Quaker Valley runners hoping to keep WPIAL cross country title in family

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, August 31, 2025 | 11:01 AM

The path is clear for Quaker Valley’s Jonah and Lucy Montagnese as they aspire to follow in their sister Cecilia’s championship footsteps.

Cecilia Montagnese’s firmly cemented her high school legacy in cross country as a senior last season, winning the Class 2A championship at White Oak Park.

The Quakers, with 127 points, placed third in the girls team scoring behind Hampton (65 points) and Blackhawk (75 points).

“I’m hoping that both of them can defend my WPIAL title, especially my sister,” Cecilia said. “I’m really excited to see what their future in running looks like, and hopefully we have some future WPIAL champs.”

Younger sister Lucy, a sophomore, believes Cecilia provided both siblings with an inspirational running display at the 2024 district event.

“I am so proud of Cecilia,” Lucy said. “Her race was an amazing show of grit and perseverance and (setting a PR) by over a minute is a crazy impressive achievement.”

Lucy Montagnese received her first taste of varsity competition as a freshman last year and ended up sixth at the WPIAL finals.

“This season, I am looking to individually succeed in bigger meets,” she said. “I don’t have a specific goal time in mind, but I would definitely like to be around or below 18:30 at meets with flat, faster courses.

“Additionally, I would like to defend my sister’s WPIAL championship, keeping the WPIAL crown in the Montagnese family.”

The QV underclassman then added, “We are going into the season with the same mindset as last year — no big expectations or goals but just making sure we each push ourselves as much as we can in our training and hoping to do our best at each meet.

“We actually have a slightly bigger team than last year with some upperclassmen joining and with a couple new freshmen. These additions are appreciated after losing three of our varsity runners from last year, and I am excited to see what the team can do.”

Quaker Valley won the WPIAL Class 2A boys team championship in 2024 for the 11th time in school history with an 83-point total, easily defeating runner-up Beaver, which had 132 points.

The Quakers were sparked by Jonah Montagnese in third place with a career-best 15:46.5 time, Clark LaLomia, who finished fourth in 15.55.8, Tyler Bell, River Capek, Jackson Pethel, Ryan Kempton and Gio Ramella.

It appears Montagnese has a clear road to matching his older sister’s WPIAL achievement in 2025 and/or 2026. The top two finishers in the 2A race, Freeport’s Michael Braun and Hampton’s Christopher Belch, were seniors last year.

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

Montagnese and Ramella are juniors in 2025; Bell, Capek and Kempton are seniors.

QV’s boys team connected for a top-five showing in the state last season as Montagnese and LaLomia zeroed in on top-10 finishes.

Cecilia Montagnese was a four-time WPIAL qualifier in cross country and advanced to the PIAA finals three times. She placed third in the state with a time of 18 minutes, 49 seconds on the Parkview cross country course.

“Cecilia’s performance was exceptional,” said Ryan Kelly, QV’s coach. “She showcased incredible stamina and strategy, maintaining a strong pace throughout the race. The PIAA championships were an amazing experience for everyone involved.”

The QV girls ended up 11th in the PIAA team scoring a year ago as the Montagnese sisters and then-sophomore Maggie Doz were the Quakers’ leading runners. There were only three seniors on the squad.

“This summer has been full of dedicated training for myself, my brother and my teammate, Maggie,” Lucy Montagnese said. “Maggie and I have been pushing extremely hard this summer, and I think there are great things in store for both of us. I had a training plan made by Quaker Valley’s distance coach, Ron Graf. I did a variety of workouts.

“Since mid-July, I have been running 40 miles each week, spread over six days with Sunday as a rest day. Coach Graf is extremely knowledgeable and an overall amazing coach, and I trust that his plan will help me to achieve the success I am looking for this season.”

Doz is a junior this year who aims to wrap up the WPIAL season as a district medalist.

“I think our team has a lot of potential, and it is not out of the question to make it to states again,” Doz said. “I expect that by the end of the season, our team will definitely have improved because there are a lot of new runners who will get the hang of racing a 5K by the end of October.

“Personally, I want to run a 19:10-or-faster 5K and get top five at WPIALs. The team and I are very excited for this season.”

Two other leading returning runners for the QV girls team are Kate Steinfurth and Rose Pocasangre, both juniors.

Tags: Quaker Valley