Congratulations to seniors
Tony Cuda
Chris DeRiggi
Matt Besterci
Sean Tuite
Rachel Twigg
Kevin Bakaj
Jess Youra
Greg Titus 
and Jon Grubbs.  
RACHEL TWIGG
The most accomplished female cross country runner in Plum High School history ran her last high school XC race at the 2004 WPIAL Championships.  As an eighth grader, Rachel began her career by placing 1st at the Slippery Rock University Jr. High Invitational.  During her freshman year, she ran a 20:22 at SRU. This remains the fastest time of any female Plum runner at the Rock (see here).  Rachel was undefeated in dual meets as a sophomore and lead the girls team to a section title.  Also that year, she became the highest placing Plum runner (male or female) ever at WPIAL's by placing 23rd and at States by placing 61st.  As a junior, she again came through with a return trip to states.  Rachel also holds the Plum girls 3200m record on the track.  In addition to her running, Rachel has contributed her fun loving attitude and sense of humor to all of her teammates & coaches.  Way to go Rachel.

PLUM EXCELS AT GROVE CITY

The Grove City Invitational seems to bring the best out of the Mustangs.   Fast times and top places have been a tradition at this invitational and this year the tradition was upheld.  Freshmen Missy Fratangelo and Tammy Bonura, both set person record times and led the JV girls to a second place finish.  The varsity boy's runners 1 thru 5 all finished within a one minute span and took a third place trophy.  The varsity girls grab second place behind strong runs from Kara Weichler, Rachel Twigg and Rachel Frye.

MUSTANGS DEALT FIRST LOSS OF SEASON
Both Plum teams eased past Penn Hills while losing to very strong Central and Oakland Catholic squads.  The best that the boys could do was a 5th place finished by Chris DeRiggi.  The girls performance was low-lighted by the top four runners being disqualified for cutting off a major portion of the maze-like course.  Both teams are eager to redeem themselves at the Fox Chapel Invitational this upcoming weekend.  see updated results & pics

SLIPPERY ROCK INVITATIONAL 
Not attended due to severe weather...however we will run this course at the WPIAL Championships on 10/28.

BOYS & GIRLS SWEEP TRI-MEET
The Running Mustangs opened the section season with a 4-0 afternoon by beating both Woodland Hills and Highlands teams.   The Mustangs also claimed both 1st place finishes; Chris DeRiggi in the boy's race and Kara Weichler in the girl's race.  Many Plum runners had breakthrough races and dropped their times by more than a minute compared to the intrasquad meet.   Overall, it was a great day for the Running Mustangs.
GATEWAY INVITATIONAL
GIRLS VARSITY
The varsity girls began the day with a 6th place team finish led by an outstanding performances from freshman Kara Weichler with a time of 21:25.  Senior captains Rachel Twigg and Jess Youra finished shortly after Kara.   Jackie Youra also had a strong run which was over 4:00 faster than her time last year.
BOYS VARSITY
The boys opened their season with a disappointing 10th place finish.   While not reaching their team goal, some individuals ran well.  Chris DeRiggi  was the first Plum finisher followed by rookie sophomore Dave Humphrey.  Juniors Matt Giunta and Scott Delo both ran times significantly faster than last year's race.
BOYS JV
Dustine Eisman highlighted this race with a speedy 19:04 and an eighth place finish.   Andrew Weitz  was the first Mustang  freshman to cross the line.  Jon Grubbs, Kevin Bakaj and Chris Zehr also ran nice times and helped the team earn 6th place.
GIRLS JV
The JV girls were the brightest spot of day by placing 2nd as a team and by having the 1st place overall finisher.   It was freshman Rachel Frye who won the first  high school invitational that she entered.  The other top five finishers were Katie Marzullo 9th, Caitlin Marshall 11th, Sarah Wilson 15th and Amanda Fischer 18th.