Quaker Valley cross country champ sets standard for siblings

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, November 17, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Cecilia Montagnese’s high school legacy in cross country is firmly in place.

The Quaker Valley senior was the gold medalist at the WPIAL Class 2A girls individual championship race Oct. 24 at White Oak Park in McKeesport.

Montagnese’s time was a career-best 17.56.2 as she ran at a 5:46 mile pace. And, by the way, she was a four-time WPIAL qualifier and advanced to the PIAA finals three times in her cross country career.

“I really just enjoy running and spending time with my team,” the 5-foot-5 Montagnese said. “The team this year was an amazing group of girls, and it’s just been really fun to spend time with them.”

Now, her younger brother Jonah and sister Lucy have a goal to emulate — to win a WPIAL individual championship.

“I’m hoping that both of them can defend my WPIAL title, especially my sister,” said Cecilia Montagnese, who is 17 and plans to continue her track and field career in college. “I’m really excited to see what their future in running looks like, and hopefully we have some future WPIAL champs.”

Jonah Montagnese, a 5-10 sophomore, placed third in 15:46.5 in the Class 2A boys race at the WPIAL cross country finals, running at a 5:05 clip. His time was a career best for him at QV.

The first- and second-place finishers in the race, Freeport’s Michael Braun and Hampton’s Christopher Belch, were seniors. It appears Montagnese has a clear path to matching his older sister’s WPIAL achievement in 2025 or 2026.

“Cecilia’s performance was pretty awesome to watch,” Montagnese said, “and I think her performance will definitely motivate me to win in the coming years.”

Lucy Montagnese couldn’t study her older sister’s remarkable effort at the WPIAL finals, as she was bustling her way on the White Oak course several steps behind her. But she believes it was an awe-inspiring running exhibition, to say the least.

“I am so proud of Cecilia,” said Montagnese, 14. “She had been working hard all season and I’m so glad that it came through for her at WPIALs. Her race was an amazing show of grit and perseverance and (setting a personal record) by over a minute is a crazy impressive achievement.”

Jonah Montagnese, 15, and senior Clark LaLomia, a top-flight competitor throughout his prep career, led the QV boys to the WPIAL Class 2A cross country team championship with third- and fourth-place finishes.

Monagnese and LaLomia set the pace for QV juniors Tyler Bell and River Capek and senior Jackson Pethel at the WPIAL event, along with junior Ryan Kempton and sophomore Giovanni Ramella.

Lucy Montagnese, a leading freshman prospect at QV, placed sixth in Class 2A at the WPIAL girls cross country championships with a 19:40 effort. That works out to a 6:20 pace.

The first four competitors in the race were seniors and the fifth-place finisher was Anna Morris, a North Catholic freshman, so it’s possible that Montagnese and Morris will engineer a competitive rivalry over the next three seasons, and one or both may be favored to capture at least one WPIAL gold medal in cross country.

“I don’t know Anna super well,” the 5-6 Montagnese said, “but I have raced against her a few times, especially this season. She outsprinted me right at the (WPIAL) finish line, so I think that we’ll be racing next to each other for a long time.”

The younger Montagnese sibling, much like her brother, hopes to follow in her sister’s championship footsteps.

“Winning the WPIAL would be an amazing accomplishment, and Cecilia winning this year has definitely inspired me to set that as a goal for myself throughout high school,” Lucy said. “Coming back next year, I will be the second returner, so I don’t think winning will be out of reach by my senior year.

“I will definitely be pushing to defend Cecilia’s title.”

Tags: Quaker Valley