Penn Hills notebook: Cross country makes best of Gateway Invitational

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, September 19, 2021 | 11:01 AM

Low numbers forced Penn Hills cross country coach Lee Zelkowitz to make some audibles with the schedule.

The Indians passed on competing in the Red, White & Blue Invitational at White Oak Park and instead opened by competing in the Gateway Invitational at Boyce Park.

“That’s the hardest course they are going to run all year,” Zelkowitz said. “There isn’t much flat at that course. With that being our first meet of the year, it was a strength course. I was proud of the way they ran.”

Austin Stuchul was the Indians’ highest finisher on the boys side, placing 25th with a time of 20 minutes, 19 seconds.

Sawyer Kinney finished 35th with a time of 20:56.44.

Jesse Van Wyk, a sophomore at Redeemer Lutheran, finished 38th to lead the Rams with a time of 21:26.51.

On the girls side, junior Larissa Lockridge led Penn Hills with a time of 29:36.74 and placed 43rd.

Zelkowitz, who has five boys and three girls on the team, is pleased with the progress the Indians have made.

“We’re starting to see steady improvement,” Zelkowitz said. “That’s what I’ve seen. We’ve done good workouts so far. We were able to get two scrimmages in before we competed at Gateway, so that helped.”

Goals galore

The Indians girls soccer team shook off a loss to Mt. Pleasant with one-sided victories over Section 3-AA foes.

Penn Hills toppled Obama Academy, 7-1, before taking down Brashear, 6-0.

Results from the Indians’ home section game against Oakland Catholic last Thursday were too late for this edition.

Mathis leads William & Mary

Former Penn Hills standout Hollis Mathis guided William & Mary to its first football win of the season, leading the Tribe to a 24-3 win over Lafayette.

Mathis finished 9 of 20 passing for 96 yards and ran for 10 yards on four carries. Mathis’ 38-yard touchdown pass to Cole Blackman in the third quarter put William & Mary ahead 17-0.

Cephas starts strong

Dante Cephas, a Penn Hills graduate and redshirt sophomore at Kent State, leads the Golden Flashes in receiving yards after Kent State’s first two games.

Cephas caught two passes for 54 yards in the Golden Flashes’ 60-10 win over VMI last week at home.

Tags: Penn Hills