MARISSA UMBEL

	Indiana junior Marrisa Umbel wins the girls' WPIAL Class AAA individual cross country title at Slippery Rock University. (Matt Freed,Post-Gazette)

SCHOOL: Indiana.

WHO IS SHE? A junior and the first WPIAL girls' cross country champion from her school.

THE PAST WEEK: Umbel won the Class AAA title last Thursday, covering the Slippery Rock University course in 19 minutes, 1 second. She was 25 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Alexa Gass of Moon.

CAREER: This is Umbel's third varsity season, and the most successful one. She won the prestigious Slippery Rock Invitational in September, on the course where she ran last week. Umbel did not fare as well in previous WPIAL meets, finishing 48th as a freshman and 15th last year. EASY START: A mile into last week's race, Umbel was 21st. There was a reason. "The WPIAL meet when I was in ninth grade was pretty much the worst race of my career," she said. "I started too fast and got disheartened when girls started passing me. I didn't start so fast this year." SHOCKING FINISH: Umbel took the lead with 1 1/2 miles to go and kept it, despite trepidations. "I was scared because I kept hearing people shout, 'Come on Kaitlin' and 'Come on Amy,' " said Umbel, referring to runners Kaitlin Grimm of Penn Hills and Amy Ruffalo of North Allegheny. "I was thrilled to get across the finish line. I didn't think I was close to 19 [minutes]. I was totally shocked with my time." HER OWN ARCH-RIVAL: Gass, Ruffalo and Grimm are formidable foes, but not her top one. "She wants to beat her own times and to beat herself," said Indiana coach Jim Irwin. "If she has a rivalry, it is with herself." HURTING HEEL: Chronic heel pain is another adversary. "She had some problems last year," Irwin said. "Now she's doing a lot of biking during practices. She doesn't do winter track, but is on the swim team. I think the heel still bothers her, but if she tells us it's sore, she can do different things to keep it manageable." OTHER SPORTS: Laughter washes over Umbel when she talks about swimming. "I'm not that good, but it's a lot of fun. I don't get burned out running." She also runs 1,600 and 3,200 meters in track, finishing fifth and third in the WPIAL 3,200 the past two years and qualifying for the PIAA meets. Her sister, Rachel, a freshman, is a cross country teammate. FUTURE: Umbel plans to major in a math- or science-related field in college. "I'd like to be maybe a chemist or a physicist, something not a lot of people will get into. I like to challenge myself.

" -- By Rick Shrum

EUGENE JARVIS

SCHOOL: Central Catholic

WHO IS HE? A talented junior running back who has helped Central Catholic to an 8-1 record.

LAST WEEK: Jarvis rushed for 165 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns as Central Catholic defeated Baldwin, 43-0, to clinch second place in the Quad East Conference.

GOING FOR 1,000: Jarvis has 955 yards on 133 carries and needs 45 yards to reach 1,000 for the season. Central Catholic plays McKeesport tomorrow night in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs. Jarvis would be only the fourth Central Catholic running back in the past 10 years to gain 1,000 yards.

KEEPING SCORE: Jarvis has 25 touchdowns and is the leading scorer in the WPIAL with156 points.

WHERE IS HE? Jarvis is only 5 feet 6, 160 pounds. But he believes his height actually helps him.

"I think it's a big advantage because when I get a handoff, teams can't see me behind the line," Jarvis said. "Then when they do see me, I'm mostly in the open field."

THE HALL WAY: Jarvis' two favorite players are University of Michigan receiver-punt returner Steve Breaston, a Woodland Hills High School graduate, and Kansas City Chiefs star kick returner Dante Hall. Jarvis particularly likes Hall because he is only 5-8, 187 pounds.

"He's so elusive, and I think our games are so similar," Jarvis said. "We're both little and quick, but have good speed."

Jarvis said he has been timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

TAKING OVER: Jarvis might not be Central Catholic's top runner if Andrew Johnson was still at the school. Johnson was the team's leading rusher in 2001 and 2002, but transferred to North Hills after last season.

"If Andrew was still here, I'd probably play more slotback and maybe even wide receiver," Jarvis said. "But I believe everything happens for a reason."

Jarvis' statistics compare favorably with Johnson's. Johnson has 996 yards on 166 attempts (6.0 average). Jarvis' yards-per-carry average is 7.2.

-- By Mike White