Mohawk’s Jaxon Schoedel goes back-to-back; Winchester Thurston boys celebrate PIAA cross country title

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, November 2, 2024 | 5:34 PM

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Mohawk senior Jaxon Schoedel won his second consecutive PIAA Class A title, and the Winchester Thurston boys won their fourth team title Saturday at the PIAA cross country championships at the Parkview Course in Hershey.

Schoedel breezed to the title in a time of 15 minutes, 52 seconds, setting the pace early and never trailing.

Other WPIAL runners to finish with medals were Winchester Thurston’s Eli DeSimone (sixth), Winchester Thurston’s Charlie Routledge (seventh), Neshannock’s Brendan Burns (10th), Trinity Christian’s Caleb Schmidt (12th), Riverview’s Holden Deasy (13th), Riverview’s Chris Barnes (18th), Sewickley Academy’s Zach Sharara (23rd) and Riverview’s Ashton Saunders (25th).

Winchester Thurston finished with 89 points followed by Riverview with 105. It was the second consecutive season that Riverview finished second.

The Winchester Thurston squad comprised DeSimone, Routledge, Jack Iyer, Otis Pascal, Peter Heintzleman, Ayan Ganesh and Andrew Schomchik. The Riverview squad was Deasy, Barnes, Saunders, Micah Ivy, Oscar Smith, Braden Longstreth and Levi Roupas.

In the Class 2A boys race, Grove City won the team title with 85 points. Quaker Valley finished fourth with 155.

Lewisburg’s Jonathan Hess was the champion, and Freeport’s Michael Braun was second, running a 16:05.

WPIAL runners earning medals were Hampton’s Christopher Belch (fourth), Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese (seventh) and Quaker Valley’s Clark Lalomia (ninth). Knoch’s Carter French (11th) and North Catholic’s Tyler Carroll (23rd) also earned medals.

The WPIAL 3A boys had a tough day.

State College breezed to the team title with 53 points. North Allegheny finished 10th and WPIAL champion Norwin was 11th.

Mifflin County’s Carter Smith won the individual title and only WPIAL champion Ethan Vaughan of Fox Chapel and Moon’s Tyler Giunipero earned medals. Vaughan placed seventh, and Giunipero was 16th.

The Class A girls title was won by District 9 Cranberry, 88 points, edging OLSH (101) and Winchester Thurston (159).

Warrior Run’s Claire Defrene won the individual title in 19:04. Fort Cherry senior Emily Frankovich placed fourth, and Carlynton’s Bridget McNamara was eighth.

Other medalists included OLSH’s Gianna Mosca (12th), Winchester Thurston’s Abigail Weinstein (14th), Eden Christian’s Hope Haring (23rd) and OLSH’s Eva Crofford (25th).

Erie Prep was the 2A girls team winner with 118. North Catholic was fifth.

Saucon Valley junior Virginia Kraus won in a time of 18:18.

Quaker Valley senior Cecilia Montagnese placed third, Uniontown senior Grace Trimmer was fifth and Hampton’s Kavyn Fish was 23rd.

The Haverford girls won the Class 3A title with 110 points. North Allegheny was third with 125.

Hatboro-Horsham senior Lillian Dicola was the individual winner in a time of 18:31.

Moon’s Alyson Steep placed sixth, WPIAL champion Annabel Johnson of Woodland Hills, a junior, was 10th.

The other medalist sincluded West Allegheny’s Grace Fritzman (11th), Latrobe’s Emerson Skatell (18th), Norwin’s Annie Czajkowski (24th) and North Allegheny’s Robin Kuclar (25th).

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.