Quaker Valley cross country teams to test mettle at MAC Championships

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 11, 2018 | 7:57 AM

The Quaker Valley boys and girls cross country teams are set to return to competition Thursday at the annual Midwestern Athletic Conference (MAC) Championships at Brush Creek Park in North Sewickley Township.

The Quakers will test their mettle with this pre-WPIAL meet and face 22 other schools.

Zach Skolnekovich, a 2017 Quaker Valley graduate, set the boys meet record in 2016 with a winning time of 15 minutes, 56 seconds.

The Quakers won the MAC team title that year and went on to finish second at WPIALs and fifth at states.

Daniel Ford, a freshman on the 2016 team, now is a junior and is a favorite Thursday. He placed fourth overall (16:41.81) in the A/AA boys race at the Red, White & Blue Invitational on Sept. 8 at the Schenley Oval in Pittsburgh.

Junior Annie Wicker, the A/AA girls champion (18:58.16) at Red, White & Blue, and freshman Anna Cohen, ninth at Red, White & Blue, are favorites in the girls varsity race Thursday.

Wicker was runner-up at MACs last year, and she helped Quaker Valley capture the team title. She went on to win the WPIAL AA title and place eighth at states.

Boys soccer teams hope to keep rolling

The Quaker Valley boys soccer team clinched the Section 4-AA title Tuesday with a 2-1 victory over second-place North Catholic (9-2).

The Quakers then defeated Hopewell on Wednesday to move one win away from a perfect section slate.

Their section finale is Thursday at Freedom.

The goal surrendered to North Catholic on Tuesday was Quaker Valley’s first given up in section play.

Sewickley Academy topped Beaver County Christian 6-1 Tuesday to up its Section 1-A record to 10-1 and overall mark to 11-3.

The Panthers can wrap up the section title with a win Thursday at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (7-2-1).

Riverside, second in the section standings at 8-1-1, is still alive for the section championship. It visits Quigley Catholic on Thursday and closes its section slate at OLSH on Saturday afternoon.

Field hockey team on winning streak

The Sewickley Academy field hockey team is 5-3 overall through eight games and stands at 5-1 in Division II matches involving Class A and AA opponents.

The Panthers return to Division II action Monday (Oct. 15) at 5:15 p.m. at Aquinas Academy and will host Shady Side Academy on Tuesday (Oct. 16).

Sewickley Academy is riding a three-game winning streak after Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Division II foe Oakland Catholic.

The streak includes a 1-0 win over Winchester Thurston and a 9-1 rout of Vincentian.

The Panthers lone loss in Division II matches is an 8-0 setback to Ellis School.

Ellis (6-1) and Shady Side Academy (6-0) lead the way in Division II. SSA edged Ellis 3-2 on Tuesday.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy