Warriors earn All-Conference honors

Marcus Magyar

Issue date: 11/4/04 Section: Sports

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All-American Vanessa Andes raced to take the lead from the report of the offical´s pistol in last Saturday´s PSAC competition. She finished second behind Edinboro University´s Julie Nemergut.

The Warrior's cross country teams competed at Kutztown University, last weekend at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, bringing home All-Conference honors.
     Vanessa Andes captured All-Conference honors for the second year in a row finishing second. Andes crossed the finish line in a time of 22:32 on the 3.7-mile sloshed course, 26 seconds behind winner Julie Nemergut of Edinboro University. Last year's PSAC champion, Mindy Sawtelle of Indiana University of Pennsylvania finished third in a time of 22:50. Andes and Nemergut ran stride for stride until the two-mile mark where Nemergut made a move to challenge Andes, but she couldn't find an answer. Nemergut led the Scots in the team title with a team score of 26 points, 88 ahead of the second place team from Slippery Rock University. Kutztown University took third place.
     Senior Jane Grendel missed All-Conference honors by finishing 17th, two places out of recognition. She finished in a time of 24:07. Jess Chong, Krista Deriancho, Kelly Brennan and Trish Monteforte were among the top 67-finishers in the 107-athlete race. Their efforts combined for a 158 point total, placing them seventh in team standings. The Warriors dropped four places from last year meet.
     Freshman stud, Iuri Pinto became the first freshman since Jack Cuvo in 1985 to earn All-Conference honors. He finished 12th, in a time of 26:29. Night rains left the 5-mile course drenched, causing footing to be slick. "It was hard for me to get any type of solid footing," said Pinto. He opened the race up with a 4:58 mile in a chase pack behind the eventual top three finishers, Ryan Blood and Chris Cowan of Lock Haven, finishing in impressive times of 25:36 and 25:56, with Ryan Coon of Edinboro following in 25:46. "I dropped back a bit, then settled into the same pace for the rest of the race,"added Pinto. Though his goal going into the race was to finish top ten, he was still happy with his performance. "This is my first year ever of cross country,"said Pinto. "I am satisfied with being All-Conference my first year." Pinto has his eyes set on breaking the top ten at regionals this weekend at IUP.

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