University High dominates on their home course in season opener

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University High dominates on their home course in season opener
By Nicole Lemal
Tristaterunnur.com
August 24, 2011

MORGANTOWN - On their home course at University High School, sophomore Amelia Paladino and senior Jordan Brown-Stobbe ran away from the field effortlessly Tuesday afternoon.

Results Photos Video...Boys Girls

Paladino clocked a 19:38.38, nearly half a minute ahead of Morgantown High junior Brynn Harshbarger. Brown-Stobbe crossed the line in 16:30.42 with Preston senior Peter Schwarzenberg back in second for a 16:41.96 effort.

With former Region 1 AAA superstars Cody Pelliccioni, Dayton McVicker, and Letitita Propst graduated, both Paladino and Brown-Stobbe found their way up in the front of the pack for their season opener. For Paladino this was an odd feeling.

"To be honest, I was kind of like, 'Wait a second!' Paladino laughed. "Because I am always used to Letitia Propst leading, so coming from always being behind someone to being in first, you're kind of like, 'Is someone going to come up and and match me?' Then you say, 'Ok, I'm just going to keep running and hope I can keep this pace."
That she did. Once she ignored her hesitation and made her move, she found herself leading the race and never looked back.

"I never really know (when to make my move)," she said. "I just kind of get in the race and kind of feel how it's going."
Running as well as she did, she gives tremendous credit to her team for the level of success they consistently achieve year after year. This team's strong background has made them a dominant force difficult to over top in big meets.

"It's nice if I do well but also my team, too because that's how we win states pretty much. It's not just because of my running. It's everybody's so I hope everybody gets a good season, too."

In his race Brown-Stobbe let his experience lead him to the front toward the very beginning. Since his victory back in June at the University Hawk Run, he has been putting in higher mileage, averaging approximately 75-80 miles weekly. And after coming back from a rather tough training week with some tempo runs and track work, he was pleased with his finish.

"It feels good, great start to my senior year," he said. "This race is a little weird. I know it looks flat, but it's just a little bumpy, and there's quite a bit of hills in it."
Hills still couldn't deter him, even after all of the hard runs he has put into his training so far.
"It's been tough getting adjusted to it and everything," he said. "I was coming off of a big week last week going into this, so it's not too bad. I felt good the whole race."

Preston sophomore Kaitlyn Workman (20:23.07), University sophomore Emily Lynch (20:38.61), Preston senior Whitney Workman (20:40.97), Morgantown freshman Victoria Cooke (20:47.36), Fairmont Senior senior Alyssa Scherich (20:53.93), Morgantown sophomore Allison Lynch (20:54.56), Preston senior Rachael Hulett (20:57.76) and University senior Chandler Cottrell (21:01.9) rounded out the top ten in the girls race.

Closing out the top ten in the boys race were Preston junior Brody Born (16:57.35), University sophomore Andrew Paladino (17:15.7), Morgantown junior Cameron Greza (17:51.29), Grafton junior PJ Louzy (18:03.61), Preston sophomore Colin Radabaugh (18:25.07), University senior Patrick Wells (18:38.55), Morgantown junior Eric Libell (18:42.75) and Preston senior Nick Robertson (18:48.47).

University boys and girls teams snatched the meet title by a slight margin. The girls had 39 points to overtop Morgantown (44), and the boys had 42 points over Preston (44).

University High coach Dan Demchak expressed his gratitude for all of the support he has seen.

"I want to thank the parents. Mr. Mosley made the course for us, designed it and everything. He's kind of quiet, doesn't like all the bragging. But it's all because of him that we can do this."

Email Nicole Lemal at run.nicole.wvu@gmail.com.

Brynn Harshbarger Peter Schwarzenberg

Amelia Paladino Jordan Brown-Stobbe