NorwinXC after crushing the regular season took their talents to the WIPIAL Championship with undefeated Section titles and an 8-0 record for the boys and girls team. NorwinXC was in search of the placing high if not winning the WPIAL against several nationally ranked teams such as North Allegheny. At the WPIAL Championships, the girls finished 3rd and qualified for PIAA Championships and the boys finished 4th. It was the highest finish for the girls since 2009 and the highest finish for the boys since 2005.
For the boys team, Enzo Jiancristoforo led Norwin for the boys running with a 15th place finish at the WIPIAL Championship and qualified for PIAA Championship. Following being Enzo’s blazing 16:33 finish was teammate Luke Simpson. Luke finished 17th finishing with a time of 16:39, missing the state championships by one place. Other final top 30 finishes for the Norwin boys also included Mario Breauchy running a 16:59.
“It really just displays the depth that we have. All of our top 5 runners are underclassman so we’re just gonna be back stronger next year,” junior runner Mario Breauchy said. “Can’t wait for the team next year.
Thomas Gaydos then got 41st for the boys, with a time of 17:22 which led Thomas to beat out one of his training partners Dave Shepherd. Dave placed 52nd running a time of 17:35. The speedy freshman, Owen Rankin, ran an 18:31, which ended up securing him a 81st place finish. Then for the seventh boy on NorwinXC was Hayden Douglas who ended up placing 161st.
“I thought that it was a good way to end the season. We had a couple ups and downs, but we ended better than we had in previous years,” Shepherd said, “We didn’t win a trophy there, but maybe the real trophy was the friends we made along the way.”
For the girls, Norwin was led by Annie Czajkowski running a scorching 19:27 leading to a 17th place finish. Following her was the NorwinXC Girls Pack that consisted of Julio Walko, Addison Farrah, and Rosemary Gaydos. The pack secured the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd places in the race, leading the pack securing all three of those points.
“We all kept together as a pack and made it to states by tie even though we were ranked to get second, we came through,” said Gaydos.
Only two places off of the NorwinXC Girls Pack was Jillian Ryba who ran a 20:06, leading to a 35th place finish for her. Which was trailed by freshman Anna Dansak, placing 38th who finished with a time of 20:13. Following not far being Dansak was Audra Fedor, finishing with a time of 20:32.
“That it was a great experience and felt so amazing to help get our team to states,” said freshmen runner Jillian Ryba.
PIAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Following the WPIAL Championships, NorwinXC took their talents down to chocolate town (Hershey PA) for the PIAA Cross Country State Meet. There was only 8 Norwin runners that ran at this meet running against the best cross country runners in state and even country. In the meet there was 3 sets of races for each the boys and girls team, with between roughly 200 and 300 runners in each race.
Enzo Jiancristoforo, who placed 15th in the WIPIAL Race. He was the only boy from NorwinXC that got to run at the PIAA State Race, as training partner Luke Simpson was cut off by one place leading him to not make the PIAA State Race. Enzo however leading the boys ran a scorching 17:27 placing him 109th, running against several nationally ranked runners in country like Drew Griffith.
“I was definitely a little nervous but also excited knowing that I was able to compete against the best guys in the state. When the gun went off I felt very confident, as the race went on I ended up picking off about 40 guys from start to finish,” Jiancristoforo said. “It was definitely a good experience for myself and also my teammate Luke so we can be more prepared for next year.”
Where as for the NorwinXC Girls the seven varsity girls were back and back to place high in PIAA State Race. Sophomore, Annie Czajkowski led once again placing 27th running a time of smoking time of 19:33. Trailing Annie was her best friend Rosemary Gaydos 96th ran a 20:39. Norwin senior Julia Walko placed after Rosemary, Julia Walko placed 106th running a 20:51.
Following behind Julia was Jillian Ryba and Audra Fedor who both ran a 20:55, placing them 113th and 114th. The freshman Addison Farrah placed 126th running a time of 21:01, trailed by Anna Dansak running a 21:27 earning her 158th place.
“It was a memorable experience to compete with some of the best state girl runners in the state as a sophomore. My hard work paid off, and lead me to success,” Czajkowski said. “It was also an amazing experience to run with my teammates that I am such good friends one more time, as it will for some of them be there last high school race.”
Senior, Audra Fedor, said “It was such an unforgettable experience to race my last high school cross country meet at the state course with my best friends.”
Overall, it was an amazing cap off to the team for NorwinXC. Multiple runners placing high in the PIAA State Race and WIPIAL Race was an amazing finish to the season for NorwinXC.
