SLIPPERY ROCK — The regular season could be considered a dress rehearsal for the Knoch girls cross country team.

On Thursday, it was showtime.

The Knights placed their top five runners in the top 42 overall to come away with second place at the WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Cooper's Lake.

Jolene Kunkel finished 10th with a time of 19 minutes and Alyssa Kunkel finished in 20th place at 19:31.

Alyssa joined sister Jolene as the school's only female state qualifiers — Jolene was the first last year — and both earned WPIAL medalist honors. It's also the first Knights girls team to advance to the PIAA meet.

"What a statement to make," said Knoch coach Wess Brahler. "We went from 17th last year to second place this year. That's outstanding."

Other individual qualifiers who will advance to next week's PIAAChampionships include Seneca Valley's Megan Powell, who was eighth overall with a time of 18:54; teammate Erin Lopresti was 16th at 19:21, which led the Raiders to a fifth-place showing; and Butler's Ashton Dolan (26th, 20:00).

Greater Latrobe finished first with 89, points, followed by Knoch (145), Norwin (154), North Allegheny (204) and Seneca Valley (249).

Rounding out the Knights' top five were Emilee Hertwick (32nd, 20:11), Shannon Evanchec (41st, 20:24) and Cristina Corigliano (42nd, 20:25).

In the boys Class AAA race, Seneca Valley's Cam Stauffer finished second overall with a time of 15:51, one second behind champion Matt Gregory of Canon-McMillan.

"That was about as close as you're going to get," said Seneca Valley coach Jim Nagle. "(Stauffer) was disappointed, but he realized he ran the best race he could."

Stauffer's teammate, Andrew Razanauskas, finished 16th with a personal-best time of 16:26, Butler's Ben Porter was 23rd (16:37) and Knoch's Brian Tackett was 31st (16:46). All four runners move on to the state finals next weekend.

"Brian Tackett qualified with our team in 2005," said Brahler. "This finally caps his career. The boys finishing seventh is outstanding.

"In 2005, our boys were fourth and averaged 17:28. (Thursday) we were seventh and averaged 17:20. Timewise, this year's team was faster, but it's all relative,"Brahler added.

Nagle understands that to be true this year.

"The WPIALis much stronger this year," he said. "We ran faster and it was the same for Megan and Erin. We had four runners have their best times ever."

North Allegheny was the champion with 46 points, easily outdistancing North Hills (130) and Mount Lebanon and Baldwin (152). Seneca Valley finished sixth and Knoch was seventh to lead Butler County squads.

In the boys Class AA meet, Freeport finished in 21st place, led by Kevin Keppel (72nd, 19:09).

In the Class AA girls meet, Freeport, which all six of its finishers were either freshmen or sophomores, were paced by Jessica Fix's 94th-place finish (23:48).

WPIAL Championships at Cooper's LakeClass AAAGirlsTeam standings (out of 42 teams): 1-Greater Latrobe 89,

2-Knoch 145, 3-Norwin 154, 4-North Allegheny 204,

5-Seneca Valley 249, 12-Butler 374, 22-Mars 588

2-Knoch (145): 10-Jolene Kunkel 19:00, 20-Alyssa Kunkel 19:31, 32-Emilee Hertweck 20:11, 41-Shannon Evanchec 20:24, 42-Cristina Corigliano 20:25, 170-Caterina Corigliano 22:45, 234-Tina Gallo 24:32

5-Seneca Valley (249): 8-Megan Powell 18:54, 16-Erin Lopresti 19:21, 55-Joelle Scarnati 20:39, 62-Kristen McKinney 20:50, 108-Anna Homitsky 21:30, 169-Megan Peaco 22:43, 180-Lauren McKinney 22:56

12-Butler (374): 26-Ashton Dolan 20:00, 51-Danika Snyder 20:35, 83-Ashley Crawford 21:11, 92-Ashley King 21:18, 122-Trisha Brandt 21:44, 133-Gretchen Geibel 21:58, 136-Emily Petrak 22:00

22-Mars (588): 52-Paulina Hanczewski 20:35, 86-Samantha Brandon 21:16, 116-Gabri Pierre 21:36, 163-Brynn Workman 22:37, 171-Elizabeth Parsons 22:45, 192-Carly Clark 23:11, 203-Robyn Theuer 23:30

Class AAABoysTeam standings (out of 47 teams): 1-North Allegheny 46, 2-North Hills 130, 3t-Mt. Lebanon and Baldwin 152,

6-Seneca Valley 233, 7-Knoch 277, 17-Butler 527, 29-Mars 7716-Seneca Valley (233): 2-Cam Stauffer 15:51, 15-Andrew Razanauskas 16:26, 64-Mark Davis 17:32, 74-Alex Mascio 17:40, 78-Eric Geddis 17:44, 93-Brendon Lemmex 17:51, 141-Matt Marchese 18:22

7-Knoch (277): 31-Brian Tackett 16:46, 44-Owen Venesky 17:10, 51-Chris Cetnar 17:18, K.J. McCrea 17:37, 82-Dillon Schwertz 17:47, 160-Van McCarren 18:32, 175-Paul Kletzli 18:42

17-Butler (527): 23-Ben Porter 16:37, 81-Tim Karls 17:47, 107-Matt Crawford 17:59, 127-Lance Dugger 18:14, 189-Grant Baron 18:49, 217-Trey Nevuex 19:04

29-Mars (771): 49-Jake Montag 17:15, 100-Nick Edinger 17:57, 172-Chris Alikhani 18:40, 180-Sean Gannon 18:44, 270-Kale Cimperman 20:00, 290-Jacob Hunter 20:49, 293-Ryan Winner 20:54

Class AA Girls

Team standings (out of 27 teams): 1-Shady Side Academy 97, 2-Quaker Valley 102, 3-Riverview 106, 4-OLSH 159,

24-Freeport 61824-Freeport (618):94-Jessica Fix 23:48, 97-Carol Amadee 23:48, 132-Lauren Screen 25:38, 139-Julia D'Amico 26:17, 156-Cheyenne Conrad 27:22, 174-Jenna Davis 30:04

Class AA Boys

Team standings (out of 40 teams): 1-Quaker Valley 47, 2- Riverview 105, 3-Riverside 169, 4-Center 188,

21-Freeport 59321-Freeport (593): 72-Kevin Keppel 19:09, 85-Eric Snyder 19:30, 140-Antonio Giori 20:26, 147-Stephen Posney 20:36, 149-Matt Maxwell 20:38, 199-Joey Sadecky 21:32