric Obringer (28th, 18:09) of Ringgold; junior Zach Conner (14th, 17:40, Class AA) of South Fayette; and junior Zack Marmol (7th, 16:48) of Peters Township on the list of local qualifiers.
The state championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 3 in Hershey.
Sieg said he expected a finish in the upper 20s but did much better than that.
“I think it’s a fast course,” he said. “It’s a lot flatter and I think that helped my time.”
Pajac said the pace of his race was faster than he expected.
“I had to keep pushing myself,” he said. “I kept motivating myself not to slow up. This course is one of the hardest I’ve run.”
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.”