Fox Chapel ends cross country season with pair of PIAA medals
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Friday, November 15, 2019 | 5:07 PM
The Fox Chapel cross country team brought home a pair of medals from the PIAA championships Nov. 2.
Senior Grace Sisson came in eighth in the girls Class AAA race while Foxes senior Christian Finch finished 11th on the boys side.
“Grace ran very well and I was pleased and impressed with how she finished her season,” coach Tom Moul said. “She’s had some ups and downs this year, but she really put it all together at the state race. It was the biggest race of the year and probably the biggest individual race of her career.
“One of her strengths is how she finishes races. At the state meet, she passed several girls on her way to her second consecutive top 10 finish.”
Moul also had praise for one of his runners who didn’t medal — Brooke Krally.
“She was somewhat disappointed with her race results, but she ran quite well,” Moul said. “The field was stronger than last year, and she ran a better time on the same course. She also finished ahead of four WPIAL girls who had finished ahead of her at WPIALs. Overall for her, it was a strong finish to a strong season where she grabbed her second consecutive WPIAL medal. Those two will be missed for sure.
Moul said Finch didn’t feel like he ran his best race.
“Despite that, he gutted his way to his second consecutive state medal and fourth overall. He also has a pair of medals for indoor track. He was the leader of a somewhat young team this year,” Moul said. “I’m hopeful that with the foundation he laid for the other boys in terms of work ethic and preparation, we can be competitive next season. The rest of the varsity team will be back.”
The runners will now have some time off before the indoor season begins.
“It’s some needed time off,” Moul said. “Grace, Brooke and Christian all qualified for the state meet last year and hope to do it again.”
The girls indoor team will also include hurdler Lauren Himmel, thrower Jing McCann, sprinter Maddy Kiefer and mid-distance runner Abby Kiefer.
The boys will have Jack Lorence and Shane Funk in the 3,000 meters along with sprinters Evan Kiefer and Maurice Sampson-Schulter.
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