Winchester Thurston hoping freshmen step up
Winchester Thurston is about to enter the postMalone era for the boys cross country team.
“My overall viewpoint is that, if you graduate the WPIAL champion, the fourth-place finisher and a solid No. 4 runner, then basic logic would suggest a letdown,”Winchester Thurston coach Bruce Frey said. “Our starters will be two seniors and three freshmen, that’s our five.”
But just because the Bears lost reigning WPIAL Class 1A champion Patrick Malone to graduation doesn’t necessarily mean their streak of five consecutive titles will come to an end this year.
They just need a new vibe. And they’re going old school to get it.
Winchester Thurston will have a pair of younger siblings that have an incredible pedigree; Bears 2020 alumni Scott Routledge and Sean Heintzleman’s freshman younger brothers Charlie and Peter, respectively. Both Scott and Sean were members of the first four of the team’s current five-year WPIAL championship streak.
“It makes it easier because, when they were in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grade, they went to Hershey to see their big brothers run and they’re sick of hearing about their big brothers and want to create their own spot,” Frey said. “It’s very, very good and makes them highly motivated.”
Relying solely on a group of freshmen — albeit two who have a very good idea of what it takes to win at the WPIAL and PIAA levels — would be a bit risky for a team that could tie Quaker Valley for the third-most consecutive WPIAL boys titles (six) in history this season. But the freshmen will have a couple of solid runners to help them hold the pace with senior Lance Nicholls, who finished third overall last year and is the top returner in the WPIAL, along with 31st-place finisher Jonah Keller, who pointed for the Bears in the finals
“Obviously, Lance is the No. 2 returning runner in the state and he’s done a very good job with our Captain’s Runs and preseason runs. He knows what’s at stake,” Frey said. “He’s been tremendous and he’s epitomized the captaincy.”
Only two other individual finishers return from the top 10 — Greensburg Central Catholic sophomore Nick Szekely and Eden Christian Academy junior Sean Aiken. Eden Christian will also be among the teams to watch as it has its entire top seven from the WPIAL finals back in the fold.
Class 3A
North Allegheny has won 13 of the past 15 WPIAL Class 3A titles, including the past three in a row, as well as two of the past three state championships including last year.
And with five of the top six back this year, including three top-10 finishers from White Oak Park last year, the Tigers are primed for a successful campaign as the WPIAL meet heads back to California (Pa.) after a oneyear COVID-necessitated hiatus.
“I’mvery excited about the hard work that they’ve put in all summer, the improvement has really been there,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said. “We haven’t really done any tests or anything like that to see where we are, but to a man, I think we’re coming in a lot better than we did last year at this time.”
Senior Scott Nalepa finished fourth in the WPIAL last year, with senior
Graham Wolfe sixth and junior Gregory Kossuth seventh.
Even with that strong returningcontingent, North Allegheny may once again face its greatest challenges in its section as a precursor to the WPIAL finals.
Butler, which lost out on a state finals berth because the PIAA only took one team representative, will have a solid 1-2 punch in seniors C.J. Singleton and Sage Vavro, who finished first and second, respectively, individually in the WPIAL a year ago and will bring back four of its top five from 2020.
Even Seneca Valley, which finished third last season, should provide a challenge with senior Noah Peterson, the third-place individual finisher last year, leading the way
“You can’t take them, and even Pine-Richland, lightly because it’s always a barnburner and they always put together great squads,” Neff said. “I have a lot of respect for both of those schools and it will be a tough fight with those teams.”
Class 2A
Greensburg Salem won the team title last year, but there is no guarantee the Golden Lions will be back in the winner’s circle again this season after losing their top two runners from 2020.
Still, Greensburg Salem will return three of its top five from last year in seniors Charles Johnson and Jacob Smith and junior Aaron Tressler, so the cupboard isn’t bare.
But the team to look out for might be Ringgold, despite the fact the team lost two of its top seven runners. Sophomore Ryan Pajak lost the individual title in a sprint to the line against Knoch alumnus Mike Formica and has to be considered the favorite to win it this year despite the venue shift.