PENNSYLVANIA STATE MEET

North Allegheny Boys And Girls Win AAA Titles

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

On an historic day when the state of Pennsylvania was credited for sending native Joe Biden over the finish line in the election for U.S. President, many high school runners in the state were out at Hershey's Parkview Cross Country Course trying to make their own history.

A new format re-shaped the PIAA State Championships on Saturday as each classification was broken into four races with the results merged. One of the potential headline matchups was broken apart by the new format, used to reduced the number of participants in each race.

Competing in separate races -- team and individual -- West Chester Henderson's Jenna Mulhern and Moon Area's Mia Cochran, both juniors, did not get the chance to go head to head. Instead, Cochran, the 2019 AAA champion, competing in a section filled with individual qualifiers, easily defended her title as she clocked the fastest time of the day, completing the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes, 28 seconds. In the team race, North Allegheny scored 59 points to win the program’s third consecutive title. Senior Keeley Misutka was the top finisher for the team in 19:10. Mulhern finished sixth overall in 19:20.

After winning in 2018 and placing third last year, the North Allegheny boys made it a program sweep, scoring 49 points to bring home the AAA title. The Tigers were paced by junior Scott Nalepa, who won heat 2 in 16:33. Individually, State College Area’s Brady Bigger took the title in 16:07, the fastest time of the day for any male. 

With the graduation of Marlee Starliper, now a freshman at N.C. State, a new girls champion was crowned for the first time in three years in the AA race. Junior Olivia Haas of Blue Mountain won her first title in 18:56. The unusually warm November day took its toll on some runners, as District 11 champion Cori McCormick did not finish. Warrior Run dominated the team race scoring 40 points, as senior Lauren Trapani was second in her heat and fifth overall in 20:04.

The Lewisburg boys repeated as AA winners with 57 points. Jacob Hess led the way as he won the first heat in 16:37. Junior Gary Martin of Archbishop Wood clocked the fastest time in AA in 16:12 to win the individual crown.

The Penns Valley Area girls won the A title with 37 points. Senior Kelsey Hull, who won the first heat in 20:46 was the top finisher for the Rams.  Senior Carmen Medvit of Shenango claimed the individual win 20:16.

Penns Valley Area senior Colton Sands’s winning time of 16:42 led the Rams to a runner-up finish in the A race with 84 points. Jenkintown dominated the team crown with 44 points, as seniors Luke Miller (17:04) and Carter Geer (17:05) led the way, finishing fourth and fifth overall. 

Team Champions

Class AAA - North Allegheny boys 65 points, North Allegheny girls 59 points - RESULTS

Class AA - Lewisburg Area boys 57 points, Warrior Run girls 40 points - RESULTS

Class A - Jenkintown boys 44 points, Penns Valley Area girls 37 points - RESULTS