Trinity’s Junko, C-M’s Stoner cruise to victory at the County meet
MONONGAHELA – Devin Junko disappeared into the woods on the Mingo Creek County Park cross country course with a pack chasing him.
When he emerged from the trees a few minutes later he was all by himself.
Junko, senior at Trinity, pulled away to win his second title at the Washington County Coaches meet on Monday.
Karina Stoner, a senior at Canon-McMillan, won the girls race, also in dominating fashion.
Junko won as a sophomore and placed second in last year’s meet to Ringgold’s Dravin Everley.
This year Junko left little doubt. He finished at 16:33, 14 seconds clear of the field.
“I felt confident, because on the back hill you can kind of see what’s going on behind you,” Junko said. “I knew where I stood and that I was feeling pretty good.”
Burgettstown’s Max Maltony (16:47) placed second and Ringgold’s Lawson Martik (16:50) was third. Canon-McMillan teammates Jacob Wood (16:52) and Carter Hawthorne (17:04) rounded out the top five.
Junko led from pretty much from the opening gun. That was his plan. Get out, set the pace and take the lead.
“It played out really well,” said Junko, who is also a wrestler for Trinity. “I got a good lead right off the bat and all I had to do from there was hold them, which is what I did. I just wanted to start off strong and keep trying to pull away slightly.”
Junko is hopeful his good day will be a springboard toward the WPIAL meet next Thursday at White Oak Park in McKeesport. He finished 22nd at WPIALs last year to qualify for the PIAA meet for the second time.
“It puts me on a good spot,” Junko said. “I’m confident in my abilities, especially after this race. It’s something to build from and I’m hoping I’ll do great at WPIALs.”
Maltony posted a career-best second place at the county meet and did so by charging hard at the end. He was in fifth place coming out of the woods, but used the hills to his advantage and picked off a few spots.
“The hills here are super steep and everyone else slows down on it, but I like to sprint up the hill,” Maltony said. “That’s just something I’m good at and we work on hills a lot at practice.”
Maltony will be in the Class A race at WPIALs and after finishing 21st last year, is hopeful for another trip to states after qualifying last year.
Canon-McMillan won the boys team title.
Girls
Stoner wasn’t leading when the girls pack went into the woods portion of the course, but similarly to Junko, when she returned, she was well out in front.
And she ended up finishing with a time of 19:32, which was about 24 seconds ahead of second-place Alicia McCloskey of Peters Township.
Once she crossed the finish line, Stoner had to lay down for a few seconds and catch her breath before she started celebrating with Canon-McMillan teammates.
After finishing fifth last year, Stoner, a senior, was pleased to get her first county meet win in her final try.
“I tried to keep a controlled start,” Stoner said. “I knew there were two big hills on this course and they’re very challenging. I figured I’d let someone else set the pace and I used them all the way up to killer (hill) and that’s where I took the lead.
“Through the horseshoe and through the flat, I just tried to keep strong,” Stoner said. “I knew that baby killer (hill) was there at the end and I wanted to attack it. Then I used the downhill and did my best to kick all the way through until the end.”
Once she took the lead, she didn’t let up and ended up with a comfortable victory. Although she didn’t know how far she had pulled away.
“I honestly thought they were right behind me, because everyone was telling me they were right on my shoulders, but I think that was just to keep me going,” Stoner said.
McCloskey led early before Stoner took control. Then she had an epic battle with Claire Brenneman of Ringgold for the runner-up spot. McCloskey crossed the finish line at 19:56.38, while Brenneman was at 19:56.58.
This is only the second year McCloskey, a senior, has run cross country, and Monday was her personal best result in her career.
“I went into the race with the mindset of not focusing on my time, but working on my racing strategies going into WPIALs,” McCloskey said.
McCloskey said she typically wears a Garmin watch that tracks her progress, but didn’t do so on Monday and said it helped keep her mind clear.
“I wasn’t hyper-fixated on my pacing or my mile splits, so I think that helped,” McCloskey said. “I don’t think I’ll wear it next week (at WPIALs) either. I think it made me more anxious and was getting my heart rate up more. I was focused more on what the watch was saying instead of how my body felt.”
Peters Township’s Alyse Chauvet (19:58) placed fourth and Fort Cherry’s Lydia Frankovich (20:08) rounded out the top five.
Peters Township won the girls team title. The Indians had five of the top 10 runners.
Peters Township running phenom Katie Froelich did not compete on Monday. She is in her first year in cross country after winning state track titles in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs as a freshman.
Froelich won a national cross country race in Virginia on Saturday, finishing with a time of 16:53.9.