Local runners make strong showings at WPIAL Championships
Morgan Grudi of Canon-McMillan finished among the top runners in the WPIAL Class AAA girls competition while Noah Smith from Ringgold finished as the Class AAA boys runner-up Thursday.
Noah Smith from Ringgold finished as the WPIAL Class AA runner-up in boys’ cross country.
SLIPPERY ROCK – Cross country runners are a different breed of athlete.
They run in all types of weather, participate in such grueling races that the chances of them keeping lunch down are a mere 50-50, fight the good fight against timers more than other runners, and eat an inordinate amount of pasta.
That’s what makes them special, too.
Each one has a story to tell, some nearly unbelievable.
Take Sean Hilverding of Waynesburg. The senior finished third in the Class AAA boys race in the WPIAL Cross Country Championships at Cooper’s Lake Thursday afternoon by overcoming an injury.
Hilverding missed a month of training after falling out of a barn, and onto a hay wagon, then onto a cow, then onto a fence, lacerating his liver. The series of missteps Sept. 9 began when Hilverding lifted a bail of hay and dislodged a nest of hornets that attacked him and his father.
“For two weeks, I couldn’t do any running,” said Hilverding. “The next week and a half, I could just do a little running.”
Still, his time of 17:02 was only eight seconds off the second-place finish of Ringgold’s Noah Smith, who prepared for this race by “doing a lot of sleeping.
“I even slept here,” said Smith, who had a second-place finish in the Washington County Coaches Track Meet at Mingo Park 10 days ago. “It helps to calm my nerves.”
And Cody Divecchio believes attitude has a lot to do with success.
“I just look at this as another race,” he said after finishing second in the boys Class A race by shaving 33 seconds off his previous best time of his career. He crossed the 3.1-mile course in 16:37.
“All I was thinking about was doing the best I could.”
The trio will head to Hershey on Nov. 1 for the PIAA Cross Country Championships, and will have lots of local company.
Ethan Linderman led a strong contingent of Canon-McMillan runners with a fourth-place finish that helped the Big Macs to second-place in the team race and a spot in the state tournament.
So will the girls and boys teams from South Fayette, which finished third and second in their respecitve events. The top three teams in each class advanced.
Natalie Hilton was the top finisher for the girls team, crossing 10th in 21:04. Maria DeCello was 11th and Hannah Kenawell 13th.
“We had a good team score,” said Hilton. “We wanted to do well individually, but we also wanted to run as a pack so we could get a good team score.”
The South Fayette boys, the defending team champion in Double-A, was led by Aaron Pfeil’s seventh-place finish.
“Our goal as a team was to do as much teamwork in the race as possible,” said South Fayette head coach Lindsay Dloan. “That was the goal, to push each other.”
Morgan Grudi of Canon-McMillan was the top local gilrs finsiher in Class AAA with an 18th place and a 19:56 time. Right behind, just like in the Washington County coaches Meet was Chloe Grzyb of Peters Township, who was 19th with a time of 20:01.
“This was perfect running weather for me,” said Grudi, a sophomore, of the sunny day with temperatures in the mid-50s. “I was just focusing on the girls in front of me and followed her in. I felt I had a really good kick and that’s important because I am not a good sprinter.”
Grzyb, a junior, is in her first season of running and believes she can still turn in better times.
“I ran OK, really just average for me,” she said. “This is a nice course here. The ground is really hard.”
Linderman looked relazed and it showed in his smooth running style.
“I thought we could finish in the top five,” he said. “At the end of the race, I definitely used all I had. I gave a 110-percent sprint at the end.”
Kirsten McMichael, a senior at Ringgold, was trying to make it back after injuries forced her to stop running, then rearrange her technique. She finished 34th and did not advance.
“It was not my best day, but I’m still coming back,” said McMichael. “I knew it would bea struggle because I was training a month later than everyone else. That’s an eternity for runners.”
Ben Heim of Washington, William Jourdain of Ringgold and Nick Wolk of Peters Township advanced in their respective boys classifications. … Bri Schwartz of Shaler captured her third WPIAL Class AAA title with a time of 17:25. … Results from the meet can be found on www.runhigh.com.