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Saturday, September 7, 2024, TRIB-LIVE
Tom Moul likes setting up the Fox Chapel boys and girls cross country teams with a confidence builder to start the season.
Competing at the Gateway Invitational before the Red, White & Blue Invitational the following weekend has been a staple of the Foxes schedule for years. Fox Chapel opened the season by seeing its boys and girls teams win the 17th annual Gateway Invite.
Ethan Vaughan won the boys race by finishing in 16 minutes, 25.5 seconds. Fox Chapel’s boys team finished 32 points ahead of second-place Quaker Valley.
“We like going there,” Moul said. “It’s a really well-run event. It’s a small number of schools and it allows us to get started in the season without participating in a huge event. The competition is good.”
Fox Chapel’s top five boys runners finished in the top 15. David Black (fifth), Michael Costello (eighth), Nicky Clump (11th) and Harrison Parker (12th) rounded out the top five for the Foxes.
Black, who placed ninth at WPIALs and was a state qualifier last year, said he is excited to have one last season with the team.
“Senior year is going to be a great time,” Black said. “In some ways, this is what we’ve been working for the whole time. This is the most fit I’m going to be in high school. I think it’s going to be making sure I have solid improvements from last year, and I want to try and lead this team with the other seniors.”
Doug Lisotto, Nolan Gwin, Victor White and Nolan Horne will give Fox Chapel depth.
The Foxes girls team, meanwhile, won the team title by 42 points over Beaver.
Cecilia Ressler was the Foxes’ top finisher. She placed second overall with a time of 20:44.78. West Allegheny’s Gracie Fritzman won the girls race with a time of 19:22.26.
“The girls performed really well,” Moul said. “CC Ressler was second in the race, but any other year, she would have been first. The girls from West A may contend for one of the top three spots at WPIALs. Sarah Michalek is a senior and is really exhibiting good leadership this year. We’re trying to get some depth in the four through seven spots.”
Black said that Fox Chapel will get a boost from the Gateway event. The Foxes are still working things out and enjoyed a boost of confidence to start the year.
“It definitely helps with confidence and team morale,” Black said. “You lose a bit of those nerves you have before the first race. You aren’t worried about, ‘What if I got worse? What if I’m not as good as I think I was?’ Everyone doing as well as they could to get that win helped team morale.”