Indiana’s Beckwith, Kiski Area’s Miller claim titles at unique Kiski Cavalier Invitational

By: Michael Love
Friday, September 18, 2020 | 5:42 PM

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Cool and breezy morning weather gave way to comfortable afternoon temperatures as some of the WPIAL’s top runners kicked off their fall seasons Friday at the Gingerbread Man Kiski Cavalier Invitational at Northmoreland Park in Allegheny Township.

Because of covid protocols in place limiting the overall number of people permitted to be on and around the course at one time, race officials switched the format.

The fourth annual race featured 14 teams running at 30-minute intervals from host Kiski Area at 8:30 a.m. to Central Catholic/Woodland Hills at 3:30 p.m. The format was team time trials akin to what is done at the Tour de France.

Indiana was one of the final teams to take to the course, and senior Joel Beckwith paced the boys squad with a winning time of 16 minutes, 43.2 seconds.

Beckwith’s time was a fraction of a second faster than Indiana graduate and 2019 Kiski Invite boys winner Kendall Branan (16:43.3).

Fox Chapel was the second team to run, and junior Jack Lorence’s time of 17:26.5 held up for second overall.

Rounding out the top five were Latrobe sophomore Drew Kozuch (17:29.3), Kiski Area senior Jake Folaron (17:40.2) and Fox Chapel junior Ethan Napolitan (17:41.4).

Kiski Area freshman Eliza Miller made her varsity debut in the girls race, and she was one of two runners to break 20 minutes. With the Cavaliers kicking off the day, Miller was the first girls individual runner to finish, and she was more than 30 seconds faster than runner-up Hope Trimmer, a sophomore from Uniontown (19:57.0).

The 2019 girls champion, Greensburg Central Catholic junior Corinn Brewer, placed third (20:08.2), followed by a pair of Fox Chapel freshmen: Laura Carter (20:16.8) and Clara Kelly (20:30.9).

There was a deep overall freshman presence as ninth-graders earned 11 of the top 20 spots.

Fox Chapel won the boys team title, placing three of its five scoring runners in the top 10 while also taking 11th and 16th for a team score of 40 points.

Indiana, led by Beckwith’s victory, came in second (69) followed Latrobe (88), Kiski Area (98) and Franklin Regional (133).

Fox Chapel’s youth came through on the girls’ side with Carter and Kelly helping the Foxes capture the team title with 78 points.

Kiski Area, paced by Miller and junior Lizeth Sesmas in the top 10 (ninth, 21:43.7) placed second (91 points). Third through fifth were Franklin Regional (102), Latrobe (137) and Plum (167).

Red, White and Blue Classic

The Riverview boys and St. Joseph girls captured titles Friday during the Class A portion of the Red, White and Blue Classic at White Oak Park.

Senior Mason Ochs finished second with a time of 17:04 to lead the Raiders boys. He finished just behind Riverside’s Colby Belczyk (16:53).

The St. Joseph girls were led by senior Kathleen Simander and sophomore Brandi Carmack, who were fourth and sixth, respectively.

Shenango’s Carmen Medvit won the girls race.

The Class AA and AAA races will be held Saturday.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Indiana, Kiski Area, Latrobe, Plum, Uniontown