Zach Skolnekovich and Griffin Mackey will battle it out once again at the Schenley Oval (Photo by Phil Grove)
14th Annual Red, White, and Blue Classic (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Meet Page
- 2015 Results
- 2015 Boys Individual Champion (AA & A): Zach Skolnekovich (Quaker Valley) - 16:01
- 2015 Boys Team Champion (AA/A): Sewickley Academy (A); Grove City (AA)
- 2015 Boys Individual Champion (AA/A): Nick Wolk (Peters Township) - 15:48
- 2015 Boys Team Champion (AAA): North Allegheny
- 2015 Girls Individual Champion (AA & A): Marianne Abdalah (Vincentian Academy) - 18:50
- 2015 Girls Team Champion (AA & A): Vincentian Academy (A); Quaker Valley (AA)
- 2015 Girls Individual Champion (AAA): Lauren Finikiotis (Oakland Catholic) - 18:21
- 2015 Girls Team Champion (AAA): Villa Maria Academy
AAA GIRLS PREVIEW (8:30 AM)
In the first race of the day, Lauren Finikiotis of Oakland Catholic will look to defend her title. She got off to a hot start at McDowell this past weekend, winning convincingly to get off to a great start in 2016. The path to repeat at Red, White, and Blue won't be easy and she'll see a big test from North Allegheny's Clara Savchik. It's an early preview of the two District 7 favorites and it should be a good one. Finikiotis was slightly better last season, but after a summer of training, who has the edge now?
Hannah Ricci and Grace Brown went 4-5 last season and they'll lead the reigning team champs. But Preseason PA#1 Seneca Valley, led by Julia Kooser and Rachel Hensler will look to start off on the right foot. Oakland Catholic was strong in its opener at McDowell and they should be a threat.
Savannah Shaw of Upper St. Clair, fresh off a win at Cal U will be one to watch. Canon McMillan's Morgan Grudi also picked up a win last week, hers coming at Saint Francis. Ava Pietryzk of North Hills, who is ranked PA#24 on the latest Flo50 rankings, will certainly be a factor. Greater Latrobe's Megan Cawoski and Franklin Regional's Sterling Simek should also be in the conversation.
A & AA Girls PREVIEW (9:05 AM)
Photo by Phil Grove
Vincentian Academy's Marianne Abdalah will look to start of her final season of high school running on the right foot by defending her crown at the Red, White, and Blue Classic on Saturday. The 2015 RWB champ won in 18:50 last year.
Looking to challenge her will be Quaker Valley's Lucie Kubinski and Audrey Durbin. The AA champs from this meet last year bring a deep squad that should matchup well with the A champs, Vincentian Academy. Ambridge Area's Mica Hanish, Southmoreland Kaylee Farino, and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Rylee Kopchak will be among the other contenders up front. Vincentian Academy has a solid squad after Abdalah, including Marissa Canzian and Katherine Fedko.
AAA BOYS PREVIEW (9:40 AM)
Photo by Phil Grove
This race served as the breakout race for Peters Township's Nick Wolk, who became one of PA's stars after a 15:48 here last year. He's off to Pitt, but there is plenty of talent ready to toe the line on Saturday.
Baldwin's Casey Conboy was sixth last year and will be one of the favorites. Kiski Area's Eric Kennedy, who had a shortened season last year, should be a factor up front. So should Franklin Regional's Mark Provenzo. All three are in the PA Flo50 Top 25 rankings. South Fayette's Aaron Pfiel and Sam Snodgrass should mix it up with this pack as well. Butler's Noah Beveridge and Norwin's Matt O'Neil will be up there, too.
This will be our first invitational look at North Allegheny this season. The AAA state runner-ups from last season lost some talent from last year, but they return a solid group that will be favored this weekend. Jacob Greco and Zack Deible will lead NA. Mount Lebanon, which won last week at Mary Uher, will look to keep the hot start rolling into Saturday. Bryce Brandenstein will be the likely leader of Mount Leb. Taylor Allderdice picked up a big team win at McDowell last week against some good compeititon. This will be a great test for that squad, which is led by Amadou Diallo and Tavonne Davis. Winchester Thurston (a Single-A team that raced in the AAA race last year) should factor in as well led by Shaun Hay, Ben Littman and Tristan Forsythe. Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Canon McMillan will be among the other teams to watch.
This will be a deep race with plenty of individuals and teams not mentioned above that could get into the mix.
A & AA BOYS PREVIEW (10:15 AM)
Skolnekovich after his win at Red, White, and Blue in 2015.
Zach Skolnekovich of Quaker Valley is the favorite to win AA this season, and his 2016 XC season will get off to a start with a big test from the Single-A favorite Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy. Last year, Skolnekovich outdueled Mackey to take the win by just four seconds, so it should be another great battle.
Waynesburg Central is slated to appear which will likely mean the season debut of Ben Bumgarner, another one of the names to watch this season in AA. He has the ability to mix it up with Skolnekovich and Mackey.
Fresh off a win at Cal U is Mark Brown of Greensburg Salem. The G-S trio of Brown, Frankie King, and Cameron Binda will look to build off some nice opening races at Marty Uher on Saturday. Jacob Hebda of Elizabeth Forward is fresh off an impressive early season win at River Trail Cup and could be an interesting runner to keep an eye on his weekend.