After twenty-eight years of coaching, Frank Geniviva’s Ellwood City’s Lincoln High School Girls’ Cross Country team won the 1992 state championship on the Penn State University three-point-one mile course. On the way to the state championship the team won ten dual meets, five invitationals and the WPIAL class AA Championship.
Jenna Bartolomeo, who at the time was coming off of a bout of the flu, had the team’s best finish coming in fifth with a time of 19:21. Lindsay Rangel (18th 19:56) and CeCe Catello (20th 19:59) also earned medals. Other members of the team were Leslie Rangel, 27th; Alysia Mondell, Maggie Dietrich, and Caroline Abraham. Mondell had missed the four previous days of school because of strep throat but still managed to run at the state meet.
The PIAA title was the first ever by any Ellwood City team in any sport. The 1925 football team that played in the “National Championship” against Freeport, Illinois won the WPIAL Championship but there were no structured games beyond that. Freeport took it upon themselves to search out the team that would give them the greatest challenge in the country and proposition them to a game.
If you recall this great cross country team and would like to share a memory, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com
