Riverview boys cross country eyes return to PIAA meet

By: Michael Love
Saturday, September 11, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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The Riverview boys cross country team finished second to Winchester Thurston at last year’s WPIAL Class A championships at White Oak Park.

But the Raiders were not able to advance to the PIAA meet as covid restrictions reduced the number of state Class A qualifiers from the WPIAL from four to one.

“Last year was a bittersweet ending for the boys,” Riverview coach Palma Ostrowski said.

“They felt like covid cheated them, not only at the team level where they believe they were a top-five state team, but also at the individual level as (returnees) Parker Steele (13th at WPIALs), Amberson Bauer (24th) and Ty Laughlin (26th) each would have qualified for states under the pre-covid standards.”

But with those three back — Steele and Laughlin as seniors and Bauer as a junior — along with senior standout Lucas Wilton, the Raiders again are expected to be in the mix to qualify for states in a competitive grouping that includes Winchester Thurston and the likes of Eden Christian, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Shady Side Academy and Shenango.

Ostrowski said staying healthy will be a key factor for the boys team, which finished 9-0 in dual meets last year and owns a 31-meet winning streak dating back to a 2017 loss to Indiana.

The runner-up finish at WPIALs was the boys’ fifth team trophy in a row.

The team had to say goodbye to Mason Ochs and Gideon Deasy, both decorated WPIAL and state medal winners during their time with the Raiders. Ochs graduated with 14 WPIAL and PIAA medals.

Deasy was a state medalist and the only male runner in school history to finish in the top 20 at WPIALs all four of his years.

“They are two of the best runners in the history of the school and certainly the best 1-2 punch Riverview cross country has ever had,” Ostrowski said.

Also lost to graduation was Aidan Sebastian, 30th at WPIALs last year.

The boys team returns 11 letter winners overall. Steele, Bauer and Laughlin also were members, with Ochs, of the 3,200-meter relay team which won WPIAL gold and medaled at states in the spring.

Also returning is Luke Migley, last year’s No. 8 runner who also was a starter on the WPIAL runner-up baseball team.

Also looking to contribute, Ostrowski said, are senior Jason Straw; juniors Dan Roupus, Christian Polichik, Jack Betler, Ziad Jaffar and Declan Hawk; sophomore Cohen Hoolihan; and freshmen Chris Barnes, Holden Deasy, Levi Roupus, Will Orbin and Micah Ivy.

“Things are going really well so far,” Steele said. “With what we have back, we have a really strong group of juniors and also a number of upcoming freshmen who are challenging for positions on the team. It’s really exciting to see what we are continuing to build.”

Four top-20 medal winners — Steele (third), Bauer (eighth), Wilton (11th) and Laughlin (17th) — helped the Riverview boys place second only to Fox Chapel in the 10-school Gateway Invitational at Boyce Park on Sept. 4. Eight of the 10 teams are in Class 3A.

Hoolihan, Migley and Roupus completed the scoring to secure the runner-up trophy.

Riverview girls

Despite graduating last year’s No. 1 runner in Aly Johnson, a former state qualifier, six of the top seven runners from last year are back.

The Raiders were 7-3 in dual meets and finished 10th overall at the WPIAL championships at White Oak Park.

Leading the returners are juniors Olivia Wilton, Kylie Longstreth and Sarah Sullivan, along with sophomores Audrey Myers, Gwyn Fechtie and Jonisha Carlino.

Freshman Lily Bauer medaled in her high school varsity debut with a 13th-place finish (24:49.65) on the challenging Gateway Invitational course.

She was the top freshman in the girls varsity meet.

Wilton was second for the Raiders and 32nd out of 56 runners overall.

“Things are looking pretty good, and we have a lot of goals we want to achieve,” Wilton said.

“With all of the work and training we’ve done, you can see a lot of improvement from last season. We’re just excited to see what we can accomplish.”

First-year senior Gracie McShae also is expected to contribute to the lineup.

“We believe the girls have a chance to move up a few spots from their 10th-place WPIALs finish, but making the top four to qualify for the PIAA meet is probably too great a stretch,” Ostrowski said.

“About half of our girls had strong summers and we hope a few will contend for the 20 individual state qualifying spots.”

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.

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