Gateway runners kick off season at host invitational

By: Michael Love
Sunday, September 12, 2021 | 10:01 AM

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The Gateway cross country teams have a lot on their plate in the early portion of the season, and coach Tom LaBuff said workouts and challenging competition are helping the boys and girls runners gauge where they are in their progression and also set goals for the end of the season.

“We had a pretty good foundation of work coming into the season, and the kids are excited to see where continued work can take them,” LaBuff said.

The next step the Gators are focusing on is Friday’s return to the Kiski Area Invitational at Northmoreland Park in Allegheny Township.

Covid restrictions last year forced race officials to have teams compete in a time-trial format separate from the other teams. Times from each team then were compared to determine individual place finishes and also the order of the team standings.

But now, with those restrictions lifted, the Kiski Invite is set to return to the more traditional format of racing.

“I think all of us prefer the normal race environment to running by ourselves as a team,” LaBuff said.

“It did work out better than I expected. It was just good to be able to compete there along with the other events last year. But it will be nice to get back to that regular format (at the Kiski Invite). Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it’s the way it’s going to stay.”

Senior Brady Sundin kicked off his 2021 season by leading the Gators with a runner-up finish (18 minutes, 24.94 seconds) in the boys varsity race at the Gateway Invitational on Sept. 4 at Boyce Park.

He hopes to make a jump from 108th overall at WPIALs last year and also help the team improve on a 22nd-place finish in the Class 3A team standings.

“Brady is running very well,” LaBuff said. “We had a scrimmage against (defending WPIAL Class 2A champion) Greensburg Salem, and that was a good marking point for him. There was some good competition, and he beat some really talented runners pretty soundly. (The Gateway Invite) really helped his confidence. He felt like he let the other kid (winner Jack Lorence from Fox Chapel) get away from him in the first mile. Sometimes the other kid has something to do with that, but he raced well there.

“He is building off a good track season and a really good summer. We’re pretty excited about how he is looking and where he can get to. We think he can break into that top 10 at WPIALs, but we’ll see.”

The WPIAL championship meet, staged at White Oak Park last year because of covid limitations and restrictions, will return to its normal course at Cal (Pa.) in late October.

Gateway’s eight-runner boys team also includes sophomore Kefimba Cisse, who placed 19th at the Gateway Invite (19:48.26), as well as Gateway Invite participants in junior Gavin Dorosiev, sophomore Caleb Bell and freshmen Kairell McCoy, Nathan Eichenmiller and Darren Johnson.

“I liked the way the young kids persevered on our challenging course,” LaBuff said. “They’ve been working hard, and it will be nice to see how they continue to develop.”

Junior Danny Dausey, a WPIAL runner for Gateway last year with Sundin, didn’t run at the Gateway Invite.

“He’s been dealing with a toe injury, and he didn’t get any kind of a summer of work,” LaBuff said.

“He’s trying to work his way back.”

LaBuff said a pair of runners who made their WPIAL-championship debuts as freshmen last year, Jace Beam and Byron Christie, opted not to run this season.

He said he hopes they still might return as he knows what kind of impact they could have on the team.

Because of injuries and other factors, only three members of the Gateway girls team — seniors Kiyara Sawyers and Emma Sandor and sophomore Marina Grado — ran at WPIALs last year.

But all three are back to lead the way this fall.

Sawyers finished 11th overall (24:27.88) at the Gateway Invitational, and Sandor was 14th and Grado 18th as the Gators placed fifth in the team standings behind Fox Chapel, Baldwin, Kiski Area and Franklin Regional.

“Those three girls are solid for us,” LaBuff said. “They weren’t thrilled with the way they finished (at the Gateway Invite), but they are fine for where they are at this point in the early season.”

Seniors Bryona Jackson and Skyler Esswein and freshman Grace Byrne also represented the Gators at the Gateway Invitational.

LaBuff said Jackson is healthy after battling injury last year. LaBuff said Byrne has looked strong and has inserted herself into the fourth spot in the lineup.

Esswein, LaBuff noted, is a first-year runner hoping to make an impact.

Junior Mea Johnson is a new runner after transferring from Obama Academy.

The Gateway teams also were scheduled to test their mettle at Saturday’s Red, White & Blue Invitational at White Oak Park.

For more information and updates on the team, visit gatewayxc.weebly.com.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway