WPIAL Girls Cross Country Championships
MUDDY CREEK TWP. – Not having to lug around a lot of body is generally a positive when one is running, but being small of stature was a bit of a problem for Brownsville’s Erika Coffey. The Lady Falcon sophomore was boxed in Thursday during most of the WPIAL Girls Class AA Cross Country Championship at Cooper’s Lake Campgrounds, but Coffey broke free soon enough to earn her second trip to the PIAA Championships in Hershey.
Although Coffey didn’t medal, Waynesburg Central’s Maria Shepas did, bringing home an 18th-place medal as well as a berth into the state meet on Saturday, Nov. 5.
Shepas, the daughter of first-year Waynesburg College head football coach Rick Shepas, ran track at Massillon (Ohio) as a freshman last year, but not cross country. Tennis was the fall sport of her parents’ choice, but Shepas was happy to see the Raiders had a cross country team.
Waynesburg ran the course last week at the Tri-State Invitational, so Shepas had the lay of the land coming into the district meet.
“I knew where I had trouble (last week),” said Shepas, who missed her of running under 21 minutes by 15 seconds. “I didn’t get boxed in. I wanted to stay close with the girl in front of me.”
Though the recent local snow didn’t fall on Butler County, the weather was far from pleasant. Gray skies produced intermittent drizzle to go with a cold temperature, affecting Shepas and many of the other runners.
“After the first mile, my arms got numb. My head was starting to pound after the second mile,” explained Shepas, adding, “I like running in the cold.
“I expected a better time.”
Her father was busy preparing the Yellow Jackets for rival Washington & Jefferson, but had received word of his daughter’s accomplishment.
“He’s excited,” said Shepas.
The top 20 finishers receive medals and an automatic berth in the state meet, but Coffey missed the medal stand and had to scoreboard watch as the 20 non-team qualifying individuals (outside of the top four teams) were figured out.
Coffey finished 28th overall, slipping under the cut of 38 for another trip to Hersheypark Stadium. She completed the course in 21:45, not knowing if she had qualified or not.
“I got boxed in. I didn’t run my race,” said Coffey. “I was stuck in a pack for pretty much the whole race. I expected to finish around 20 minutes. I definitely didn’t run what I wanted to do.”
The course featured a loops, not offering much room for passing because of tight running lanes.
“It wasn’t looking good at the 2-mile mark,” said Coffey. “The pack slowed me down. I couldn’t get out. It was a big pack. It was hard to get around.
“It began to thin out around 21/2 miles. I got my pace about then. I picked off quite a few (in the homestretch). I knew I wasn’t way, way back, but I wasn’t where I wanted to be.”
Coffey saw a familiar face in Shepas, the two have competed several times this season, but wasn’t able to make up ground, a ground that featured slick footing.
“I wanted to pace off (Shepas). I knew I could run with her, but it’s hard when you get boxed in,” said Coffey.
Neshannock’s Kacey Gibson ran away with the girls’ AA race, winning in 19:12, 16 seconds ahead of Brentwood’s Rachel Erny. Latrobe freshman Natalie Bower won the girls’ AAA race in 18:51.
The rest of the local runners did fare quite as well.
Laurel Highlands’ Hanna Yauger. Yauger was 116th overall in Class AAA with a time of 22:10, one second and place ahead of Connellsville’s Julie Burns. Stacy Lloyd was first in for Uniontown in 142nd in a time of 22:35.
Southmoreland’s Stephanie Wiltrout was eight places shy of qualifying in Class AA, finishing 46th overall in 22:27. Frazier’s Jessica Hudik was 89th overall in the time of 24:04.