After increased summer training, Penn-Trafford's Jake McGhee eyes postseason success

By: Sunday, September 29, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Penn-Trafford senior Jake McGhee did not start running until middle school.

He has come a long way in a brief time to become one of the top runners in Westmoreland County and the WPIAL.

McGhee recently placed fifth in the Class 3A division of the annual Red, White and Blue Invitational at White Oak Park, and he helped his team defeat Greensburg Salem and Ligonier Valley in a section meet.

He ran a personal record of 16 minutes, 5 seconds at the Red, White and Blue Invitational, but knows 15:30 is within his reach.

"It is absolutely doable," McGhee said, "The biggest thing I wanted to achieve at Red, White and Blue was to come Top 10, and I did so.

"So Red, White and Blue was a huge race. I beat my personal record by 40 seconds. This is the first summer that I really trained really hard. So, I think it's gonna be a good season."

McGhee fell in love with running at the end of his seventh-grade year when students are required to run a 5K race.

Things didn't start well for McGhee. He lost his shoe at the beginning of the race and had to go back and put it on.

"I was dead last and I came back and won it all," McGhee said. "So, after that, I realized, I guess I could do something running."

Penn-Trafford coach Sarah Loughner says she's seeing a more determined runner this fall.

"We have high expectations of Jake," Loughner said. "His training has been on point, so we're really hoping that he's going to do really, really well at counties and at other races.

"He's put in all the work, and, you know, hard work, self-work, into him, and he's doing great. Hopefully, we'll see him at Hershey on Nov. 1."

McGhee just missed qualifying for states in cross country last year, but he did qualify for states in track in the spring.

Even though he did not do as well at states, he wants to take the experience and turn it into a positive one.

"I just lost it mentally at states last year," McGhee said. "I just wasn't there."

He has some big races coming up the next few weeks — Westmoreland County Coaches' Association (Oct. 9), Tri-State Invitational (Oct. 17) and WPIALs (Oct. 24).

"Yeah, there's gonna be fun races to run," McGhee said. "So, I am excited to see what I can do with them. And my goal would probably just do my best and win WPIALs."

McGhee said he'd like to continue to run in college, but he hasn't made his decision.

"I want a good team, and I just want, I guess you could say, someone I can compete with every day," McGhee said. "So, that's about it."

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at .