District 7
Class A
Domenic Peretta of Beaver Falls was able to stop the roll of Griffin Mackey and Ben Clouse of Sewickley Academy to successfully defend his district championship. Peretta ran 16:15 to win 13 seconds and record his 3rd win of the month. Tristan Forsythe and Will Loevner of Winchester Thurston rounded out the top five. Mackey and Clouse may have missed out on a 1-2 finish, but they managed to defeat the state champions Winchester Thurston 79-100, thanks to having five in the top 30 compared to five in the top 52 for the champions! The 3rd state spot Riverview, who drew with Shenango with 162 points apiece, but got the state berth thanks to a better 6th runner.
For the girls, Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy won her 3rd consecutive district championship with a time of 19:01 to beat the field by 31 seconds. The 3-peat for Abdalah was made even sweeter as her win helped her team bring home the district title over Laurel and Riverview 72-101-114. Vincentian Academy accounted for half of the top six finishers in the race! Those three teams will head to states next Saturday!
Class AA
Knoch accounted for three of the top eleven finishers in the race with an 82 second spread to score 97 points to win the team title! 2nd through 4th place were separated by 14 points, with South Fayette securing 2nd place ahead of Greensburg Salem and Mars Area. Those four teams will go to states next week. Zach Skolnekovich of Quaker Valley continued his winning ways, cruising to the win with a time of 16:11, the fastest of the day, to win by 42 seconds!
For the girls, Quaker Valley were excellent as they ran with a full squad for the first time all season. Lucie Kubinski finished 2nd overall, while the team accounted for four of the top ten finishers, including an 8th place finish from the 1600 meter AA champion Hannah Bablak. The team scored 49 points to win the team title! 2nd went to South Fayette with 95 points, Beaver Area was 3rd with 132 points to take the last state spot by 10 points over Indiana Area. The individual gold medal went to Mandi Moxie of Knoch, who ran 19:46 to win by 14 seconds over Kubinski.
Class AAA
The state champions North Allegheny had a strong performance in defending their team championship, using a 44 second spread to score 39 points with five in the top 13 and six in the top 16. Marc Migliozzi finished 2nd to the on fire Nick Wolk (16:12), missing the win by only three seconds. Marc Provenzo of Franklin Regional finished 3rd. Going to states with the champions will be 2nd place Seneca Valley and 3rd place Mount Lebanon.
For the girls, Lauren Finikiotis of Oakland Catholic returned to winning ways for the first time in the 2nd half the season, running 19:06 to secure a 16 second victory over Rachel Hensler of Seneca Valley. Clara Savchik of North Allegheny finished 3rd. Team favorites Seneca Valley cruised to the team title thanks to a 58 second spread with five runners in the top 24. They scored 66 points to defeat North Allegheny by 54, and Mount Lebanon by 84. Mount Lebanon earned the final state spot by a slim 10 point margin.
District 12
Class A
Masterman swept both team titles with perfect scores! Joe Previdi led the boys with a gold medal performance in 16:30, while the girls were led by the sister combination of Marina (21:49) and Viki Mancoridis (21:56).
Class AA
Archbishop Wood girls won their 6th straight distrct championship, scoring 19 points to win by 29 over Bonner Prendie. Kayla Connelly of Lansdale Catholic won her third district title in a row, running 20:16 to win by 42 seconds.
For the boys, Bonner Prendie scored 22 points to win the team title over Lansdale Catholic by 37, placing three in the top four overall. Sean Sullivan led the way for the winners, running a solo 7:37 to win by 18 seconds.
Class AAA
Lasalle defeated Cardinal O'Hara for the 2nd time in 5 days by a score of 25-58 to retain the district title using a 39 second spread. Eddie Goebel led the winners with a gold medal performance in 16:30 to defeat Rob Morro and Ryan James of Cardinal O'Hara.
District 11
Class A
The Marian Catholic sister combination of district champion Tina (20:44) and runner up Nicole Capparell (21:13) went 1-2 in the Class A race. That was enough for a 4th place finish for their team behind winners Notre Dame East Stroudsburg, runners up Minersville, and 3rd place Pine Grove Area. The champions scored 57 points to win by 31.
For the boys, Mike Sheptuk of Notre Dame East Stroudsburg knocked off defending champion Sam Li of Moravian Academy with a 13 second victory in 18:02. Sheptuk's performance was one of three in the top six for his team, which led them to the win with 45 points to win by 25 points over Mahanoy Area.
Class AA
In a photo finish, Joe Espinal of Wilson defeated Dylan Bucior of Jim Thorpe by less than half a second to become the district champion. Both runners clocked in at 17:01. The team title race was not as close, as Allentown Central Catholic defeated Notre Dame Green Pond 62-83 for the title. Both teams qualified for the state meet.
For the girls, Kiele Riefenstahl of Saucon Valley kept her unbeaten streak going against PA competition, running 19:55 to secure an 11 second victory over Emily Deschler and Colleen Daday of Allentown Central Catholic. The two of them made up half of the top six finishers for Allentown Central Catholic, who pulled off a 50-61 win over favorites Northwestern Lehigh.
Class AAA
Kevin Lapsansky of Easton survived a three second victory over Seth Slavin of Pleasant Valley with a winning time of 16:16. His performance was also good enough for a runner up finish and a return to the state meet behind champions Parkland, who scored 37 points with a 35 second spread from their five runners in the top ten.
The girls race was also a tight finish, as the first upset of the week took place by a margin of less than half a second. Defending champion Raisa Kochmaruk of Liberty was shocked by Allana Powlette of Stroudsburg at the tape to win the title! Both runners were clocked in at 19:34. Easton Area used a 67 second spread with five runners in the top 17 and seven in the top 20 to score 54 points to win by 16 over Stroudsburg, who finished 13 points ahead of Emmaus for the 2nd state qualifying spot.
District 4
Class A
Hunter Crawley of South Williamsport followed in Griffin Molino's footsteps and kept the individual title in house with a time of 16:52 to win by 23 seconds. Northeast Bradford put on an impressive performance, placing five of the top 11 finishers with an outstanding 15 second spread to score 40 points and win by 64! Troy finished 2nd to advance to states.
For the girls, Tori Ross of Warrior Run held off Randi Jennings of Canton Area by six seconds to win the district title with a time of 20:11. The team title chase was just as close, with Southern Columbia holding off Northeast Bradford 72-76 to win the district! Both teams will qualify for states.
Class AA
Miffinburg boys used a 78 second spread to knock off Lewisburg 58-72 thanks to a 78 second spread and five of the top sixteen finishers. Issac Davis of Jersey Shore Area recorded a 10 second victory over Anthony Bach of Lewisburg to win the gold medal with a time of 16:31.
For the girls, Mackenzie Jones of Danville led her team to the championship with a gold medal performance in a time of 19:24. Her team recorded an 85 second spread and a score of 31 points to win by 36!
District 5
Jacob Pryor of Southern Fulton ran 17:48 to earn a 15 second victory over Trenton Husick of Tussey Mountain. Pryor's performance led his team to the district title and a state meet berth with a score of 23 points. For the girls, Kim Bischof of Chestnut Ridge ran 21:50 to win by almost 40 seconds over Karen Dice of Rockwood. Southern Fulton won the team title over Windber Area 38-57.