Finishing strong

By John Enrietto Eagle Sports Editor

November 23, 2016 Last Updated: November 23, 2016 11:33 AM High School

Butler Road Race scholarship winners for 2016 are, from left to right, Maggie Welty and Noah Beveridge of Butler, Rebecca Hollobaugh of Freeport, Rebecca Pennington and Gunnar Yough of Karns City, Rachael Wittmer and Max Freyermuth of Knoch, Emma Gentile and Zach Leachman of Mars, Megan Aaron and Sam Owori of Seneca Valley, and Harley Pflugh and Nick Shea of Slippery Rock.

Area coaches select cross country scholarship winners, runners of the year

Butler juniors Noah Beveridge and Maggie Welty have been named Butler County Male and Female Cross Country Runners of the Year by area coaches.

Beveridge placed fifth at the PIAA meet in Hershey with a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 59 seconds. Welty finished 12th in the state girls meet.

Beveridge and Welty placed second and third, respectively, in the WPIAL meet held at Cooper's Lake.

“It's exciting ... It's cool,” Welty said of receiving the honor. “There are a lot of good runners around here. This means a lot.”

Welty's best time this season was 18:54. She said she wants to hit 18:30 next fall.

Beveridge will be joining teammates Brett Brady and Cam Seybert at the Foot Locker National Championship Northeast qualifier Saturday in Van Cortland Park, N.Y. The top 10 finishers there advance to the national championship meet next month in San Diego.

“The last WPIAL runner to make it through was Brett Kennedy of Kiski Area a few years ago,” Beveridge said. “My goal this year is the top 20, but I feel like I've got a shot at the top 10.

“I always feel like I can win when I run. It will take a sub-16 minutes, for sure.”

Seneca Valley's Steve Strelick and Butler's Rick Davanzati were named Co-Coaches of the Year on the girls side. The Raiders won the WPIAL team title and finished fourth as a team in Hershey. Butler qualified its boys team for the state meet.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Stacy Kopchak was named Girls Coach of the Year. The Trojanettes qualified for the state meet as a team for the first time.

Cross country team MVPs have been announced as well. They werte determined by either a points system, coach's selection or by vote of the team.

Team MVPs this season are Beveridge and Welty of Butler, Johnathan Asay and Rebecca Hollobaugh of Freeport, Max Freyermuth and Rachael Wittmer of Knoch, Zach Leachman and Emma Gentile of Mars, Sam Owori and Megan Aaron of Seneca Valley, Gunnar Yough and Rebecca Pennington of Karns City, Nick Shea and Harley Pflugh of Slippery Rock.

Moniteau's winners have not been announced.

KC's Pennington did not lose a regular season race all season. She placed third in the District 9 meet.

“I run a lot of 5Ks and invitationals on the side,” Pennington said. “I've always loved running. You can do it anytime, anywhere.”

A junior, Penmnington wants to consistently run under 20 minutes next season. Her personal best this year was 19:47.

The coaches' all-county selections follow:

Boys

Runner of the Year — Noah Beveridge (Butler)

Co-Coaches of the Year — Steve Strelick (Seneca Valley) and Rick Davanzati (Butler)

Team of the Year — Seneca Valley

First Team

Butler — Brett Brady, Robbie Hays

Freeport — Johnathan Asay