Fox Chapel runner Ethan Vaughan repeats as champion at Kiski Area Invitational

By: Michael Love
Friday, September 13, 2024 | 4:17 PM

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With temperatures in the mid 70s, sunny skies, and a light breeze, runners from close to 40 teams from the Alle-Kiski Valley, Westmoreland County, throughout the WPIAL and City League, and from District 10 and District 6 descended on Northmoreland Park on Friday to test their mettle at the Gingerbread Man Running Company Kiski Area Invitational.

For the second year in a row, Ethan Vaughan was the only runner in the boys race to finish with a time under 16 minutes.

The Fox Chapel senior’s winning time 15:58.00 was less than a second faster than his first-place time last year (15:58.7).

“It was a little hot out there, and it added a little to what is already a pretty challenging course,” said Vaughan. “When I looked up and saw the same time, I was like, ‘Dang it!’ because I wanted to go faster. This course really tests your mental toughness.”

Vaughan will be back at Northmoreland Park on Oct. 2 with his Foxes teammates and runners from Armstrong, Franklin Regional, Gateway, Kiski Area, Penn Hills, Plum and Woodland Hills for the Division I, Section 4 championship meet.

Freeport senior Michael Braun, the winner of the Class AA boys race (15:49.30) at the Red, White & Blue Invitational last week, hoped for a second invitational victory, but he settled for a runner-up finish behind Vaughan at Northmoreland for the second year in a row.

Braun’s time of 16:21.30 was about six seconds off last year’s Kiski Invite time.

“Last year, I went out fast, and it came to bite me later in the race,” Braun said.

“I tried to stay close to Ethan, but at the midway point is where he started to pull away. I was really struggling on the uphills and catching him a little bit on the downhills. When we got to the big hill again, he was able to create some distance.”

Braun is working to recover, with chiropractic therapy assistance, from a twisted ilium bone in his hip.

“My chiropractor has been working to get (the injury) back to normal, but it’s still not at 100%,” he said.

“I haven’t done any hill training and hardly any mileage the last month. This definitely tested how I was feeling. It’s coming along.”

Fox Chapel senior David Black took bronze in 16:30.70, and Latrobe sophomore Charlie Heese finished fourth (16:49.10).

Rounding out the boys top 10 were Fox Chapel junior Michael Costello (16:53.90), Allderdice senior Will Tew (17:02.50), Mercyhurst Prep sophomore Kam Skelton (17:03.00), Fox Chapel senior Nicky Clump (17:03.40), Allderdice junior Eli Coffey (17:16.70) and Trinity Christian senior Caleb Schmidt (17:20.40).

With all five of its scoring runners placing in the top 10, Fox Chapel rolled to the boys team title with 27 points. Allderdice placed second (66), Freeport third (114), Latrobe fourth (134) and Indiana fifth (153).

There was guaranteed to be a new girls champion with the graduation of Kiski Area three-time champion Eliza Miller.

Latrobe senior Emerson Skatell hoped it would be her. She was runner-up last year, but this time around had to settle for third.

Skatell ran the course in 19:26.10, but it was not fast enough to catch Woodland Hills junior Annabel Johnson, who crossed the finish line in a winning time of 18:33.10, or runner-up Beatrice Kolesar from District 10’s Cranberry (19:16.60).

“I felt pretty good out there,” said Skatell, who placed fourth (18:49.50) in the Class 3A girls race at Red, White & Blue. “The beginning part was nice because it’s pretty flat, but that hill in the middle is definitely hard. I remembered that from last year’s race. Running up that hill, I just tried to keep myself motivated and keep pushing. The hill definitely tired me out a little bit, but then I was able to regain some energy and finish pretty strong.”

Johnson, who was fourth at the Kiski Area Invite last year, rose to the top spot Friday on the heels of a runner-up finish (18:26.40) in the Class 3A race at Red, White & Blue.

“(The Northmoreland course) definitely is a challenge because it is so flat in the beginning, and you’re tempted to go so fast,” Johnson said.

“And then that hill, you try to stay the same speed. Then you have to run the flat course back. It feels so much different the second time. This course is always a good test because it has a mix of everything. It is a great test of fitness. I tell my teammates that they can’t be mad at their times.”

Rounding out the top 10 for the girls were Fox Chapel sophomore Cecilia Ressler (19:37.10) in fourth, Richland sophomore Natalia Mavridis (19:47.40) in fifth, Allderdice junior Bailey White (20:11.00) in sixth, Latrobe senior Carley Berk (20:26.90) in seventh, Kiski Area senior Lauren Ciuca (20:36.80) in eighth, Latrobe’s Brynn Zangaro (20:41.90) in ninth and Oil City sophomore Corabel Shiley (20:48.10) in 10th.

With three of its runners in the top 10, Latrobe captured the girls team title with 74 points, followed by Cranberry (81), Fox Chapel (82), Kiski Area (120), and Allderdice (125).

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: Fox Chapel, Freeport, Kiski Area, Latrobe, Woodland Hills