South Fayette’s Zeng wins WPIAL cross county title
WHITE OAK — Angela Zeng’s bright lime-colored kicks not only lit up the course at White Oak Park on a dreary Thursday afternoon, but the sophomore’s winning time of 17:49.70 in the girls Class 3A WPIAL Cross Country Championships brightened up the moods of those associated with South Fayette’s cross country team.
Zeng’s first-place finish was instrumental in the Lions qualifying as a team for next Saturday’s state championship meet at Hersheypark after finishing third in Class 3A.
Zeng was fifth at the half-mile mark before taking the lead after one mile. She maintained her advantage until crossing the finish line 28 seconds ahead of Gateway’s Piper Munyon.
“It is really simple at the end of the day,” Zeng said. “It’s just running, so you just have to think less, trust your gut and go. I felt good the entire time and was confident in myself. The conditions didn’t really affect me because we live in Pennsylvania, so you have to be prepared for any kind of weather.”
South Fayette’s Madeline Stock was 19th overall in 19:19.50. Teammate Nina DiMartini was 24th in 19:26.60. The Lions’ Brenna Schmitz (38th, 19:49.70) and Abby Poe (41st, 20:01) helped South Fayette to a team score of 119 points. Stock, DiMartini, Schmitz and Poe are all seniors, and the quartet celebrated with Zeng after learning she had won the individual championship.
“The best part of today was seeing how happy my teammates were,” Zeng said. “I couldn’t have done it today without them. They do so much more to help me. What people saw today is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what they do for me.”
The Lions qualified for the state meet last season. Zeng is looking forward to the return trip to Hershey.
“We had a goal to qualify for the state meet as a team,” Zeng said. “I was really happy that our team was able to get back to Hershey as a team.”
Peters Township senior Adelaide Lulich qualified for the state meet by placing ninth in 18:39.70.
Belle Vernon’s Brooklyn Steeber will return to the state meet after the sophomore ran a time of 19:45.60 to finish seventh in the Class 2A girls race.
Steeber, who was 14th last year, has followed the mold this season of sticking as close to Laurel Highlands’ Bella Baker (5th-place finisher) as she can, and Thursday’s meet was a similar situation for Steeber.
Steeber looks for a better finish in Hershey next Saturday.
“I did all right last year at states,” Steeber said. “I believe the experience of going last year will help me with the race.”
It could be said that Ringgold’s Dravin Everley saved his best WPIAL race for his last, which is true for the senior, but it was also his only district meet.
Everley played football his first three years of high school before Rams head coach Jen McMichael convinced him to give cross country a try after track and field ended this past spring.
Everley qualified for the state meet in Class 2A boys after edging Uniontown’s Ethan Syner for seventh place. Everley finished in 16:08.40.
In something that never occurs in football, Everley said he and Syner worked together to punch their ticket to Hershey.
“Ethan and I were pretty much neck-and-neck the whole race,” Everley said. “We were talking to each other and trying to motivate one another to work on passing people. Ethan really pushed it at the end, so I had to do whatever I could to not let him beat me.
“It is awesome to come out here and be able to do this after never running before. I couldn’t imagine myself doing this probably as early as the spring in track when I was running about 10 miles a week. I am really proud of my team today. They all ran well and hit their PRs.”
The Leopards’ Leonidas Soto just missed the cut in qualifying for the state meet last season, but the junior finished 13th in 16:35.70 to earn a spot in Class 2A boys.
South Fayette’s Griffin Martin (16:05.40) and Trinity’s Devin Junko (16:11.80) finished 14th and 22nd overall in Class 3A boys to earn a trip to Hershey.
A pair of runners from Chartiers-Houston and Fort Cherry qualified for the PIAA meet in Class A girls with the Bucs’ Leilani Henderson (20th, 1:06.80) and Grace LIttlecott (37th, 21:50/70) and the Rangers’ Lydia Frankovich (15th, 20:45.10) and Lucia DeMicco (24th, 21:25.10).
California’s Carter Kent qualified for the third time after the junior finished 18th in 17:15.20 in Class A boys.
Burgettstown’s Max Maltony was 21st in 17:20.30 to earn a spot in the state meet in Class A boys.