Pajak, Henderson win TSTCA Invitational titles
McKEESPORT – Ringgold’s Ryan Pajak and Belle Vernon’s Grace Henderson set the pace Wednesday afternoon with both runners crossing the finish line first in the Class 2A race at White Oak Park to take home TSTCA Invitational individual honors.
Pajak led the Rams to the team title with 51 points. Greensburg Salem wasn’t far behind in second place with 56 points.
Pajak crossed the finish line in 16:11.30, just 10 seconds before Greensburg Salem’s Quintin Gatons. The Rams’ Lucas Pajak finished fourth in 16:38.50.
Ringgold’s Ben Daerr placed eighth in 17:01.62, and teammate Nick Whaley was 18th with a time of 17:41.43. Lorenzo Zeni just missed a top-20 finish, placing 22nd in 17:47.96.
Belle Vernon finished 11th with 297 points. Luke Henderson was 23rd in 17:48.15, just three seconds ahead of teammate Noah Lehner in 27th place.
Grace Henderson held off Uniontown’s Hope Trimmer to win the girls Class 2A race in 19:20.29. Trimmer was second in 19:30.14.
The Ringgold girls also won the team title, finishing with 91 points and well ahead of Knoch’s 132 points.
The Rams’ Charlee Leach was 10th in 20:54.31. Teammates Angelina Massey (14, 21:24.38) and Angelique Mariana (16, 21:37.24) also had top-20 finishes.
The Belle Vernon girls were 11th with 315 points.
Riverview won the boys Class A team title with 62 points. Winchester Thurston’s Patrick Malone had a winning time of 16:34.1, crossing the finish line only one second ahead of teammate Lance Nicholls.
West Greene finished eighth with 260 points. The Pioneers were led to the finish line by Kaden Shields in 47th place with a time of 20:07.68.
Waynesburg was 12th with 296 points. Travis Tedrow finished 46th in 19:57.90.
St. Joseph easily won the girls A team title with 51 points. Shenango’s Carmen Medvit won the race in 19:18.50.
The Waynesburg girls were 13th with 289 points, led by Kaitlyn Pester’s top-20 finish. Pester placed 19th in 22:12.77.
West Greene was 15th with 377 points. Katie Lampe was the first Pioneer to finish, crossing the finish line in 58th place with a time of 24:54.99.