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Mustang corral: LH’s Schwertfeger tops among area’s runners

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Laurel Highlands’ Matt Schwertfeger looks to pass a pair of Ellwood City runners midway through the 2024 WPIAL Class AA Cross Country Championship at White Oak Park on Oct. 24. Schwertfeger earned Ãå±±½ûµØ Runner of the Year honors for his successful season.

Jim Downey | Ãå±±½ûµØ

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Uniontown teammates Cooper Gilleland (left) and Ethan Syner sprint down the final hill in the last mile of the Section 2-AAA finale at Mingo Creek Park on Sept. 25.

Jim Downey | Ãå±±½ûµØ

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California sophomore Carter Kent (2321) tries to pick off a couple runners in the final mile of the 2024 WPIAL Class A Cross Country Championship at White Oak Park on Oct. 24.

Jim Downey | Ãå±±½ûµØ

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Connellsville’s Noah Lindstrom turns onto the home stretch in the FCCA Championship at Penn State Fayette on Oct. 10.

Jim Downey | Ãå±±½ûµØ

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Laurel Highlands' Matt Schwertfeger holds the lead over Uniontown's Ethan Syner as the pair runs in the final mile of the FCCA Cross Country Championship at Penn State Fayette on Oct. 10.

Jim Downey | Ãå±±½ûµØ

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Laurel Highlands’ Matt Schwertfeger once again stood on the top step as the county’s champion and earned a berth into the PIAA final.

Schwertfeger had another solid season to repeat as the Ãå±±½ûµØ Runner of the Year.

Schwertfeger had some serious competition for the honor, though.

Uniontown’s Ethan Syner worked his way up coach Joe Everhart’s lineup to become the Red Raiders’ top runner. Syner finished second to Schwertfeger in the county meet and his eighth place finish in the WPIAL Class AA Championship helped the Red Raiders finish fourth as a team.

Teammate Cooper Gilleland was either just ahead or nipping at Syner’s heels throughout the season. Gilleland was third in the FCCA Championship and 15th in the district final to earn a berth into the state meet.

Jonah Lindstrom had the misfortune of reclassification when the Connellsville boys moved back into Class AAA this fall. Lindstrom’s time of 16:37.6 would’ve placed him in the top 15 in Class AA for a PIAA berth. Lindstrom finished 31st in Class AAA, missing the PIAA cut by eight places and nine seconds.

Lindstrom finished fourth in the county meet and second in the A.J. Everhart Invitational.

Teammate Jake Pritts was a solid complementary runner to Lindstrom with a fifth-place finish in the FCCA meet and a 12th-place finish in the Everhart Invitational.

California sophomore Carter Kent qualified for his second PIAA Championship and did so in still by running a school record time of 16:48.3. Kent finished 14th in the district meet and earned All-County honors after finishing ninth in the Washington County Championship.

Belle Vernon’s Leonidas Soto just missed a berth into the state meet after he finished 34th overall, six-tenths of a second from the last spot. Soto earned All-County honors after placing sixth in the FCCA meet.

Ringgold’s Andrew Bruce and Daniel Petersen, Belle Vernon’s Logan Metzger, Uniontown’s Chase King and Donte Rugola, and Albert Gallatin’s Brock Mace earn honorable mention recognition.

Everhart once again receives Coach of the Year honors for his work with the Red Raiders.

NOTES: Kent and teammate Charles Meiss, Soto, Metzger, and Calvary Chapel Christian School’s Stephen Chapley received Section 5-AA first-team honors. ..; Brownsville’s Owen Shimshock, California’s Niamh McClaflin, Southmoreland’s Selby Bell and Belle Vernon’s Colby Hibner were honorable mention.