Girls
Athlete
Saturday's Red White and Blue Invitational saw one of the biggest breakthrough performances you will ever see. Oakland Catholic's Lauren Finikiotis had only broken 20 minutes twice in two years, and only finished in the top 5 twice in her career with no state meet appearances. Fast forward to 2015 and she has two wins in two weeks with two personal bests. Her win Saturday was in a state leading time of 18:21.4 to win the AAA girls race. It broke her previous personal best by 1:18!
Team
While Finikiotis was winning the individual race, the AA state champions went up to the AAA level and put on a spectacular performance. The Villa Maria Academy team placed four in the top seven and six in the top 15 to score 32 points in a 32 team race. Seneca Valley was 2nd with 125 points. Villa Maria had a 1-5 spread of 30 seconds, and a 1-6 spread of 31 seconds! Six runners broke 20 minutes and seven broke 21 minutes. The AA champions may be tougher to beat this season compared to last!
Boys
Athlete
Another lifetimes best performance is recognized in our weekly awards. William Kachman of Bedford is on a mission for a Class A state crown and his performance at the Forest Hills Invite suggests he's on track to reach that goal. Kachman ran a state best 15:42.1 to win his 2nd meet of the season and run his 3rd career sub 16 minute race. He's won nine out of his last 13 cross country races.
Team
Graduate your top two runners from a state championship team and the next season should be a struggle. Well the struggle hasn't come yet for AAA champions North Allegheny. The Tigers placed four in the top ten to earn top spot out of 30 teams with 54 points to win by 43 over rivals Mount Lebanon. They may not be as deep as the 2014 team, but their top four is certainly ready to carry the load and defend their title with a fight!
