Fox Chapel cross country teams boast deep, talented lineups

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, August 23, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Fox Chapel girls cross country team isn’t going to be at a loss for depth this season.

The Foxes will have a strong duo at the top — Cecilia Ressler and Ella Shevchuk are returning state qualifiers — that will be backed up by a group of athletes hoping to join them in Hershey.

“We have 11 or 12 girls that could compete for the top seven,” Fox Chapel coach Thomas Moul said. “There’s a lot of positive, healthy competition between the runners.”

The Foxes will also bring back Marin Airik, who Moul said should be fighting for the No. 3 spot behind Ressler and Shevchuk.

Ressler, a junior, placed 38th at states last year, while Shevchuk, a sophomore, finished 81st.

The Foxes’ girls team will be in pursuit of a section title after they finished second behind Kiski last season. Fox Chapel will return three runners — Ressler (second), Shevchuk (sixth) and Maggie Carter (10th) — who finished in the top 10 of the section race last season.

On the boys’ side, Fox Chapel will look to replace several top runners from a team that won the section after having their top five runners finish in the top five spots at the section championship last season.

The Foxes lost four of those top runners — including defending WPIAL Class 3A champion Ethan Vaughan — to graduation.

Senior Michael Costello is the Foxes’ top returning runner.

At the state meet last season, Costello ran a time of 17 minutes, 36 seconds and placed 142nd.

Moul expects Costello to fill a leadership role this season

“He’s embraced it,” Moul said. “He’s a good kid and a top scholar. He has goals and understands what it takes.”

Harrison Parker and Nolan Horne are returning juniors who also ran at the state meet last season. The Foxes qualified their entire team after placing third at WPIALs.

Moul expects the boys team to progress as the season goes on.

“We’ll have our work cut out for us to be in the top three in the WPIAL. That’s a lot to ask,” Moul said. “We have a lot of young guys and we’ll see how they do.”

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