Ringgold’s Pajak wins 1st state gold
Ringgold senior Ryan Pajak scratched another item of his career to-do list Saturday afternoon by capturing his first state gold medal in the PIAA Class 2A Boys Cross Country Championship at Hershey Park.
Pajak crossed the finish line in 15:21, around 50 seconds faster than his second-place finish last year.
By the time the runners crossed the 2½-kilometer split, Pajak moved into sole possession of first place. Lampeter-Strasburg senior Colin Whitaker, Pajak’s future teammate at Notre Dame, was second.
“I wanted to go out with the pack and play it by ear to see how the race would play out. I surged on (Whitaker) at the mile mark,” said Pajak.
“Ryan was trying to go out more conservatively. He was in Box 43 off to the side. He had to take an angle out and get his position. I told him he had to control himself,” said Ringgold coach Jennifer McMichael. “Then, when he hit Aloha hills, go and make a move.”
Pajak held an eight-second lead over Whitaker when the duo crossed the two-mile mark.
“I felt in control after the two-mile mark,” said Pajak. “There’s a hairpin turn, and I looked back and could see second place perfectly. I saw a good gap.
“I was going to push up the last hill, no matter what.”
McMichael saw the race playing out as Pajak did.
“By the two-mile mark, I could see Ryan start to come down hill ahead of his future teammate. I thought Ryan had more in the tank,” said McMichael.
Pajak turned on the jets and extended his lead to 12 seconds with 1,000 meters to go.
Pajak realized he was going to win the gold medal as he sprinted to the finish line.
“It was a great feeling. I was super ecstatic,” said Pajak. “This was four years in the making. The emotions started to kick in.”
Pajak and Whitaker were expected to vie for the Class AA title, so that carried a certain amount of pressure in the week leading up to the state meet.
“I felt pressure coming in as the favorite. I had to be consistent. I ran the perfect race,” said Pajak, who will next run in the Foot Locker regional in Boston on Thanksgiving weekend.
South Fayette senior Alaa-Eddine Guetari was 66th in Class 3A boys with a time of 17:04.
McGuffey sophomore Ben Piatt was 87th in Class A boys with a time of 18:23. Teammate Elihu Dale, a junior, was 112th in 18:42. Highlander sophomore Brady Hagerman was 163rd in 19:14.
California freshman Carter Kent placed 227th in the same race at 21:06.
Peters Township senior trio of Sydney Shock, Meagan McKenna and Grace Senneway all finished within 10 seconds of each other in their final high school race.
Shock finished in 34th place in the girls Class 3A race in a time of 19:48. McKenna crossed the finish line in 19:47 and 46th overall and Senneway was two places and one second behind her teammate.
Belle Vernon senior Tessa Rodriguez finished 55th overall in Class 2A in 20:45. Ringgold freshman Lily Brenneman was 137th in Class 2A with a time of 22:08.
Fort Cherry’s duo of junior Emily Frankovich (43rd-21:29) and senior Lily Asplundh (71st-21:59) competed in the Class A girls race.
Observer-Reporter staff writer Jonathan Guth contributed to this report.