Jon McElwain might be the best cross country runner in the WPIAL this year, but he has been cruising under the radar.

The operative word here is cruising.

A senior at Riverside High School, McElwain won the WPIAL Class AA title last season with a solid time of 16 minutes, 42 seconds on the 3.1-mile Coopers Lake Campground course. But he was slow when compared to Class AAA champion David Adley of Baldwin, who finished in 16:02, and the others in the Class AAA top 10.

But Adley graduated in June and McElwain has gotten faster.

Unfortunately, McElwain hasn't had much of a chance to go against many of the WPIAL's top runners this season.

Riverside didn't compete in the Red, White & Blue Classic, the first big meet of the season, in early September. Instead, the Panthers ran at the Big Red Invitational at West Middlesex High School.

Had McElwain set a course record and finished first there he would have made something of a splash. Instead, he placed sixth in the Red Division because he was sick when he raced.

Riverside did compete at the Slippery Rock Invitational the following weekend, but McElwain didn't run. He was still sick and Joe Fisher, Riverside's coach, didn't want to take any chances.

Tuesday, McElwain easily finished first at the Midwestern Athletic Conference championships at Brush Creek Park near New Brighton with a time of 17:09 on a hilly course with plenty of turns. That came on the heels of running a 16:56 Saturday at Riverside at the Tri-County North championships.

"I don't know," he said when asked if he thought he'd been overlooked so far this season. "I just try to go out and run my own race."

But after winning by 23 seconds at the MAC meet, McElwain said he wished he had somebody to push him.

He should get that Thursday when Riverside competes in the Tri-State Track Coaches Association championships at 4 p.m. at Coopers Lake. He will be competing against many of the top runners in Class AAA and AA in that race.

"I'm looking forward to it," McElwain said with a smile.

He has been the object of much finger pointing this year. Wherever Riverside has run opponents and spectators have singled McElwain out as the defending WPIAL champion.

"I'd say the same thing if we were going against a WPIAL champ," Fisher said. "Jon has handled that real well. He has picked it up the past couple of weeks. He's been running real well."

It took McElwain awhile to recover from his illness. He said the first week back was tough but by the fourth week in September he was back in the swing of things.

He realizes winning the WPIAL Class AA title for a second consecutive year won't be easy. The top six finishers at the Class AA meet last year were underclassmen. Expected challengers include Riverview's Matt Springer, Quaker Valley's John Yankello, Laurel's Evan Miller and Fort Cherry's Andrew Lucarini.

"We've got one of the best [PIAA] districts in the state, so I know it's going to be tough," McElwain said. "I just want us to qualify for the [PIAA] championships as a team. I'd rather get the team there than go as an individual any day."

He hasn't decided on a college yet and is open to any and all opportunities. McElwain said to mention any school ahead of another would be unfair, but he added that Duquesne University coach Jim Lear has "been wonderful."

"When I was sick he gave me a phone call and cheered me up," McElwain said.

Obviously, someone has been paying attention to what McElwain was doing this season.