IN Fox Chapel Area Winter 2019 | Page 26

FALL 2019 ATHLETIC HIGHLIGHTS CROSS COUNTRY FOOTBALL Elite senior runners Grace Sisson and Christian Fitch put the finishing touches on their high school cross country days by medaling at the PIAA cross country championships, eighth and 11th, respectively, and earning all-state second team honors. Both runners were four-time PIAA qualifiers, as was fellow senior Brooke Krally. All three runners improved their times over last year. Brooke and Grace were the final members remaining from the 2017 team, which won the school’s first girls cross country championship. “Obviously, they are elite athletes, each having won multiple state medals, but more importantly, they are just outstanding people, hard workers, and nice, compassionate kids,” says Coach Tom Moul. “It’s fun and inspiring to be around people like that. I’ll savor this year’s trip to states, for sure, but, hopefully, there will be a couple more trips for them to state championship meets in indoor and outdoor track before the end of the school year.” Another highlight of the season was when the boys team won the WPIAL Class 3A Section 4 championship with an 8-0 record. The team members were seniors Christian Fitch, Keith Haw, and Oscar Oliva; juniors Shane Funk, Ryan Kenyon, and Jose Morales; and sophomores Owen Carter, Jordan Gwin, Jack Lorence, and Ethan Napolitan. Coach Tom Loughran led the Foxes football team to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs for the second time in three years and also earned his 200th career victory. Ten players were named to the Big 56 All-Conference team – the most in many years – including five athletes who were voted to the first team and two to the second team. Three additional players were honorable mention selections. Senior quarterback Shane Susnak, who was one of the WPIAL’s top-10 passers, threw for 1,940 yards and broke Billy Urso’s former single-season passing record of 1,600 yards set in 2013. He was, consistently, one of the best passing quarterbacks in the WPIAL this season. Sophomore wide receiver Lorenzo Jenkins hauled in 39 receptions for 573 yards, the most during Coach Loughran’s five-year tenure. 24 FOX CHAPEL AREA