Allegheny County, Pennsylvania- Last week on September 11th, the Seneca, Mars, and Shaler boys’ Cross Country meet at Hartwood Acres had a surprising mishap which cost runners several minutes in their race.  

One racer, who had been leading a swarm of approximately 20 boys, unintentionally missed the exit in the woods and led the majority behind him into an extra section of the trails. About a minute into this unintended part of the race, he realized his mistake and veered off course. This was accompanied by yelling and mass confusion. Once runners were back on the intended race track, they found themselves behind runners which were often several minutes behind. This led to several slower finishes, frustrating competitors from all schools.  

Despite the mass confusion and frustration, the Seneca Valley boys pulled away with a win against both Shaler and Mars, taking every top seven race position but first, putting them at 2-0 for the season.   

The girls’ race warranted far less confusion with zero course mishaps. Shaler and Mars runners took the number one and two spots of the race, with top Seneca girls Megan Aaron and Abby Lizewski taking third and fourth. Several Seneca girls followed after, bringing them to 2-0 on the season.  

The Seneca boys have had strong showings in previous meets this year, including a dominating victory at Knoch Scrimmage, and high placings at the Red White and Blue invitational. With this talent, the Seneca boys look capable of repeating their WPIAL title from last year.  

The Seneca Valley girls also come out with a promising start, adding these two wins on to a first-place finish for the freshmen girls at the Red White and Blue invitational. However, the following meet will be no cake-walk, as the Raiders go on to face the undefeated Butler Golden Tornadoes and the Pine Richland Rams on September 19th at Butler High School.