NorwinXC Boys look to defend their WPIAL championship from last year, but they are missing 4 of their 7 varsity runners from last year, including the top 3 finishers, all seniors who graduated. But they also have new runners in varsity this year to even the odds.
The Knights’ scoring varsity runners often include the 3 returning sophomores that were on the WIAL winning team from last year William Little, Benjamin McBride, Alexander Barrett; joining them is senior Maerek Moenssens working his way up from JV last year to varsity this year, another runnerthat movedfrom jvto varsity is junior, Atticus Knight who was top of junior varsity last year, and an alternate for the varsity team in the last two years junior Owen Rankin has guaranteed a place on the main varsity team by coming in number 2 for Norwin in four races thus far this season.
Two newcomers to varsity team are freshman Declan O’Donnell who in his first year of high school cross country ran sub 17 minutes at his last race, and freshman Ransom Gaydos who is the younger brother of the best runners in Norwin cross country history, Thomas Gaydos. Ransom has already shown that he can live up to his brother’s legacy by running a 17-minute and 5-second race at the Super Section Meet and scoring a lot of points for the Knights. Ransom is significantly faster than Thomas when he was a freshman, so Ransom has potential to be even faster than his brother when he broke the school record for the 5k.
“I feel like there’s a little bit of faster on me to like live up to my brother stand standards,” said Gaydos. “But it also like set me up to shoot for certain goals that my brother has already said, and then it also motivates me to know that I can get those times, so it’s a confidence booster as well.”
The first big meet for the season was Ohio Riverside Kickoff Classic Night Invite on August 23rd, In the NorwinXC Boys Varsity Showcase Race, the young boys squad raced over 40 teams and 300 runners, including a couple of WPIAL powerhouses in Butler and North Allegheny. The boys took 4th overall 47 pts. ahead of Butler and 75 pts ahead of North Allegheny. After a crowded start, the boys settled in on the track loop before heading back out to the fields. Sophomore Ben McBride ran with the lead pack most of the race and held on for 9th and ran an all-time fastest sophomore time of 16:02 for the 5k and earned a medal and a Hoka cowboy hat. Following Ben was fellow sophomore Alex Barrett who ran 16:31 for 28th place and a medal. Another sophomore Will Little ran 16:54 for 54th followed by freshmen Ransom Gaydos in 17:11 and 73rd place. Junior Owen Rankin closed out the top 5 in 79th place with a time of 17:16. Freshmen Declan O’Donnell ran a great race back in the pack to run 17:33 followed by senior Maerek Moenssens in 17:36. Closing out the race for the Knights was junior Atticus Knight in 17:51.
On Saturday, September 6th, the NorwinXC Squad competed at the prestigious Red, White & Blue Invite at White Oak Park, In the Freshmen Boys race, the boys finished in a tight race for 3rd place behind North Allegheny and Fox Chapel. Ransom Gaydos and Declan O’Donnell finished 1-2 in the race in 17:24 and 17:31. Luke Robinson medaled in 13th, followed by Brody Heckman in 45th and Carter Haughey in 54th.
The next big meet for the Knights was the Blue Devil Invitational. All 7 varsity boys medaled in the race to bring home the title with 50 pts, beating out 2nd place General McClane by 45 pts. Overall, Ben McBride ran from the front again and finished 2nd in 16:09 in a field of close to 200 runners. Following McBride, Owen Rankin had his strongest race of the season in 16:52 to secure 5th place overall. Freshmen Ransom Gaydos and Declan O’Donnell finish just over 17:00 in 12th and 13th. Will Little rounded out the scoring in 18th place and Atticus Knight and Maerek Moenssesn finish in 26th and 27th overall.
The last big meet the boys had was Super Section Championship, In the BOYS Varsity race, the boys gave the #1 WPIAL and #6 PIAA team a run for their money, falling 25-30 in a tight race. The boys ran a strong 2nd half of the race in the pouring rain. Ben McBride led early and held on for 2nd place overall in 16:09.
“It definitely feels great being the number one runner,” said varsity Benjamin McBride, “but it does come with a lot of pressure to perform, and I feel like I’m ready for that and excited.”
Owen Rankin ran a strong race to finish 6th overall in a PR of 16:39 and break up the Hempfield pack. Rankin overcame some medical issues last year to be strong frontrunner for the Knights.
“I have a condition called vocal cord dysfunction, which mainly takes time and a lot of physical therapy to begin to see better results,” said junior Owen Rankin, “and through perseverance and dedication to my sport, I was able to get through it.”
Following Rankin, was the pack of Declan O’Donnell, Will Little, and Ransom Gaydos in 9th, 10th, and 11th overall. This was the first time O’Donnell broke 17:00 on not ideal conditions. Atticus Knight medaled in 14th place, and Maerek Moenssens rounded out the team in 22nd overall.
Now the Knights are getting ready for their last couple of races this season, on October 8 the Knights will complete at the Westmoreland County Champs to decide who is the best team for the County. Also in Championship October is will be JV championship for the Norwin JV team on October 13 at White Oak Park. Finally on October 23, is the biggest meet of the year WPIAL championship meet, and the Norwin boys are looking to defend their title from last year, which was first place.
