Those at the WPIAL cross country championships yesterday afternoon witnessed history being made and saw two outstanding finishes.

In the history department, Latrobe senior Natalie Bower became the first runner, as far as anyone knows, to win four consecutive WPIAL individual cross country titles. She covered the 3.1-mile course at Cooper's Lake Campground near Slippery Rock in 18 minutes, 4 seconds, finishing well ahead of Norwin's Jenna Gigliotti, who was next in 18:22, in the girls' Class AAA race.

Bower's time tied Neshannock graduate Kacey Gibson for the second fastest by a girl on the course. Bower set the course record of 17:58 last week at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association championship.

"I had pretty much the same game plan [here] for the eighth and final time," said Bower, who is undefeated at Cooper's Lake in WPIAL and Tri-State Coaches championship races. "I really like this course."

The two thrilling finishes came in the boys' races.

In the Class AAA final, Canon-McMillan's Matt Gregory passed Seneca Valley's Cam Stauffer with less than a tenth of a mile to go to win the title.

Gregory finished in 15:50, the third-fastest boys' time on the course, with Stauffer at 15:51. North Allegheny's Ryan Gil was next at 15:58.

The three ran together from about the 2 1/2-mile mark on, with Stauffer taking the lead with about three-quarters of a mile to go. But Gregory outkicked him to the line.

The finish of the boys' Class AA race was even more thrilling. Defending champion Jon McElwain of Riverside led most of the way and looked as if he would repeat, but Quaker Valley's Omar Hyjek put on a burst and passed McElwain with less that 50 yards to go. Hyjek finished in 16:20, McElwain in 16:22.

Katrina Jueng of Shady Side Academy held off Northgate's Bridgit Walters to win the girls' Class AA race. Jueng finished in 19:47, a second ahead of Walters.

In the team standings, North Allegheny easily won the boys' Class AAA title for a fourth consecutive year. The Tigers finished with 47 points to North Hills' 130. Latrobe won the girls' Class AAA title for a second consecutive year, beating Knoch, 89-145. Quaker Valley won the boys' Class AA title for a second consecutive year and Shady Side Academy edged Quaker Valley, 97-102, for the girls' Class AA title.

The day, however, belonged to Bower. Her mark of four consecutive titles might be tied but will never be broken. Usually unflappable, she admitted it was hard to approach this year's final as just another race.

"There was a lot more pressure this time," she said. "The biggest thing today for me was to relax ... I needed to relax.

"Once the [field] separated and everyone was in their spots ... after that initial half-mile, or whatever you want to call it when everybody settles in, until then it was nerve-racking."

But once Bower settled in to her usual spot out in front, she looked comfortable. A pack of three runners that included Norwin's Leslie Kovach and Gigliotti and Hampton's Elaina Balouris tried to keep up, but at the 2-mile mark Bower had a 10-second lead and was pulling away.

"Yeah, there was pressure because the race came so quick," Bower said. "We were just up here last week [for the Tri-State Coaches championships] and it was like, 'OK, I have some time to relax.' Then I get up today and it's race day."