Riverview runners hope for quick rebuild in quest for more postseason success

By: Michael Love
Saturday, September 13, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Ashton Saunders made his mark at the season-opening Gateway Invitational on Aug. 30 at Boyce Park in Plum with a sixth-place finish in a time of 17 minutes, 38.53 seconds.

The junior followed that up a week later with a strong run to fifth (16:58.10) in the Class A race at the prestigious Red, White & Blue Invitational at White Oak Park, the site of the WPIAL championships in late October.

Saunders said taking nearly a minute off of his Red, White & Blue time from last year on the same course was a nice sign that he is taking that next step in his progress as a leader for the Raiders.

“Last year at Red, White & Blue, I was somewhere in the mid to high 17s, and by the end of the season, I was able to get into the mid 16s,” Saunders said.

“Now, I am already sub-17 on that course, so I am on track to get an even better time at WPIALs.”

Saunders leads a younger Riverview contingent into meets this season. Chris Barnes, Holden Deasy, Micah Ivy and Levi Roupas graduated from a Raiders boys squad which captured back-to-back WPIAL Class A titles and made runs at the PIAA championships in 2023 and ‘24.

Riverview is one of six boys teams state-wide to have placed top five at states each of the past four years.

Saunders placed ninth individually at WPIALs last year and earned a 25th-place medal at states. He was the ninth PIAA medalist in Riverview history.

Senior captain Braden Longstreth also is back with championship experience and leadership, and sophomore Oscar Smith, last year’s fifth man in Riverview’s PIAA runner-up lineup, is ready to make an impact in his second varsity season.

He placed 28th at WPIALs last year and was the fourth freshman Class A finisher.

Smith took 12th (18:07) in the Class A race at Red, White & Blue.

“I can’t say right now that we will be as strong as we were last year,” Saunders said.

“We had a lot of strong guys last year who graduated, but we have a lot of freshmen who are stepping up and putting in a lot of work. I think we have a chance to maybe qualify for states. We will see.”

Coach Palma Ostrowski admitted this is a rebuilding year of sorts after graduating what she felt was the best class in Riverview cross country history.

She said Longstreth, Saunders and Smith should be in good position to be individual state qualifiers.

“We have a number of young athletes working hard to improve,” said Ostrowski, who sees the potential of a top-six team finish at WPIALs with Shady Side Academy, Winchester Thurston, OLSH, Mohawk and Neshannock also in the hunt.

The Riverview girls team lost Lily Bauer, the team’s top runner, a WPIAL medalist and PIAA individual qualifier, to graduation, but a strong core of returning runners hope to lead the team to a shot at a trip to states in 2025.

The Raiders suffered heartbreak at WPIALs last year as they finished fifth in the Class A girls team standings, one position and eight points away from a berth to states.

Juniors Hannah Hudack and sophomore Kristen Levarse both joined Bauer as individual state qualifiers last year and are helping lead a team which also features returnees in seniors Rosa Lascola and Grace Johnson.

Lascola led Riverview in 16th (22:56) in the girls Class A race at Red, White & Blue. Levarse was 20th (23:14.10), and Johnson took 27th (23:32.30).

Hudack, along with fellow juniors Catie Hoolahan and Juliette Brun, are performing double duty this fall as members of the girls soccer team.

Hudack didn’t finish her Red, White & Blue race because of illness, but she did lead the Raiders girls’ contingent at the Gateway Invite with a 20th-place finish in 22:43.18, a cut of 22 seconds from her run on the same Boyce Park course a year earlier.

“Our coach said that there is a path we have to follow to reach our goals for the season, and we just have to keep improving with our individual performances and work together as a team,” Hudack said.

“There is a good chance we could get to states as a team. I like where we are as a team right now. We have a good ranking. We just can’t slow down with our training, and we have to go in and compete well in every meet.”

Ostrowski said the same six finishing teams from WPIALs last year should be in the running for states this year. Shady Side, she said, is a favorite for the title with Riverview, OLSH, Winchester Thurston, Carlynton and Eden Christian battling it out for trips to the PIAA meet in Hershey.

“There is a lot of good experience on the girls’ team, and I am excited to see what they will be able to do as the season goes on,” Ostrowski said.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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