Today’s high school calendar features something for everyone
Although the fall sports season is winding to a close, today’s high school calendar is a busy one with a district championship, first round playoff action and a pair of high school football games on tap. Boys and girls teams from Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Connellsville, Frazier, Laurel Highlands, Southmoreland, Uniontown, and Waynesburg Central along with a lone runner or two, including Geibel Catholic’s Bethany Caldwell, will run for individual and team honors this afternoon in the WPIAL Cross Country Championships at Slippery Rock University.
The girls Class AA race starts the action at 2:30 p.m. with the girls Class AAA race, boys Class AA, and boys Class AAA races to follow on the half-hour. The top four boys and girls teams in each classification as well as the top 20 non-team qualifying individuals will advance to next week’s PIAA Championships in Hershey.
Headlining the list of local hopefuls is Connellsville’s Kenny King. The senior finished third in the WPIAL and fifth in the state meet in 2003, but King seems poised to make a run at both titles this fall after winning his third consecutive FCCA crown a couple weeks ago.
The Falcons are hoping to position themselves for a team berth as well, resting on the performance of the Section 2-AAA champion squad of Brad Showman, Wade Schnorr, Nick Vinoverski, Joe Villanueva, and Arlo Helms.
Albert Gallatin’s Patrick Reagan is also a strong contender to finish his senior year with his first trip to the state meet in the Class AAA race. Laurel Highlands sophomore Jeff Palya and Uniontown’s Kevin Monaghan could also be in position for one of the 20 individual spots.
In the boys Class AA race, Southmoreland’s Nick Barron had a strong showing in last week’s Freedom Invitational, generally regarded as a precursor for the WPIAL meet, by finishing seventh. Frazier’s Kenny Miller, still recovering from a broken arm, placed 28th overall.
Connellsville’s Molly Mullaney hopes to end her senior season for the Lady Falcons with a state berth in the Class AAA race. A quartet of Class AA girls should be in the running for an individual medal in Frazier’s Rebecca Leary, Brownsville’s Erika Coffey, a freshman, Southmoreland’s Maria Rendine, and Geibel Catholic’s Bethany Caldwell.
Rendine was ninth, Coffey finished 11th, and Leary was 12th in the Freedom Invitational while Caldwell ran at the Tri-State Coaches Invitational at Slippery Rock in a time of 22:37, a time that would have placed her in the top 10 at Freedom.
A little closer to home two of the top Class A volleyball teams begin the march for a WPIAL title and state playoff berth in Perryopolis.
Frazier, undefeated Section 6-A champions seeded second, will host Beth-Center, a 3-1 winner over Aliquippa in Tuesday’s preliminary match, at 7:30 p.m. while Geibel Catholic, the second place team to the Lady Commodores sporting a No. 3 seed, play the opening match at 6 p.m. against the Avonworth Antelopes.
Jefferson-Morgan, the third place team in Section 6-A, travel to Fort Cherry for a 7 p.m. start.
Football teams not advancing to the WPIAL playoffs are given the option of playing a 10th game, and Albert Gallatin and Mapletown are the only local teams on the schedule tonight. Frazier played its 10th game Wednesday night, a 33-21 loss at Bentworth.
The Colonials (1-7) will host Ringgold (2-7) at 6:30 p.m. while the Maples (4-5) are on the road at 7 p.m. against winless Avella.