Graduation losses hit some teams hard

By SAM TALLARICO Eagle Staff Writer

August 25, 2007 Last Updated: August 25, 2007 03:54 PM High School

Many area cross country teams are coming off highly successful campaigns, but look at the talent that graduated from some of those teams.

Steve Monnie and Rob Miller from Butler, Dan Dickey and Lewis Butler from Seneca Valley, Ben Hutterer and Cory Steinhagen from Knoch, Cody Kier from Mars, Travis Hendell from Karns City, Matt O'Malley and Aaron Smith from Moniteau, Brett Moore from Union and so on.

And that's just the boys teams.

Seneca Valley and Mars both finished second in the WPIAL Class AAA and AA finals, respectively, and will try to make another push this season.

Seneca Valley, Butler (sixth in the WPIAL) and Knoch will square off against WPIAL champion North Allegheny as well as North Hills, another strong team in the section.

"This year, the section is even tougher than usual," said Butler coach Rick Davanzati. NA returns a lot of runners and Seneca Valley didn't lose much. The same with North Hills."

"NA's going to win. It's a done deal," said Seneca Valley coach Jim Nagle. "They rank the top five cross country teams in the Northeast and NA's third overall and No. 1 in the state."

Karns City saw its chance at three consecutive KSAC titles dashed in a loss at Cranberry to finish 10-1, but the Gremlins will have to replace a perennial state qualifier in Hendell.

On the girls side, the Raiders were fourth in the WPIAL for the second consecutive season and still have a solid nucleus.

Knoch hopes to keep up with the Tornado and Raiders as it looks to use a 1-2 sister punch of junior Alyssa Kunkel and freshman Jolene to lead 15 other teammates and to build on last year's eight-win season.

"It's our third year of the middle school program and all this hard work is starting to pay off," said coach Wess Brahler.

"This group of girls is ready and excited. They also had a great summer. People are starting to talk about a good season, and that's the first step,"Brahler added.

The Mars girls are fresh off a 15-1 season and added Lauren Pecor, a transfer from Ohio, who will give the Planets an added boost.

The following are previews for the upcoming boys and girls seasons:

• Coach: Rick Davanzati, third year• 2006 record: 6-2 in the section for third place, sixth at WPIAL finals• Returning letter winners: Seniors Wayne Dailey, Logan Elias, J.T. Fleming and Eric Rensel; juniors Ben Porter and Matt Crawford; sophomore Lance Dugger• Coach's comment: "We have six freshmen that are running and a number of kids that are pretty decent. I don't know if they'll be in our top seven as freshmen, but they look good for the future of our program."

• Coach: Jim Nagle, third year• 2006 record: 10-0 overall, 8-0 in the section for first place; WPIAL runner-up, eighth at PIAAfinals• Returning letter winners: Senior Chris Cipro; juniors Eric Geddis, Matt Marchese and Cam Stauffer; sophomore Andrew Razanauskas• Coach's comment: "If we stay healthy, we should be all right. The kids are running well, but it would be hard to predict."

• Coach: Wess Brahler, seventh year• 2006 record: 13-7 overall, 18th at WPIAL finals• Returning letter winners: Senior Mike Fugate; juniors Brian Tackett and Owen Venesky; sophomore Chris Cetnar• Coach's comment: We have a great core of runners. Owen, Brian and Mike have been running all summer together. We have nine who are going to be in that top group. We're looking to improve on our 18th-place finish (at the WPIALmeet)."

• Coach: Joelle Patterson, third year• 2006 record: 13-3 overall, 5-2 in the section; MACInvitational champions and WPIAL runner-up• Returning letter winners: Seniors Mike Lewis, Brandon Stadelmyer and Justin Stadelmyer• Coach's comment: "We have a big senior group, but overall we have just 11 guys. We don't have a junior high program, but we have one freshman in Chris Hardt."

• Coach: Bob Livrone, 10th year• 2006 record: 4-4 overall• Returning letter winners: Juniors Sean Carnahan and Eric Dunn; sophomores Sergei Dines and Matt Hall• Coach's comment: We lost quite a group of guys ... but this is a nice core, those four kids. They're working hard and they've had good examples, good role models, to follow."

• Coach: Tony Consbruck, fourth year• 2006 record: 1-5 in Region 2, but 13th out of 38 teams at District 10 championship meet• Returning letter winners: Seniors Nate Eilenfeldt, Dan Hartzell, Nate King and Ed Schreiber; juniors Owen Bowser and Cal Spigler• Coach's comment: "These guys will make for a good nucleus. My hope is they return the men's program to contender status. I think they'll challenge for the Region 2 title and, if they live up to their potential, be top five in the district."

• Coach: Mike Sample• 2006 record: 6-1 in Region 2 for second place; 10th overall in District 10 meet• Returning letter winners: Senior Jim Hsieh; juniors Tom Bollinger and Ryan Sestak; sophomores Ethan Smith and John Stewart• Coach's comment: "We should be stronger than we were last year. We've got a couple new runners who haven't been out before. We have one or two eighth-graders from last year who have moved up."

• Coach: Don Loughry, 30th year• 2006 record: 10-1 overall, 8-1 in the KSAC for second place• Returning letter winners: Seniors Chris Harmon and Richard Brown; junior Aaron McGarvey• Coach's comment: I'm cautiously optimistic. We lost Travis Hendell. He's been our No. 1 runner for so many years. You can't just replace him. ... Our numbers are down, but the kids are working hard. We have a number of players in the soccer program. We'll see how that goes, but it's always worked out great."

• Coach: Sue Scialabba, first year• 2006 record: 8-1 in the KSAC• Key returners: Eric Hillard, Tony Miller, Andrew Edmonds, Dylan Kristufek• Coach's comment: "This being my first year, I'm not too sure what to expect, but I'm sure Eric and Tony and Andrew and Dylan will probably be our top four runners."

• Coach: Ken Gibb, first year• 2006 record: N/A• Runners: Cameron Adams, Chris Deitz, Andrew Hawk, Dan Kemery, Adam Meyers and Alex Rankin• Coach's comment: "We have talented runners on both sides (boys and girls). They're fired up about it. The list is still fluctuating. We may have more join the team (when school begins). We have some really good runners. Everyone's trying to get better and improve their times."

• Coach: Luke LaVan• 2006 record: 2-7 in the KSAC• Runners: Sophomores Evan Bernard, Evan Best, Zach Gates and Alex Logue; freshmen Hunter Ferris and Jordan Miller• Coach's comment: It's one of those things where we don't have the numbers so we're looking to improve and have strong individual performances. I just want to see improvement. I don't care about wins and losses."

• Coach: Rick Davanzati, third year• 2006 record: 4-4 in the section• Returning letter winners: Juniors Heather Cottage and Ashley King; sophomores Renee Clouse and Emily Petrak• Coach's comment: "We have two seniors, two juniors and three sophomores but have more freshmen, nine or 10, than those classes combined. We have two up from junior high that should have an impact."

• Coach: Jim Nagle, third year• 2006 record: 5-4 overall• Returning letter winners: Senior Emily Wolfarth; juniors Megan Powell and Joelle Scarnati; sophomore Lauren McKinney• Coach's comment: "If they're healthy, they should also be competitive. We have 12 girls and it's a real good mix, nice girls who are working hard. I think we'll be a good team."

• Coach: Wess Brahler, seventh year• 2006 record: 8-12 overall• Returning letter winners: Seniors Kayla Davis and Dana McCarren; juniors Nicole Fleishner, Alyssa Kunkel, Sarah Robb and Kylie Shaw• Coach's comment: "We still haven't won a section meet since I've been here, but this group of girls are ready to make that next step. When I started here, they said you'd never get girls to run long distance at Knoch."

• Coach: Joelle Patterson, third year• 2006 record: 15-1 overall, 6-1 in the section for second place• Returning letter winners: Seniors Lauren Pecor (transfer from Ohio), Chloe Pierre and Rachel Pinkerton; junior Nicole Hardt; sophomores Samantha Brandon; Gabri Pierre and Michelle Perri• Coach's comment: "We're in Class AAA but run in Class AA and probably the only loss I can see will be Quaker Valley (the Planets' lone loss last year). We'd like to do well in the section."

• Coach: Bob Livrone, 10th year• 2006 record: 5-3• Returning letter winners: Seniors Christine Marty and Alex Toy; juniors Brittany MacShane and Katy Screen• Coach's comment: "Same as the boys team. We lost three girls over the past two years, but we have a nice core back. It'll be tough. They'll have to step up this year and have a good season."

• Coach: Tony Consbruck, fourth year• 2006 record: 4-2 in Region 2• Returning letter winners: Seniors Calley Bridges and Sarah Opp; juniors Nicole Fuchs, Brittany Richter and Andrea Shaffer• Coach's comment: "It's almost kind of a rebuilding season, in a sense, but the veterans hopefully lead the way for the younger kids. We have two good freshmen coming up and a couple of girls that bugged out of soccer We have our largest turnout since I've been here (40-plus boys and girls). That's a good thing. You get quality with quantity."

• Coach: Mike Sample• 2006 record: 4-3• Returning letter winners: Senior Hannah Labate; juniors Meghan Boarts, Megan DeGraaf, Chelsie Hensel and Nicole Wizorek; sophomores Becky Consbruck and Rebecca McCoy• Coach's comment: "We lost one senior, but we have three or four freshmen that will be in the mix. With girls it's more difficult to tell how because it's when they're freshmen and sophomores that they'll make the biggest impact. We're a deeper team than in the past few years."

• Coach: Don Loughry, 30th year• 2006 record: Didn't field a full team• Returning letter winners: Sophomores Sarah Young and Shenoa Hendell• Coach's comment: "We may have a couple other girls coming out and we are always looking for improvement as the season goes on."

• Coach: Sue Scialabba, first year• 2006 record: N/A• Senior runners: Michelle Gebhart, Ellie Hillard, Kristy Ice and Gretchen McCormick• Coach's comment: "We have a very small girls team with eight runners, ... We have a good base in junior high. We have 18 in the lower grades (boys and girls combined). Right now, we're getting to know each other."

• Coach: Ken Gibb, first year• 2006 record: N/A• Runners: Vanessa Barto, Courtney Frederick, Lepha Logue and Brittany Murray• Coach's comment: "We have talented runners on both sides (boys and girls). They're fired up about it. The list is still fluctuating. We may have more join the team (when school begins). We have some really good runners. Everyone's trying to get better and improve their times."

• Coach: Luke LaVan• 2006 record: Didn't field a full team• Runners: Senior Kate Best; sophomores Caroline Blauser and Nikki Marshall; freshman Emily Milford• Coach's comment: "I'm really looking to see individual growth and better performances throughout the year."