Plum runners continue to lower times

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, September 18, 2017 | 11:00 PM

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The Plum boys and girls cross country teams were young at last year's WPIAL championships.

The Mustangs boys took 18th, and the girls were 25th.

Five of the seven boys and all seven girls who ran at WPIALs returned. Those runners have meshed with a group of newcomers to create optimism as the 2017 season progresses.

“We're really excited,” veteran coach Joe Ionta said. “The teams have run really well in the first month since the start (of preseason practices). A number of them have lowered their times, which is fantastic.”

Angela Valotta's freshman season, was a successful one. She was 27th in the WPIAL Class AAA race with a time of 20 minutes, 43 seconds. She was the final individual qualifier to the PIAA championships, where she improved her time to 20:22 and took 95th overall.

Valotta said her goal is to improve on both place finishes and lower her time to under 20 minutes.

“I'm doing pretty well so far,” she said. “I know the courses pretty well, including WPIALs and states, and that helps me strategize with my coaches. I'm excited for the rest of the season.”

Valotta finished eighth at the season-opening Gateway Invitational on Sept. 2 at Boyce Park in a girls race dominated by Division I, Section 4 foe Fox Chapel. The Foxes took the top four places as well as sixth to run away with the team title.

“Angela has that year of experience learning how to run the courses and develop herself in practices,” Ionta said. “She's a real positive influence on the other girls.”

Junior Sam Johnson, a WPIAL runner a year ago, placed 43rd for Plum, and sophomore Kacie Persia, new to running full time at the varsity level, was 49th.

Juniors Sydney Shanter (53rd) and Maddie Monick (60th) rounded out the top five who combined for Plum's team score.

Juniors Desiree Ulmer, Jenna Moorehead and Jill Tishko also returned.

Sophomore Robert Hankinson paced Plum in the boys race with a third-place finish in 18:15, while freshman Nick Kinek took 11th (18:58) in his varsity debut.

“I started to realize more that if I wanted to improve, I was going to have to work harder,” Hankinson said. “I've been running with Nick, and we've really helped each other get better.”

By the time WPIALs comes around, Hankinson hopes to improve on his WPIAL time (18:10) and place (69th).

“Robert has really moved to the next level,” Ionta said. “He has a great work ethic.”

Also back from the group that ran at WPIALs are seniors Chris Izydore and Steve Leone and sophomores Mike Cooley and Justin Mascilli.

Mascilli placed 20th at the Gateway Invitational, and Izydore was 26th as the Plum boys finished third among 13th teams behind champion Norwin and section foe Fox Chapel.

Mascilli, Ionta said, is running three minutes faster than he did last year.

Cooley was Plum's fifth runner at the Gateway Invite. He took 35th.

“I think we can be pretty good this year,” Hankinson said. “We'll see how we do at sections. With how young the team is and the runners coming up from junior high, we're excited for the next couple of years and a push for section titles.”

The boys and girls squads will test their mettle at the one-day section championship meet Wednesday at Northmoreland Park in Apollo.

There will be one race for both the boys and the girls, and each team will have head-to-head results tabulated against the other eight squads.

The Mustangs will face Armstrong, Central Catholic/Oakland Catholic, Fox Chapel, Gateway, Highlands, Kiski Area, Penn Hills and Woodland Hills.

“I think the boys can be competitive,” Ionta said. “The girls race will be a challenge with a number of really good teams. Our girls are looking forward to seeing how they can do.”

Plum's veterans and newcomers got a chance to familiarize themselves with the Northmoreland Park on Saturday as both ran at the Kiski Invitational.

Valotta took sixth overall at the Kiski Invite with a 20:35.

The teams now will be off from competition until the section championships.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Plum