There are teams that many high school cross country aficionados know about such as North Allegheny, North Hills, Mt. Lebanon, Latrobe, Norwin, Baldwin and Quaker Valley.

And then there are the teams that seemingly pop up out of nowhere at this point of the season.

Meet the Oakland Catholic girls' team.

The Eagles proved last Thursday they will be a player at the WPIAL championships today by finishing second to North Allegheny at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Championships.

North Allegheny won the girls' team title with 144 points -- Norwin, the favorite to take the WPIAL Class AAA crown, didn't compete -- and Oakland Catholic was a surprising second with 208. The Eagles finished ahead of Mt. Lebanon, Latrobe and Butler.

The top four teams at the WPIAL championships today advance to the PIAA meet Nov. 7 in Hershey. After what happened a week ago, Oakland Catholic coach George Rudolph believes his team will be in the running for one of those four spots.

The championships will take place at Cooper's Lake Campground near Slippery Rock. The girls' Class AA race is at 1:45 p.m. and the girls' Class AAA race is at 2:30. The boys' Class AA race is at 3:15 with the boys' Class AAAA race at 4.

The top 20 finishers who are not members of one of the top four teams in each race also qualify for the PIAA championships in Hershey.

"I didn't expect us to run this well this soon," he said. "Most of our runners are underclassmen."

Norwin is the prohibitive favorite among Class AAA girls' teams today at Cooper's Lake Campground near Slippery Rock. North Allegheny is expected to place second, but the other two team spots appear to be up for grabs.

"I've kind of thought that all year," Rudolph said. "The gap between our second and third runners was about three minutes earlier in the year. I know it wasn't that today. The other girls have come on."

Oakland Catholic has a nice one-two punch in junior Marissa Polk and sophomore Charlotte Lampenfeld. Polk was out in front early on at the Tri-State Coaches championships and finished third, covering the 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes, 8 seconds.

Lampenfeld finished eighth in 19:37. Junior Michaela Mozley was the next Oakland Catholic finisher in 21:05 and was 48th.. Freshman Maggie Devine crossed the line in 21:26 and sophomore Alex Enion had a time of 21:37.

Senior Danielle Mrdjenovich was Oakland Catholic's sixth finisher and junior Rose Doerfler was the team's seventh runner.

"We've got 25 kids, which is good for us because we aren't as big as some other schools," Rudolph said. "It's been building for us. I'm very, very happy with the way things turned out."

For its effort, the Oakland Catholic squad took home a trophy from the Tri-State Coaches championships. Plenty of photos of the runners with the trophy were taken after the awards ceremony and there were smiles all around.

"We're acting like we never won anything," Polk said with a smile as her teammates took turns holding the second-place trophy.

It looked for a while as if Polk might pull an upset and win the race. But Hampton's Elaina Balouris and Margo Malone from North Hills beat Polk to the finish line. Balouris finished in 18:47.

"I told Marissa to get out early and go," Rudolph said. "It was about her learning what she has to do [to win] and what she can do.

"We've been practicing running quarters on the track. I told her run that [final] bend [on the course] just like a quarter [mile] on the track and kick it in and she did.

"She passed that girl from Peters Township. She took it out early and kicked it in."

Polk was pleased with her race, even though she was passed by Balouris and Malone.

"Doing well helps my confidence," she said. "I dropped back some but I can still keep my head high. I can't let anybody pass me, I'm a junior now."

What Rudolph likes about his varsity, besides the fact they will almost all return next season, is that they are attentive.

"They listen to everything I say, they'll do anything I ask them to do," he said. "I could tell them to run to Cleveland and they'll say, 'OK coach.'

They're a great group to work with and that's what makes it fun."

Polk and Lampenfeld qualified for the PIAA meet last year as individuals. Polk placed 13th and Lampenfeld was 38th. With those two leading the way, Rudolph knew he had the beginnings of a solid team. It was just a question of when the others on the squad would start to catch up.

"I'm encouraged by what we did," he said.

"I'll try to shoot for the top five," Polk said when asked about the WPIAL championships. "I just hope we go to states as a team."

After what Oakland Catholic did last week, that wouldn't be a surprise.

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