Fox Chapel, Freeport, Mohawk runners claim WPIAL boys cross country crowns
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Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 8:10 PM
Fox Chapel’s Ethan Vaughn wins the WPIAL Class 3A cross country championship Thursday at White Oak Park.
Freeport’s Michael Braun wins the WPIAL Class 2A cross country championship Thursday at White Oak Park.
Fox Chapel’s Ethan Vaughn wins the WPIAL Class 3A cross country championship Thursday at White Oak Park.
Riverview’s Micah Ivy takes eighth to help Riverview win the team title at the WPIAL Class A cross country championship Thursday at White Oak Park.
Hampton’s Christopher Belch takes second in the WPIAL Class 2A cross country championship Thursday at White Oak Park.
Mohawk’s Jaxon Schoedel wins the WPIAL Class A cross country championship Thursday at White Oak Park.
Riverview’s Christopher Barnes takes sixth to help Riverview win the team title at the WPIAL Class A cross country championship Thursday at White Oak Park.
Safe to say Fox Chapel senior Ethan Vaughan left everything he had on the course at White Oak Park.
Vaughan became the third Fox Chapel runner to win a WPIAL cross country title when he paced the Class 3A boys field Thursday.
He ran 15 minutes, 26.50 seconds to squeeze past North Allegheny’s Andrew Peigh (15:37.60), Moon’s Tyler Giunipero (15:40.00), Fox Chapel’s David Black (15:48.50) and Norwin’s Thomas Gaydos (15:52.70).
“It was definitely a tough race,” Vaughan said. “I wasn’t expecting to get ahead so quickly. I was thinking of breaking away at the first hill. It took a lot out of me in the third mile, and I really struggled. I’m happy how it turned out.
“It was unreal to compete against all those phenomenal runners over the past few years. Now I’m up there with them.”
Two-time runner-up Jack Bertram of North Allegheny was sixth (15:54.60) followed by South Fayette’s Griffin Martin (15:58.20), Norwin’s Enzo Jiancristoforo (16:00.90) and Luke Simpson (16:01.00) and Seneca Valley’s Max Smith 16:01.60). Norwin won the team title.
Freeport’s Braun wins 2A crown
Freeport senior Michael Braun earned a top-10 finish at the WPIAL cross country championships last year and ran at states.
The recent Penn State commit wanted more this year.
He got what he wanted Thursday.
Braun went out fast and led wire to wire to win his first WPIAL championship with a time of 15 minutes, 18.90 seconds.
He was 22 seconds faster to the finish line than Hampton senior Christopher Belch (15:40.80).
“I am pretty relieved,” said Braun of completing the goal of taking home gold. “I’ve been looking forward to this race for a while. I really wasn’t sure how it was going to go. This season has really been up and down. I am just happy that at the end of the season, I am on a pretty high note.”
Bauer also won on the White Oak course at both the Red, White & Blue Invitational on Sept. 7 and the Bald Eagle Invitational on Oct. 5.
He didn’t run at the Tri-State Coaches Invitational last week, opting to compete at a race in Virginia last Saturday where he ran a 15:05.
“I think last week in Virginia was the best feeling I had (in a race this season),” Braun said. “All the speed had during that race, I was able to bring what I learned there and apply it here. I felt pretty good today. The last mile was a little bit rough, but I knew that was going to be the cost of going out fast.”
Quaker Valley, led by sophomore Jonah Montagnese in third and senior Clark LaLomia in fourth, claimed team gold with 83 points.
Beaver (132), Hampton (136) and Uniontown (159) rounded out the four PIAA qualifiers from boys Class 2A.
Mohawk’s Schoedel cruises
Mohawk senior Jaxon Schoedel went out with a bang in his final WPIAL championship race.
The defending Class A champion was not challenged on the White Oak course as he won going away by 24 seconds over runner-up Brendan Burns, a senior from Neshannock.
Schoedel’s time of 15:33 also was nearly eight seconds faster than the 15:40.9 he ran at WPIALs last year.
He had been away from competition for a couple weeks while working his way back from calf tendinitis, something, he said, he’s still working to fully get past.
“I thought it was something I could do,” Schoedel said of his chances to repeat. “The past couple weeks with training and stuff was pretty difficult. (The injury) just cleared up right before the race. I was able to pull it off. All the fitness from the summer was still there. It felt really good to come out and do what I love to do. I enjoyed every minute of that. For the first race back in two to three weeks, at 15:30 is not too bad.”
With four runners in the top 10 and all five scoring in the top 25, Riverview claimed its second team title in a row and third in four years. The Raiders bested runner-up Winchester Thurston by nine points, 55-64. Mohawk finished third and rounded out the team qualifiers to states.
Tags: Beaver, Freeport, Hampton, Mohawk, Neshannock, Quaker Valley, Riverview, Uniontown, Winchester Thurston
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