Greensburg Central Catholic’s Brewer, Greensburg Salem boys make their mark at WCCA meet

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 11, 2018 | 9:15 PM

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If you don’t know Corinn Brewer, that’s about to change.

The Greensburg Central Catholic freshman captured the girls’ race at the annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association cross country meet at soggy Westmoreland County Community College on Thursday in Youngwood.

She’s one of the top Class A runners in the WPIAL.

Overnight and morning rain made the course a little muddy. The course was actually altered because of the mud.

The conditions didn’t seem to bother Brewer nor the Greensburg Salem boys’ trio of Cameron Binda, Dylan Binda and Mark Brown. Thought they got a little dirty, they were pleased with their times.

Brewer won the girls race, edging a strong challenge from Kiski Area senior Kierra Shreffler, in a winning time of 19:31.5. Shreffler finished in 19:50.8.

It was the second race Brewer won this season. She finished first in the Uniontown Invitational, and finished second at the Kiski Area and Red, White and Blue Invitationals.

“I’m very pleased,” Brewer said. “I just tried to keep up my pace the whole time, and I never let up. I knew when I fell behind the one time, I had to pick up my pace.”

Brewer and Shreffler were neck-and-neck throughout the first part of the race, but Brewer started pulling away at the midway point.

“This race ends up on (website) Mile Split, and I wanted to post a time there,” Brewer said. “So I needed to post a fast time.”

Shreffler said a strong start was the key for her.

“It was a muddy course, and I wanted to stick with her and push her,” Shreffler said. “I’m satisfied with my race. I’m happy with my times despite the course conditions. I feel I could have been a little faster.”

Norwin girls were the Class AAA and overall team winners with 55 points. Greensburg Salem placed second overall and were the Class AA winners with 68 points.

The Knights were led by Courtney Kosanovic, who placed third, Triniti Joy (fifth) and Madison Pesi (ninth).

Keara Lint was the top Golden Lions finisher in 11th. Maddy Murtland placed 12th, and Jamie Tanto was 14th.

Latrobe’s Lexie Planinsek was fourth and Hempfield’s Lily Schmadel was sixth. Latrobe’s Rachel Harter (seventh) and McKenna Skatell (eighth) were next and Derry Area’s Mary Trinclisti was 10th.

Samantha Bower, a 2008 Greensburg Salem grad and recent Great Race winner, presented the runners with their medals. The Bucknell grad hopes to post a qualifying time in the marathon for the upcoming Olympics.

She was all smiles presenting the Greensburg Salem’s Killer B’s medals after they led the Golden Lions to an easy boys title with 19 points. Mason Jobe’s fifth-place finish shocked his teammates, and Ethan Kelley was eighth.

“Mason stepped up,” Cameron Binda said. “Quinton (Gatons) got hurt at practice and couldn’t run, but Mason ran a great race.”

Cameron Binda’s winning time was 16:28.1. It was his second straight county title.

“I was happy with my race,” he said. “I was just hoping for a good race. I wasn’t sure about my time because of the conditions of the course. It got worse has the race went on. You had to watch the turns.”

Dylan Binda, who ran a 17:05.9, was pleased.

“I did what I wanted to do,” Dylan Binda said. “I knew I couldn’t go out too fast because I figured Cameron would win. I knew what I had to do. I felt we’d do well as a team. Mason stepped up.”

Hempfield’s Logan Ali finished fourth, and Norwin’s Dominic Spatolisano was sixth and Eli Olson was seventh. Hempfield’s Trevor Verkleeren ended up ninth, and Penn-Trafford’s Patrick Driscoll was 10th.

Greensburg Salem’s boys finished first overall and in Class AA. Norwin was second overall and the top Class AAA team with 55 points.

Norwin coach Brian Fleckenstein didn’t expect the girls to win but was disappointed the boys didn’t put up a better fight with Greensburg Salem.

“Greensburg Salem is tough to beat when it rains like that, especially when their eight-man almost finishes fourth overall,” Fleckenstein said. “We were never in the race.”

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.