North Allegheny cross country teams narrow focus as big meets loom
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Friday, September 20, 2019 | 8:46 AM
North Allegheny’s Graham Wolfe competes during a meet at Pine-Richland on Sept. 17.
North Allegheny’s Hannah Lindgren competes during a meet.
North Allegheny’s Andrew Kollitz competes during a meet at Pine-Richland September 17, 2019.
North Allegheny’s Jenna Mlecko competes during a meet at Pine-Richland September 17, 2019.
For the North Allegheny cross country team, competing at the PIAA Foundation Meet is a nice primer for a program that always has high expectations.
Last season, North Allegheny won the meet at the Hershey Parkview cross country site and went on to become the first program in PIAA history to win the state team title for both boys and girls on the same course.
The team was scheduled to compete in meet again this season Sept. 21.
“We’ve participated in most of the years they’ve had it,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said. “There was a point and time where we were also going to Carlisle, which is a great meet, so we may have missed two or three. I think the benefit is letting the kids see the course they are going to compete on and familiarity breeds comfort.
“Any time you go to a meet you want to finish high. This is a learning experience. This is a chance for the kids to stay overnight, to eat in a restaurant together, to ride to Hershey on a bus together and compete on the same schedule.”
Thus far, North Allegheny has put together solid performances at several big invites. The girls side won the Boardman Invitational and Red, White & Blue Classic.
Keeley Misutka led North Allegheny by placing fifth at Boardman, while Hannah Lindgren was the top runner at the Red, White & Blue with a sixth-place finish.
Dan McGoey and Drew Kollitz were North Allegheny’s two top finishers at Boardman, finishing in the top 40. The boys have yet to drop a dual meet.
Neff is excited for the next stretch for North Allegheny.
This is the time of year when the Tigers start to make their push.
In a short season, there isn’t a lot of time to rest.
“That’s when things (heat) up for us,” Neff said. “We’re concerned with our training this week and we are ramping it up a good bit. The final push happens between here and WPIALs. The training is going to look different than the past few weeks. This is definitely not the time to rest. It is time to push forward and put the finishing touches on things.”
Tags: North Allegheny
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