Two WPIAL athletes ran down gold medals at the PIAA cross country championships yesterday in Hershey.
Stephanie Madia of North Allegheny won the girls' title and Dan Mazzocco of Baldwin the boys' in Class AAA. The races were run on the 3.1-mile course on the White Field adjacent to Hersheypark Stadium.
Madia's victory was the most thrilling. She passed Jess Cickay of Council Rock 3 yards from the finish to claim the victory. Madia's time was 19 minutes, 4 seconds. Cickay crossed the line in 19:04.5.
"I just kept pushing and pushing over the final 800 yards," Madia said. "I thought I could catch her and did just before the finish line. People were yelling and screaming, it was pretty exciting."
Madia finished second at the PIAA championships last year. At the WPIAL finals 10 days ago, Madia was second to Hempfield's Lauren Bricker, who placed fifth yesterday and finished a spot behind Jessica Perry of Peters Township.
Other WPIAL runners in the top 10 were West Allegheny's Christine Taranto (seventh) and Michol Monaghan of Laurel Highlands (ninth).
"I just wanted to finish in the top five," Madia said. "I started out in the top 15 which is just where I wanted to be because I didn't want to go out too fast. I started thinking I could win it in the last mile when I was gaining on Jess."
Mazzocco, this year's WPIAL champion, didn't have to come up with a late sprint. He finished in 16:03 well ahead of Dorian McDonald of Bethlehem Liberty who was second in 16:26.
Shawn Cavanaugh of Mt. Lebanon, who won the PIAA Class AAA title last year, finished fifth in 16:30.1.
In girls' Class AA, Quaker Valley was runner-up in the team competition. The Quakers had 118 points, while Wyomissing finished with 72. WPIAL champion Maxine Markfield was the first Quaker Valley runner to cross the finish line and was 14th overall. Anna Beck of Washington placed 13th and was the first WPIAL runner. Jesi Christiansen of Greenville won the girls' Class AA title with a time of 19:17.1
In boys' Class AA, WPIAL champion Dan Erny of Brentwood, who trained with Mazzocco last summer, didn't fare well. Erny finished 26th overall in 17:20.4. Quaker Valley's Zach Thomas was the first WPIAL finisher and was 23rd in 17:15.2. Andy Weilacher of Eisenhower won the race in 16:05.5
Quaker Valley's boys team was fourth in the Class AA standing with 213 points. Scranton Prep won the team title with 87, edging Eisenhower by one point.
In the boys' Class AAA team competition, Shaler was seventh with 258 points while WPIAL champion Mt. Lebanon was eighth with 267.
North Allegheny's girls were third in the Class AAA team standings with 192 points. Allentown Central Catholic was first with 143 and North Penn was second with 169.
"It's not disappointing to place third because everybody on the team ran well," Madia said. "All you can do is go out and run your best."
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