Page 10 - North Allegheny Athletics Fall 2023

8 NORTH ALLEGHENY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
CROSS COUNTRY
2022 Boys WPIAL & PIAA Champions • 2022 Girls WPIAL & PIAA Champions
The NA boys’ cross country team continued their dominant run in 2022, winning their third state championship in a row and fourth in five years. In the state championship meet in Hershey, North Allegh- eny was in sixth place at the 1-mile mark. In the next 900 meters, the Tigers went from sixth to a 12-point lead. From there the Tigers rolled to the state title with an 85-point performance compared to 161 points from the runner-up. This was one of the largest margins of victory
in recent history. Jack Bertram led the way with a third-place finish. Seniors Gregory Kossuth and Jackson Pajak finished up strong careers with Kossuth coming in 20th place and Pajak finishing in 25th place.
It was more of the same in 2022 for Coach John Neff ’s girls cross-country team as the Lady Tigers won another WPIAL title and their eighth state championship. This state championship was the fifth straight for the Lady Tigers. In Hershey, the NA wasted little time gain- ing the lead, grabbing a 26-point advantage by the end of the first mile. By the halfway point, the NA girls led by 52 points and ultimately beat the second-place finisher by 58 points. Wren Kucler placed third overall and was the best finisher for the Tigers. Eva Kynaston finished in ninth place and Erin McGeoy had a 23rd-place finish.