Franklin Regional’s Nathan Kociela, Caroline Shirley shine at WCCA championships

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, October 14, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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There was nothing but smiles on the faces of Franklin Regional cross country runners Oct. 11 following their finishes at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association cross country championships.

Senior Nathan Kociela and freshman Caroline Shirley brought home medals from the annual event held at Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood.

Kociela ran a tight race and was hanging with eventual winner Samuel Plazio of Kiski Area. Plazio finished in 16 minutes, 20.4 seconds and pulled away late from Kociela, who ran a 16:32.1.

“We went back-and-forth early on,” Plazio said. “Nathan was on my shoulder.”

But Kociela said he’s not satisfied with second place.

“I’m not going to lie, I wanted to win,” Kociela said. “Sam is a great competitor and he was opened up a little bit late.”

Kociela said he’s been pleased with his season so far.

“I’ve made a lot of improvement,” he said. “I have WPIALs and states coming up; we’ll see how I’ll do there.

“I’m a senior, there is no tomorrow for me. I’ve cut off a minute and a half off my personal record so far and compared to last year’s race here, I cut 1:15 off. I say that’s pretty good. I feel I’ll be in that range to qualify.”

Other Franklin Regional boys competing at the WCCA championships were Will Weaver (16^th), Mason Gray (24^th), Joshua Matthews (29^th), Christian Larson (31^st), Connor Lynch (59^th) and Maximilian Snyder (65^th).

Shirley placed fifth by running a 19:19.2 in the girls race. She followed a talented group of runners: Kiski Area’s Eliza Miller (first), Penn-Trafford’s Amelia Barilla (second), Norwin’s Annie Czajkowski (third) and Latrobe’s Emerson Skatell (fourth). Miller ran her personal record of 17:59.6.

“I was pleased with how I finished,” Shirley said. “It’s the most consistent I’ve ever been since the season began. So I was happy with that.”

Shirley said she achieved her goal of placing in the top five but missed on the time she wanted to run.

“I time I had hoped to run was an 18:59, but I was a bit above that,” Shirley said. “I still don’t think it was a terrible time.”

Shirley said she’s been pleased with her first season running at the varsity level, and she’s looking forward to the WPIAL championships and possibly the state meet.

The WPIAL championship is Oct. 26 at White Oak Park.

“There have been a couple races that haven’t gone so great,” Shirley said. “There have been some ups and downs, but doing OK here will give me confidence going into WPIALs and hopefully I’ll qualify for states.”

Shirley said the time she’d like to run is under 19 minutes.

“I really want to do that,” she said. “But I really want to qualify to states. If I’m able to stay with the top runners at WPIALs, the time will take care of itself.”

Shirley said the best part of her performance at the county meet was the second mile of the race.

“I usually fall off there,” she said. “My times were a lot better day, so that was good.”

The other Franklin Regional girls competing included Ingrid Varley (25^th), Leah Brockett (26^th), Kylie Klinger (37^th), Skylar Duchamp (39^th), Lillian Sacherich (54^th) and Sydney Kavo (55^th).

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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