Norwin, Shady Side Academy girls, Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese run to PIAA gold

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, November 1, 2025 | 6:43 PM

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Norwin girls cross country coach Brian Fleckenstein said he felt 100 or fewer points would be enough to win a PIAA championship.

His girls did better than he expected Saturday at the PIAA Class 3A cross country champions at the Parkview course in Hershey.

The Knights ran away with the Class 3A girls title by scoring 54 points. Downingtown West was second with 147 points, and State College was third with 166.

It was the girls team’s first PIAA title. The Norwin boys won in 1973.

“I was blown away,” Fleckenstein said. “I had a feeling we would win. The girls were confident, and they took care of business.”

Senior Annie Czajkowski led the Knights, finishing 11th overall in 19 minutes, 12 seconds.

“We picked each other up,” Czajkowski said. “It was so exciting to win this. Nothing will top this. This was a great team effort.”

Junior Addison Farrah earned an individual medal by placing 15th.

The top 25 individuals in each classification received PIAA medals.

Others contributing to the team win were juniors Emily Dansak, Jillian Ryba and Anna Dansak. Other runners were juniors Kaelyn Lazar and Ciera Berthelsen.

“I knew when we reached the 2-mile mark we were in good shape,” Fleckenstein said. “We had 86 points, and we finished strong the final mile.

“All the girls were under 20 minutes, and they won their packs. It was a great team effort. They all did their jobs.”

South Fayette sophomore Angela Zeng, the WPIAL champion, placed sixth, and Gateway sophomore Piper Munyon seventh.

The Shady Side Academy girls grabbed the Class A girls title in a tight race with Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Winchester Thurston. It was the Bulldogs’ first state title.

Shady Side Academy had 122 points, OLSH 128 and Winchester Thurston 135.

Freshman Josephine Lenart finished second overall to lead Shady Side Academy.

Mercer senior Maggie Jewell was first overall, running 19:28, Lenart ran a 19:41.

Shady Side Academy junior Charlotte Barker was sixth overall, Winchester Thurston senior Abigail Weinstein was seventh, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart freshman Jules Goshen was 13th, Winchester Thurston sophomore Currence Bigham was 15th and OLSH junior Hannah Haynes was 10th.

The other Bulldogs running were senior Ella Van Norman, senior Rhyley Bendel, sophomore Marcelle Minutolo, freshman Stella Platt and freshman Aspen Peterson.

The WPIAL did not have a good showing in the Class 2A girls race. Only North Catholic senior Madeline Meeuf earned a medal. She finished 22nd.

Montagnese gets QV’s 1st

Quaker Valley senior Jonah Montagnese became the school’s first PIAA Class 2A boys champion.

He ran a 16:00 to edge Hughesville senior Tyce Shaner (16:10).

Hughesville, however, edged Quaker Valley to win the team title, 135-141.

Other WPIAL runners to earn PIAA medals were North Catholic sophomore Jack Steinman (third), Hampton junior Josh Wikitch (fifth), Knoch junior Carter French (sixth), Ellwood City senior Lucas Bleakney (13th), Ringgold senior Dravin Everley (16th), Uniontown senior Ethan Syner (19th) and North Catholic senior Tyler Carroll (20th).

In Class A, Northwest senior Michael Fritz won the gold medal.

Sewickley Academy sophomore Zachary Sharara placed third.

Others from the WPIAL to earn medals included Riverview junior Ashton Saunders (11th), Mohawk senior Scott McConnell (15th), Carlynton junior Ethan Moldovan (18th), Winchester Thurston sophomore Otis Pascal (21st) and Winchester Thurston junior Jack Iyer (22nd).

In Class 3A boys, North Penn grabbed the team title. WPIAL champion Hempfield placed sixth, and Norwin was seventh.

The team race was very competitive.

Earning PIAA medals were Butler junior Brendan Eicher (15th), Upper St. Clair senior Nolan Sarkett (19th), Norwin sophomore Ben McBride (21st) and North Allegheny senior Andrew Peigh (25th).

Hempfield senior Ryan Ewing just missed a medal. He placed 26th.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Norwin, Quaker Valley