Freeport’s Michael Braun goes wire to wire to win WPIAL Class 2A cross country title

By: Paul Schofield And Michael Love
Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 7:41 PM

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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 to lead the Class 2A field at White Oak Park.

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 I 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.

Knoch sophomore Carter French was not able to finish his WPIAL race last year, bowing out with about 400 meters to go.

He achieved a measure of redemption Thursday as he finished fifth in Class 2A in 15:58.20.

French was slightly off his 15:51.71 he ran last week in winning the Class 2A race at the Tri-State Coaches Invitational.

“I just wanted to get mentally focused and make it to states,” French said. “I felt I could’ve done a lot more considering how I ran here last week. But the goal was making it to states, so I really can’t complain.”

Braun and French will be joined at states by Deer Lakes senior Noah Channel, who qualified in 31st with a time of 17:10.80.

Vaughan grabs gold

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 field.

He ran 15:26.50 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.”

Kiski Area’s Samuel Plazio also qualified for states with an 11th-place finish.

In the girls Class 3A race, Kiski Area’s Lauren Ciuca (10th) and Fox Chapel’s Cecilia Ressler (ninth) and Ella Shevchuk (24th) made states.

Riverview defends title

The Riverview boys entered Thursday’s Class A race as the defending champion, but the Raiders were looking up at Winchester Thurston in the WPIAL rankings throughout this season.

Rankings are one thing, executing on the course on the biggest stages is what matters most, and Riverview, with its top four runners placing 10th or better, led by senior Christopher Barnes in sixth, put it all together for back-to-back team crowns and a third title in four years. The Raiders finished with 55 team points to 64 for Winchester Thurston.

Barnes said he was filled with excitement watching his teammates come in right after him.

“I knew when we were coming in just how good of a job we had done,” Barnes said. “I am so proud of everyone. We put in so much hard work to make this goal a reality. I knew we were going to do well. We knew coming in just how tough it was going to be to beat (Winchester). We were pretty much neck-and-neck with them the whole season, but we understood how much of a challenge it was going be. I am just glad we actually got them.”

Riverview senior Micah Ivy followed Barnes in eighth (16:27.80), sophomore Ashton Saunders took ninth (16:33.30), senior Holden Deasy was 11th (16:41.70) and freshman Oscar Smith placed 28th (17:52.90).

In the Class A girls race, Riverview senior Lily Bauer recorded her best WPIAL time and place finish, taking seventh in 19:56.10.

It is the second time this season she ran under 20 minutes, having also run a 19:56 at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational in New Jersey earlier this month. She is the third runner in the history of the Riverview girls program to eclipse 20 minutes in a race.

Bauer made a jump on the White Oak course from her previous best of 21:23.30 at the Red, White & Blue Invitational on Sept. 7.

“This feels pretty good,” Bauer said. “I knew I didn’t run well at Red, White & Blue, and I had more in me.”

Riverview came close to a return trip to states. The Raiders finished fifth, just eight team points away from one of the top four spots needed to qualify.

“It was tough,” Bauer said. “It came down to the end, and Eden just ran a little bit better. They had a girl who hadn’t run in a while, and we didn’t expect that. It wasn’t our best race, but we tried our best.”

But the Raiders girls will have three individual entries to states next week as freshman Kirsten Levarse qualified in 31st (21:37.10) and sophomore Hannah Hudack finished 36th (21:49.60).

Tags: Freeport, Riverview