South Fayette’s Zeng places 6th in the state
Jonathan Guth/For the Observer-Reporter
By Jonathan Guth
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
HERSHEY – When Angela Zeng raced down the second hill on the Hershey Parkview Cross Country Course Saturday morning in the Class 3A girls race at the PIAA Championships, the leaders started to pull away, but the South Fayette sophomore didn’t let that deter her from finishing strong.
Zeng focused on her form and pushed through to finish sixth out of 238 competitors. Zeng crossed the finish line in 18:49.
“The leaders started to get away, and I told myself to run my own race, and not let others influence how I run,” Zeng said. “This course, overall, is much more challenging than the one at White Oak, so the times are going to be slower. The terrain at this course can make or break the race if you don’t run it right.”
Zeng was seventh at the half-mile mark (2:31) before moving to fourth at the first mile (5:26). She remained in fourth place at the halfway point (2.5 kilometers), but dropped to sixth at the two-mile mark in 11:44. Zeng ran the last-mile-and-one-tenth in 7:05. She was on a pace of 6:04 per mile.
“It was a pretty fast first mile,” Zeng said. “However, when it gets hard, you have to tell yourself that everybody is going through the same thing and running the same course. You can’t use the course being hard as an excuse. I just focused on my form when I was closing in on the finish. That is a huge factor for me.”
Zeng was 28th in last year’s state meet with a time of 19:29.
“I lowered my time and place by a significant amount,” Zeng said.
She will begin training for the indoor track season in late November. Zeng will run everything from the 1,600-meter relay to the 3,200 run in the outdoor track season.
“I want to have a good range for the track season,” Zeng said. “We have a solid team, so it is important to help our team gain as many points as we can.”
Zeng wasn’t the only Lion competing Saturday, as South Fayette qualified for the state meet as a team, and finished seventh with 217 points. The Lions were second among WPIAL schools, as Norwin won the team title with 54 points.
Runners who qualify individually for the state meet are not included in the team scoring, which moved Zeng to fourth place among competitors on team qualifiers. Teammate Madeline Stock was 28th in 20:24 and the Lions’ Nina DiMartini was 46th at 20:50.
South Fayette sophomore Ellena Gibbs was 68th in 21:22, and Brenna Schmitz rounded out South Fayette’s top five in 71st place with a time of 21:24.
Abby Poe (22:03) and Violet George (23:19) finished sixth and seventh for the Lions.
Zeng was the lone local girl qualifier to place in the top 25, but Peters Township senior Adeliade Lulich was 48th in Class 3A with a time of 20:07. Belle Vernon sophomore Brooklyn Steeber was 70th in Class 2A girls in 21:19.
Fort Cherry sophomore Lydia Frankovich was 80th in Class A (22:19). Teammate Lucia DeMicco, a junior, was 111th (22:51).
Chartiers-Houston junior Leilani Henderson was 94th in Class A (22:33). Bucs freshman Grace Littlecott was 170th (23:51).
In the boys races, Ringgold’s Dravin Everley was right with the leaders at the one-mile mark, and the senior was in sixth place after two miles, but had to fight through the last mile to finish 17th in Class 2A with a time of 17:01.
“I wanted to be in the top 10, so I wasn’t really happy with my performance,” Everley said. “I went out way too fast.”
Everley never ran prior to this season, as he played football for the Rams. He regrets not starting the sport sooner, but he hopes his performance at the state meet has gained the interest of college coaches.
“I really can’t believe I got to this point,” Everley said. “It’s an awesome feeling to be this high in the state, especially because I never did this before.”
South Fayette junior Griffin Martin placed 37th in the Class 3A boys race (16:51). Martin moved up 15 places from his position at the one-mile mark. Trinity junior Devin Junko was 102nd in Class 3A (17:21).
Burgettstown junior Max Maltony was 70th in Class A (18:25). West Greene freshman Joel Grimes was 83rd in 18:32. California junior Carter Kent ran 18:36 for 86th place.
The McGuffey duo of Ben Piatt and Moshe Dale placed 133rd and 135th, respectively in Class 2A. Piatt, a senior, ran 18:32 and Dale, a junior, finished in 18:34.