High School Cross Country
Fox Chapel, Gateway runners take top honors at section cross country meet
Sunny skies and temperatures near 70 degrees greeted runners from Fox Chapel, Kiski Area, Plum, Gateway, Franklin Regional, Armstrong, Woodland Hills and Penn Hills as they challenged for top honors at the Division 1, Section 4 cross country championships Wednesday afternoon at Northmoreland Park. The Fox Chapel boys, fronted by...
Gateway’s Piper Munyon racing toward bigger goals after fast start to cross country season
Piper Munyon raced to victory at the Kiski Area Invitational cross country meet Sept. 17 in Northmoreland Park. The Gateway junior standout recorded a winning time of 18 minutes, 49.60 seconds. It was the second of three invitational victories to start the season. “I really like the course,” Munyon said....
Fox Chapel cross country’s Asher Eckel a student of the game
Asher Eckel doesn’t look at his second-place finish at the 20th PIAA Foundation Cross Country Invitational at Big Spring High School as a harbinger of anything to come. What the Fox Chapel sophomore runner took away from the race was he had an idea of how he would like to...
Sewickley Herald notebook: Quaker Valley steals show at cross country meet
In a girls cross country race Sept. 22 between Quaker Valley, Laurel and Beaver Falls and nonsection participant Lincoln Park, the Quakers stole the show. QV dominated on the Sewickley Heights 5K course by taking five of the first six places and earning 13 spots in the final individual top...
Norwin boys 1st, girls 2nd at prestigious PIAA Foundation cross country meet
The Norwin boys cross country team ran past the top two ranked teams in the state and won the the 20th PIAA Foundation Invitational on Saturday at Big Spring High School in Newville. The Knights scored 59 points to pull ahead by 24 points over La Salle College (83) and...
WPIAL champ Shady Side Academy girls cross country team runs with new-look lineup
The Shady Side Academy girls cross country team will face a number of new challenges this fall. The Bulldogs — propelled by the one-two punch of Charlotte Barker and Josie Lenart — won the program’s first WPIAL team championship in 17 years last season. Shady Side Academy will face a...
Norwin cross country programs start season with team titles in Ohio
Cross country is thriving at Norwin, and another season is off to a fast start. The Knights boys and girls captured team titles Saturday night at the season-opening Hoka Showcase Night at the Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio. The teams ran under the lights with the races starting around 10...
Norwin cross country has talent to set pace again
Cross country season was as fun as it looked last fall for Norwin. The girls were right on time, while the boys arrived a little earlier than expected. The Knights’ collective ran past just about everybody in a year filled with highlights and history. The girls won WPIAL and PIAA...
Longtime assistant coach steps in to lead Fox Chapel cross country runners
Fox Chapel first-year cross country coach Justin Patterson won’t need to ingratiate himself to the athletes this fall. Patterson served as an assistant coach for 14 years under Tom Moul, who retired from coaching following last season. The Foxes have the benefit of knowing what is expected from their coach....
Norwin notebook: Cross country coach honored as state’s best
Norwin is known for its almost year-round training for track and field and cross country. Running is a lifestyle at the school. Athletes scale hills, trek through wooded trails and circle the track, even in the winter when it is snowing. The man in charge of the training — he...
Norwin cross country teams head to regional meet with berth at nationals at stake
Norwin already has proven itself to the state by winning its first PIAA Class 3A cross country championship. Now, the mighty girls team will try to make its mark nationally. Norwin will compete at the Nike Cross Country Northeast Regional on Saturday at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. The...
Quaker Valley runner fights through injuries to compete with WPIAL’s, state’s best
This is a story of perseverance and determination. Quaker Valley sophomore Lucy Montagnese, much like her other family members, loves to run. But Montagnese, unfortunately, wasn’t able to do much running during the 2025 cross country season because of a stress fracture in the second metatarsal of her left foot...
Fox Chapel runners enthusiastic after productive cross country season
The Fox Chapel cross country program should be more energized going into the indoor track season after having a strong fall. The girls team won its first section title since 2023 and qualified for states as a team. On the boys side, the Foxes won their seventh consecutive section title...
Shady Side Academy junior reflects on rewarding cross country season
Charlotte Barker chose to come back to cross country as a junior because she wanted to compete for a state title. The Shady Side Academy runner was able to leave a strong first impression, as an individual and with the Bulldogs collectively. “It was my first season, obviously,” Barker said....
Runner makes Gateway history at PIAA cross country meet
Piper Munyon made history in her debut run at the PIAA Class 3A cross country championships Nov. 1 on the Parkview Course in Hershey. The Gateway sophomore took seventh overall in a time of 18 minutes, 56 seconds. It was the best-ever PIAA finish by a Gators girls cross country...
State title for Jonah Montagnese caps season to remember for Quaker Valley cross country
Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese was a virtual one-man wrecking crew in cross country this year. After a sensational regular-season, Montagnese ended his junior year on the off-road trails as a state champion. Montagnese finished the Hershey Park course on Nov. 1 in 16 minutes flat to edge Hughesville senior Tyce...
Shady Side Academy girls focus on team success, win program’s 1st cross country state title
Shady Side Academy girls cross country coach Jeff Perlis talked to Charlotte Barker and Josephine Lenart the night before the PIAA Class A championship race to discuss strategy. Both girls were among the favorites to cross the finish line first. Lenart and Barker had traded wins at meets back and...
Runners from Riverview, Plum reach goals at PIAA cross country meet
Ashton Saunders enjoyed the view from the medal stand at last year’s PIAA Class A cross country championships in Hershey. The goal in his return Nov. 1 was to not only get back to that position but also stand a little closer to the top. Both were achieved as the...
Hard work pays off for Jonah Montagnese, Quaker Valley teammates in WPIAL cross country gold
Jonah Montagnese turned on the jets and left the rest of the Class 2A boys field in his wake. The Quaker Valley junior won a WPIAL cross country title Oct. 23 by almost 26 seconds, finishing in a time of 15:08.70 at chilly White Oak Park. “Jonah ran an absolutely...
Sewickley Academy sophomore turns talent into WPIAL cross country title
Sewickley Academy sophomore Zachary Sharara took top honors in Class A at the WPIAL boys cross country championship Oct. 23 at White Oak Park. Sharara breezed to the title, running a time of 15:41.60. “I am so happy for Zak after the consistent daily commitment that he has shown over...
Norwin, Shady Side Academy girls, Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese run to PIAA gold
Norwin girls cross country coach Brian Fleckenstein said he felt 100 or fewer points would be enough to win a PIAA championship. His girls did better than he expected Saturday at the PIAA Class 3A cross country champions at the Parkview course in Hershey. The Knights ran away with the...
Fox Chapel, Shady Side Academy runners find stride at WPIAL cross country meet
Fox Chapel girls cross country coach Tom Moul hoped the Foxes would make steady improvement throughout the season. Had you asked him if the team would reach the PIAA Class 3A championships as a team, Moul wouldn’t have necessarily anticipated that. During the WPIAL Class 3A championships at White Oak...
Hampton’s Rebekah Hall completes comeback with WPIAL cross country title
The Hampton girls didn’t repeat at the 2025 WPIAL Class 2A cross country championships, but they did rejoice. Junior Rebekah Hall, who last season helped the Talbots to their first-ever team title, became the first Hampton runner in 27 years to bring home a WPIAL individual cross country championship. One...
A-K Valley runners to vie for PIAA cross country medals
Saturday’s PIAA cross country championships in Hershey again will feature a cross section of experience over the six races. Several from the Alle-Kiski Valley are making return trips seeking medals and top finishes while other are making their debuts at the state’s climactic high school event. While Fox Chapel junior...
Hempfield boys, Norwin girls set sights on PIAA cross country gold
When Hempfield cross country coach Jeff Mayo first met his team in 2022, he knew this was a special group. Four years later, Mayo’s view was spot on. Hempfield won its first WPIAL Class 3A cross country title Oct. 23, and it heads to Hershey for the PIAA championships Saturday....
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