Raiders' Foster, Mack named runners of year
CRANBERRY TWP — Brett Foster and Mariah Mack live just minutes from each other in Cranberry Township, attend the same high school and put their heart and soul into the same sport.
They now have something else in common.
The Seneca Valley student athletes have been respectively chosen as Butler County's boys and girls cross country runner of the year.
“Brett came into form at the end of the year,” said Seneca coach Steve Strelick of Foster. “That's how we train. We definitely want our runners to peak at the end of the season.”
“I'm very proud of what I was able to do this year,” said Foster, a senior. “It was great to see all of the hard work pay off.”
Foster ran cross country all four years of high school, but a berth into the state meet had eluded him prior to this fall.
“Last year, I missed going to states by one second,” he said. “That put pressure on me to come back this season, show up and get it done.”
Foster did just that at the WPIAL Class AAA meet, held at Cooper's Lake Oct. 24. He placed 13th with a time of 16 minutes and 48 seconds.
At the state event in Hershey earlier this month, he finished 60th out of 131 runners.
“That was a great experience,” said Foster. “To be able to run against so many talented athletes, I was honored to be there.”
Mack made her cross country debut this fall, but she won't be able to sneak up on the opposition after her strong performance.
A sophomore, Mack was 12th at WPIALs as the Raider girls came in second place, earning a spot at the state meet.
At PIAAs, she placed 15th, leading SV to a fourth-place effort.
“Jim Nagle (former SV coach) approached me at the end of last year,” said Mack. “He had heard that I like to run and said I should join the cross country team.”
Up to that point, Mack ran just for fun. But she soon revealed her intentions of burning up area cross country trails.“We got together for a summer workout and she just shows up,” said Strelick. “She started running with the boys and was keeping up with them.“I had to hold her back a bit,” he added. “If she had it her way, she'd run all day.”After just one year of cross country, Mack is hooked.“I'm definitely running again next year,” she said. “I played a lot of sports growing up, but I've never been on a team that is as talented and supportive as this one.”Following are the cross country runners who were chosen as All-Butler County by the eight coaches in the county.BoysRunner of the Year: Brett Foster (Seneca Valley)First Team: Tanner Quiggle (Seneca Valley), Andrew Maxwell (Slippery Rock), Brandon Grumski (Knoch), Nathan Mrdjenovich (Mars), Mike Kolar (Seneca Valley), Preston Carlsson (Knoch), Gage Zimmerman (Mars)Second Team: Patrick Fullerton (Butler), Colin Meehan (Freeport), Chris Short (Butler), Ben Gardner (Seneca Valley), Adam Knauer (Butler), Frankie Petrini (Mars), Chris Boyd (Butler)Honorable Mention: John Ejzak (Knoch), John Caraway (Mars), Alex Taylor (Seneca Valley), Jacob Taciuch (Moniteau), John Garing (Karns City)GirlsRunner of the Year: Mariah Mack (Seneca Valley)First Team: Rachel Hensler (Seneca Valley), Isabelle Biase (Seneca Valley), Natalie Petrini (Mars), Mandi Moxie (Knoch), Shannon McChesney (Mars), Hayley Davis (Freeport), Tabitha Donaldson (Slippery Rock)Second Team: Sydney Cole (Mars), Emily Schumacher (Karns City), Ashlyn Carlsson (Knoch), Rebecca Dudek (Freeport), Becky Paine (Seneca Valley), Angela Mignanelli (Seneca Valley), Emma Sledge (Seneca Valley)Honorable Mention: Lauren Sauer (Seneca Valley), Jessica Monberg (Mars), Emily Jones (Karns City), Holly Keefer (Butler), Allison DeMatteis (Moniteau)
