Quarzo sisters finish 1-2 in WPIAL championship
CALIFORNIA — Gionna Quarzo felt a certain degree of comfort when she sneaked a peek behind her in the second half of the WPIAL Class AA Cross Country Championship and saw her sister JoJo chasing after her.
Gionna Quarzo won WPIAL cross country gold for the first time in her career Thursday afternoon at Cal U’s Roadman Park, while her younger sister captured silver in her first district final.
The Brownsville siblings will have company in the PIAA Championships in Hershey on Saturday, Nov. 2, with Belle Vernon’s Grace Henderson and Viva Kreis, Ringgold’s Charlee Leach and California’s Makayla Boda also earning berths into the state meet.
Gionna Quarzo pulled away in the middle mile of the course and didn’t look back to cross the finish line in 18:56. JoJo Quarzo crossed the finish line 42 seconds later for the silver medal.
“I pulled away a little bit around the 1½-mile (mark). I was very comfortable and not very nervous,” said Quarzo. “I used the downhill. I heard the guys screaming, “It’s just JoJo behind you.”
The comfort level Quarzo received to learn it was her sister behind her did not come from a cockiness, but understanding how her sibling runs.
“No, no, we struggle with the same things, so I knew (how the race was unfolding),” said Quarzo. “When I got the hill, I told myself you can do it. I’m not the best at hills.”
Quarzo was comfortably ahead as she turned into the final mile, so she set her sights on the clock.
“I was really excited. I wanted to try to push it to get under 19 (minutes),” said Quarzo.
“It means a lot,” Quarzo said of winning the gold medal. “Today’s your race. Have fun with it.”
JoJo Quarzo accomplished what she set out to do in her first district championship.
“I really wanted to get second. It worked out well,” said the younger Quarzo.
Quarzo let gravity work in her favor in the middle mile of the course.
“After I crossed the road, the big downhill, I let myself go down the hill and I pulled ahead of Annie (Wicker),” said Quarzo.
JoJo Quarzo expected a challenge, but was surprised from who it was.
“It’s not Annie. It’s the South Fayette girl (Lauren Iagnemma). The South Fayette girl really surprised me. I didn’t know what to expect from her,” said Quarzo.
Gionna Quarzo was proud of her sister’s accomplishment, saying, “It means a lot. She looks up to me. It makes me feel good. I push her a lot.”
Iagnemma finished third in 19:49, with Wicker, the two-time defending champion, fourth in 20:01.
Henderson finished third last year as a sophomore, but slipped to sixth in a time of 20:42. Henderson was situated with the Quarzo sisters early in the race.
“I like it. It means I don’t have to plan the race out. It’s always nice to run with them. I push myself,” said Henderson.
Henderson, too, was wary of her footing on the downhill portion of the course.
“I slowed down. I didn’t want to slip,” said Henderson.
Henderson has been hampered with a minor injury, so it threw her training off.
“It messed up my training. It’s obviously not something I wanted,” said Henderson.
Henderson was kicking back in the team area, resting up in preparation for the Lady Leopards’ WPIAL playoff soccer match later Thursday evening.
“I’m used to doing double duty. (The meet) will get me into sport mode and focus on what happens tonight,” added Henderson.
Kreis joined Henderson on the awards stand after she finished 12th overall in 21:08.
“I think it went pretty well,” Kreis said of her first district meet. “This is my fastest time, ever.”
Kreis managed to stick to her race plan, despite some tricky footing in the middle mile.
“I start off a little slower and then picked them off on the downhill,” explained Kreis. “I let it all lose on the downhill. (The footing) was worse than last week (at the TSTCA Invitational), so I had to go wide.
“I picked people off. I ran with one of the McKeesport twins (the Wades). We were going at it. (Running against her) definitely helped. We picked off one girl together.”
Kreis met her pre-race goal, saying, “My main goal, of course, was to qualify for states. I want to do well at states.”
Leach, a freshman, earned a berth into her first state championship after she finished 22nd overall in 21:45.
“It was really good,” Leach said of her race. “It was exhausting, but the team was cheering me on. It helped so much.
“My body and brain were telling me to stop near the tennis courts the second time. I was thinking about Hershey and the chance to run at states. I passed three people.”
Leach added, “I’m really proud of myself. I hope to improve over the next three years.”
Boda was the first local runner to qualify for the state meet when she finished 21st in the Class A race with a time of 22:35.
The junior qualified as a freshman and, through an odd set of circumstances last year, missed qualifying, then earned the spot after a withdrawal, and ultimately not running in Hershey due to a hip injury.
Boda left little to chance by situating herself in or around the top 20 in the second half of the race and then relying on her track experience down the home stretch.
“I was trying to keep my pace,” explained Boda. “I passed a few girls (in the final mile). I know I passed one at the finish line. I tried to kick into track and to go fast there. Running the relay helped me, too.”
Boda had one goal to reach Thursday, adding, “I just wanted to make states. I really wanted to make it because this is my junior year.
West Greene’s Katie Lampe finished 45th overall in 23:46 after advancing to the state meet last year as a freshman.
Vincentian Academy won the girls Class A title with 104 points. South Fayette won the Class AA team title with 51 points.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s Haley Hamilton won the Class A gold medal in a time of 20:09.
The North Allegheny girls had four finishers in the top 10 to win the Class AAA crown with 41 points, and was led by champion Hannah Lindgren’s gold-medal winning time of 18:59.
Elizabeth Forward freshman Marissa Manko lost out for the final Class AA berth on a photo finish after she crossed the finish line in 22:19 with Montour’s Alex Fleck. Fleck was barely awarded 27th place and the final spot into the state meet.
The Lady Warriors’ Bailey McLaughlin just slipped into the state meet last year, but was not as fortunate Thursday after the junior finished four seconds behind Manko and Fleck in 29th place.
Brownsville junior Ashton Reposky was unable to secure her third trip to the state meet after she finished 34th in 22:46. Waynesburg Central junior Kaitlyn Pester was right on Reposky’s heels, placing 35th in 22:59. Uniontown’s Karsyn Lucy was 56th overall in Class AA in 23:55.
Connellsville freshman Gabrielle Pisarski was 136th in the Class AAA race in 24:10. Southmoreland’s Larissa Vozar placed 76th overall in the Class AA race in 24:42. Yough’s Layla Schade was 134th in Class AAA in 27:17.