Pictured Above - Annie Moniz at the PIAA Foundation XC Invitational - Photo by Ryan Comstock
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As the state is pushing its way into the regular season, standout youngsters are starting to make a name for themselves.
The Pennsylvania season will continue through November, with post-season competition extending to December. In that time, we'll be highlighting some of our "Future Stars".
These are athletes, typically underclassmen, who have the potential to be stars tomorrow. We will highlight a couple of athletes each week.
Annie Moniz
Lower Moreland • Class of 2027
Sophomore Annie Moniz is garnering attention after consistently running standout races this season.
Moniz opened her season with a first-place finish in the Varsity Blue Race at PTXC 15 hosted by Kutztown University. She impressed with an at-the-time personal best effort of 19:09.10.
Video Above - Annie Moniz after winning the Varsity Blue Race at PTXC 15
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Moniz carried the momentum into the PIAA Foundation Invitational. She finished third in the 2A race, running 19:34.00. This is a massive improvement upon her 20:35.00 45th place finish from the 2023 PIAA State Championships her freshman year.
For reference, Moniz's PIAA Foundation Invitational time would have placed her evenly with Victoria Bartholomew (Danville Area) in 13th place at last year's state championship.
Most recently, Moniz won the Varsity C race at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational. She posted a massive personal best of 18:06.00, besting out-of-state challengers such as Dominique Cameron (Leonia HS, NJ), who was second in 18:15.00, and Sophia Semo (Cornwall, NY), who was third in 18:21.00.
Nate Viands
Penn Charter • Class of 2029
Nate Viands is an up-and-coming middle schooler already competing amongst solid high school runners.
Just an eighth grader, Viands clocked a wicked-fast personal best of 16:56.60. His effort is from the 70th Annual George School Invitational on September 14th, where he finished 18th overall and acted as Penn Charter's fourth-scoring runner.
He finished between senior Nate Perez (Holy Ghost Preparatory School), who ran 16:55.20, and junior Walter Mulroy (Germantown Academy), who ran 16:59.90. To illustrate the caliber of these two runners, Perez finished fifth at the District 1 2A Championship last year, and Mulroy finished 21st at the 2023 PAISAA Cross Country Championships.
What's even more impressive about Viands is the consistency he has already demonstrated at such a young age. Just a mere three days later, he ran 17:10.40 at the Inter-AC Duals, finishing 4th overall.
Cracking 17 minutes in the 5K as a middle schooler is something you don't see very often, let alone an individual almost doing it again just a few days later. It will be interesting to see where Viands continues to develop in the next few years.