By Ed Farrell
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
Regular-season dual meets and season-ending region races are fine for bragging rights. But qualifying for the annual PIAA Cross Country Championships is a one-shot deal: District 10 Championships, Saturday morning, Buhl Park, rain or shine, sometimes even snow.
Those who’ve got game head to Hershey next weekend; those who do not, for whatever reason, will be left to wonder — maybe for a calendar year, maybe forever — as to what might have been.
West Middlesex’s girls and Grove City’s boys are the defending D-10 Class AA and AAA titlists, respectively, as are the North East boys and McDowell girls.
In Class AA, the top 3 teams, plus the next 15 individuals not members of those teams qualify for state; in AAA, it’s the top team, plus next 5 individuals not members of that winning team.
Grove City’s Jake Kildoo, the reigning D-10 AAA medalist, will lead Mercer County’s contingent, as will several formidable females, including Sharon’s Dana Cerroni and Hickory’s Morgan Richards.
A freshman last season, Cerroni stunned the field when she ended 3rd in a time of 19:58. However this season, while competing in tennis and other activities, Cerroni has seen action in only 3 invitationals — Hickory’s Hornet Harrier and the West Middlesex Big Red, as well as at Grove City. Her best time this autumn has been 19:55 twice. But 1st-year Sharon skipper Bill Divens said,
“I feel Dana has a solid shot at the top five. If you look at her times, they’re comparable to everybody else’s. So I think she has a legitimate shot (at returning to state).”
Also a sophomore, Richards raced to the Region 2 crown last week at Greenville, as did Kildoo, while West Middlesex girls and boys swept the Region 1 team titles, capping undefeated dual-meet regular seasons. Richards raced to 7th last fall in a time of 20:08.
“Morgan has had a fantastic year, setting course records — not only at Hickory, surpassing (former PIAA champion) Kate Steklachick in dual meets — but also setting Grove City’s course record, and she just finished up at the Region 1-2 Invitational, winning that for a second straight season,” summarized veteran Hickory High mentor Tony Mastrian. “She’s given herself the opportunity to achieve (the aforementioned accolades) by working very hard this past season. Hopefully, there’ll be a carryover this weekend.”
However the district’s northern tier will provide plenty of competition for those precious state berths. Based on last week’s other regional races it would appear as though North East is a notch above its AA peers, as the Grapepickers’ boys and girls produced a sweep in Region 4 — though North East’s ladies edged Union City, 55-57. Saegertown’s girls and Oil City’s boys won Region 3 championships; Fairview’s boys and Gen. McLane’s girls topped Region 5, and McDowell swept Region 6 at Brown’s Farm, as both the boys and girls edged Meadville, 35-40 and 42-47, respectively.
Coach Bob Morris’ Middlesex minions will be led by Kelsey Murray, Karen Willey, Brittany Ruffo, Lauren Shingledecker, Kia-Ann Howe and Shelby Pontera, as well as Trey Powell, Colby Howe, Rich Klumph, Jason Devlin, Aaron Fitzgerald and Christian Douglas.
Shingledecker (7th), Ruffo (15th), Willey (20th) and Pontera (22nd) were part of last season’s Ms. Reds runners who outdistanced Union City, 97-101, for the D-10 team title.
Kildoo clocked in at 16:58 en route to helping the Eagles edge Cathedral Prep, 58-59, for the AAA title. Grove City’s Lady Eagles ended 3rd in AAA last year, and will be led again this year by returning state qualifier Sara Chuzie, who finished 4th (20:52).
In Class AA, some of the top returnees (and their ’08 place and time) include: North East’s Katie Perkins (2nd, 19:37); Union City’s Rebecca Reichbaum (4th, 20:01), Vicky Bem (6th, 20:07), Annette Haibach (14th, 20:27) and Lori Beth Nunamaker (18th, 20:50), and Saegertown’s Michelle Kozubal (20th, 21:46.2). Also, North East’s Alex Beardsley (4th, 16:50); Saegertown’s Nate Tallada (6th, 17:09) and Drew Tordella (20th, 17:44); Gen. McLane’s Morgan Elliott (8th, 17:16) and Zac Baumgartner (19th, 17:43); Slippery Rock’s Jacob Spurk (11th, 17:25), and Fairview’s John Hurd (16th, 17:40).
In AAA, Meadville’s defending medalist Eleisa Wilson edged Warren’s Katie Spade, 20:04 to 20:09 last year, while Meadville’s Logan Steiner (3rd, 17:27) and McDowell’s Brian Theisen (5th, 17:45) followed Kildoo to the tape.
Notes: Action commences at 10 a.m. with the 37-school AA girls’ race, followed at 10:45 a.m. by AAA girls (9 teams); 11:30 a.m., AA boys (39); 12:15 p.m. AAA boys (8).
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