The Decade in District 6

District 6 is one of the smaller districts in the state, not boasting the size of the powerhouses like Districts 1, 3 or 7, but the region has boasted many competitive teams across each of the classifications. The decade began with one of the best such examples, the 2010 Altoona boys. That team posted a score of just 21 points at the district championships and was led by a 1-2-3 sweep individually. Wade Endress ran a 15:37 to absolutely dominate the race. His mark stood as the fastest time on the Indian Valley course layout this decade until Colton Sands smashed it this past fall. Endress had a strong grip on the best runner of the decade for most of this stretch, winning three district titles, grabbing three AAA state medals (including the 2010 silver) and qualifying for the NXN Championships. Altoona finished 5^th in the state in 2010 under his leadership (4^th in 2009).

The Altoona program was the class of AAA for the early years of the decade before handing off the reigns in the later half. State College became the team to beat in District 6 after they narrowly defeated Altoona at the 2013 District 6 championships (more to come on this in the 2013 set of posts). They went on to place 4^th in the state in AAA, the best team finish in the large school division of the decade. Since that team, State College has won 6 additional district championships and gone on to score multiple top 10 finishes at states. They scored 20 points at the district championship in back to back years during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Their 16:16 average at Forest Hills in 2015 is the fastest average time at the meet this decade. The next two fastest marks came on Indian Valley (Altoona in 2010, State College in 2019).

Individually, State College has had four different district champions with only Alex Milligan winning two in the decade. Nick Feffer posted the school’s best individual finish at states when he placed 11^th in 2016. That being said, Feffer’s winning district time (16:03) was slower than the other champions who each had sub 16 marks. The fastest was 2017 champ Mitchell Etter at 15:44.

Mifflin County snuck in a team title in the competitive AAA division in 2012, effectively splitting the Altoona and State College dynasties. The 2012 team was led by Jon Colwell, the district champ that season, as well as Addison Monroe. More recently, Mifflin County has had equally strong teams led by Chayce Macknair and Brayden Harris, each of whom claimed top 10 spots at the state championships in 2018. Harris’s times and placing as a sophomore are the best for his age group.

Although the AAA classification has grabbed many headlines, in the smaller classes District 6 has had the most success. Most notably, Penns Valley has won both team and individual state championships in Class A. After winning district titles in 2015 and 2016, Penns Valley hit another level in the 2017 season when they added two spectacular freshman in Colton Sands and Brendan Colwell. They scored a decade record 19 points at districts and followed up with the team gold in Hershey. Four of their runners earned individual medals led by Sands (10^th), also including Chris Colwell (15^th), Brendan Colwell (17^th) and Sam Gray (24^th).

Penns Valley followed up their championship run with a 4^th place state finish in 2018 and a 5^th place finish in 2019. The 2019 state meet was special for another reason as PV finished off the state meet with the incredibly rare 1-2 individual finish from the same team. Colton Sands was the champ in 15:56, Brendan Colwell as next in 16:05. Colwell was then 17 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor. This dynamic duo went on to place 9^th and 11^th at Footlocker’s Northeast Regional with Sands qualifying nationals (he ended up a phenomenal 10^th there). Those places were the highest from District 6 this decade.

What Penns Valley has been to A, Central Cambria has become to AA. This Red Devils won the A District title in 2013 and added AA gold in 2015 through to 2019. They narrowly missed out on the 2014 title as well, losing on 6^th man tie-breaker to Somerset at the championships. Their fastest average time and lowest point score both came in 2019 as the school scored 33 points and averaged 16:50. The team then went on to have their first marquee moment at the state championships. Behind rising star Toby Cree, the 2019 Central Cambria squad took 5^th at states.

Clearly, 2019 was a great year all around in District 6 as Garrett Baublitz of Juniata finished off a fantastic career. Garrett was 9^th, 2^nd and 6^th over a three year stretch at the AA State Championships and won an unthinkable 4 straight individual district titles. His fastest mark was his last as he cruised to a 15:49 individual title at Indian Valley.

The record for the fastest individual time at Forest Hills belonged to Bedford’s Will Kachman. As a senior, Kachman dropped a 15:36 to win by a big margin over future top-10 state finisher Bryce Descavish (of Central Cambria). Kachman (technically a member of District 5) won three district titles in D6 and was second in 2012 as a freshman. He was under 16 minutes twice in district finals.

Other multi-time individual champions include Alex Woodrow of Marion Center (2009, 2010) and Bryce England of Williamsburg (2012, 2013).

Without putting them in a specific order (and having the right to change my mind), my initial all District 6 decade team would be as follows:

Runner of the Decade: Colton Sands, Penns Valley

First Team (alphabetical order):

Garrett Baublitz, Juniata 2020

Brendan Colwell, Penns Valley 2021

Wade Endress, Altoona 2010

Brayden Harris, Mifflin County 2021

Will Kachman, Bedford 2016

Alex Milligan, State College 2015

Colton Sands, Penns Valley 2021

Second Team (alphabetical order):

Bryce Descavish, Central Cambria 2016

Bryce England, Williamsburg 2014

Mitchell Etter, State College 2018

Nick Feffer, State College 2017

Chayce Macknair, Mifflin County 2019

Korey Replogle, Altoona 2012

Alex Woodrow, Marion Center 2011

	Name			Course		Team
1	C Sands	1st	19	Indian Valley	15:14	Penns Valley	A	11
2	W Kachman	1st	15	Forest Hills	15:36	Bedford	AA	12
3	W Endress	1st	10	Indian Valley	15:37	Altoona	AAA	12
4	M Etter	1st	17	Forest Hills	15:44	State College	AAA	12
5	A Milligan	1st	15	Forest Hills	15:47	State College	AAA	12
6	G Baublitz	1st	19	Indian Valley	15:49	Juniata	AA	12
7	B Colwell	2nd	19	Indian Valley	15:50	Penns Valley	A	11
8	D Stroh	1st	13	Forest Hills	15:55	Altoona	AAA	11
9	W Kachman	1st	14	Forest Hills	15:57	Bedford	AA	11
10	V May	2nd	19	Indian Valley	15:58	Bedford	AA	11
11	A Milligan	1st	14	Forest Hills	15:59	State College	AAA	11
12	B Foust	2nd	14	Forest Hills	15:59	Altoona	AAA	12
13	B Bigger	1st	19	Indian Valley	15:59	State College	AAA	11
14	O Isham	2nd	17	Forest Hills	16:00	State College	AAA	11
15	N Feffer	2nd	15	Forest Hills	16:02	State College	AAA	11
16	B Descavish	2nd	15	Forest Hills	16:03	Central Cambria	AA	12
17	N Feffer	1st	16	Forest Hills	16:03	State College	AAA	12
18	B Harris	1st	18	Indian Valley	16:03	Mifflin County	AAA	10
19	G Baublitz	1st	17	Forest Hills	16:04	Juniata	AA	10
20	K Replogle	1st	11	Indian Valley	16:05	Altoona	AAA	12
21	B St Pierre	2nd	19	Indian Valley	16:05	State College	AAA	12
22	K Replogle	2nd	10	Indian Valley	16:06	Altoona	AAA	11
23	B Harris	3rd	19	Indian Valley	16:09	Mifflin County	AAA	11
24	W Cather	2nd	13	Forest Hills	16:10	State College	AAA	12
25	A Stanley	1st	17	Forest Hills	16:11	Southern Huntingdon	A	12

Team of the Decade: Penns Valley '17

Program of the Decade: State College

	Team		Points	Average	Course
1	Penns Valley	17	19	16:47	Forest Hills	1st	A
2	State College	15	20	16:16	Forest Hills	1st	AAA
3	State College	16	20	16:41	Forest Hills	1st	AAA
4	Altoona	10	21	16:25	Indian Valley	1st	AAA
5	State College	19	21	16:29	Indian Valley	1st	AAA
6	State College	18	26	17:12	Indian Valley	1st	AAA
7	State College	14	27	16:35	Forest Hills	1st	AAA
8	Penns Valley	19	28	16:46	Indian Valley	1st	A
9	State College	17	29	16:34	Forest Hills	1st	AAA
10	State College	13	30	16:34	Forest Hills	1st	AAA
11	Altoona	13	31	16:37	Forest Hills	2nd	AAA
12	Central Cambria	19	33	16:50	Indian Valley	1st	AA

Was The Best AA Team of the Decade ... in AAA?

For the younger readers out there, the PIAA Cross Country State Meet didn’t always have three classifications. The two classification system officially ended in 2012 and teams that had spent the prior years admirably fighting against the superpowers now found themselves near the top of the heap. One of those schools was Tunkhannock, a power within District 2 even during their AAA days who, shortly after the move down in classification, became the 2013 State Champions. But as great as that team was, you can make the case that their squad from three years earlier was in fact the best the school has seen.

The 2010 XC season was the final one for Tunkhannock’s Reece Ayers. To that point, Reece had already put his name on a very short list of PA’s all-time best. As only a sophomore, Ayers ran to 8^th in the state championship meet and 13^th in the Nike Northeast Regional meet. A year later, Reece clinched his first district championship before adding another top 10 state finish and top 15 regional finish.

With Ayers at the helm, Tunkhannock won the District 2 Team Title in 2009, earning the region’s only state qualifying spot by 14 points over Dallas. As was the case most years, the District 2 champion entered the meet as an afterthought behind the bigger districts and, ultimately, they left the 2009 meet ass something of an afterthought as well. Tunkhannock scored 413 points and finished in 16^th.

So when the discussions began about who would be the top team in the state in 2010, you would need to go quite far down a forum before you even caught a whiff of District 2. But Tunkhannock returned the key contributors from their 2009 core. Returning to the fold were David Novak, Jake Siegel and Ben Robinson, a trio of runners that spent the summer focused on narrowing the gap to their fearlessly leader. If they could find a 5^th piece, they imagined they could be a dangerous sleeper candidate.

At the team’s opening race of the season, Penn State’s Harry Grove Invitational, Ayers did what we had all come to expect: he won the race by 25 seconds with a monster time of 15:38 (the fastest time since New Jersey legend Craig Forys dropped 15:21 in 2006). Ben Robinson was the key member of the pack on race day. He ran a massive PR to grab 5^th place overall in 16:26. Unfortunately, the list of highlights stopped their for Tunkhannock as they ended up with no other top 35 finishers and had to settle for 5^th in the overall standings.

There wasn’t much time to pout about it as two weeks later Tunkhannock toed the line at the most competitive invitational that year in Carlisle. The Rebook Challenge race featured 3 of the top 4 teams from the prior year’s state meet in North Allegheny, Altoona and LaSalle. In this competitive field, Ayers was only able to leave the race with a 12^th place finish in a disappointing 16:20. That meant there was an extra bit of pressure on the rising stars. Ben Robinson again came through as the team’s #2 runner, taking 35^th in 17:05 and this time he dragged someone with him. David Novak bounced back from a disappointing race at Spiked Shoe and delivered a 17:19 for 46^th.  

A top three was starting to rise to form, but Tunkhannock didn’t quite have the pack to piece together a truly competitive position. Although they managed a 9^th place finish in a loaded invitational, they scored 312 points-some 200 back of the invite champs from North Allegheny.

Next on the schedule was a muddy day at Paul Short. Redemption was on the mind for two of Tunkhannock’s top harriers. For Reece Ayers, a 12^th place finish at Carlisle was not up to his elite standards. So on race day, he got out aggressive and threw down his most furious kick in order to outsprint Quinn Devlin for the gold medal. But the meet also served as a breakthrough for Jake Siegel. The junior had been a distant #5 man for this team at Carlisle, but he posted a big improvement at Lehigh with a 66^th place finish and 17:10 clocking.

Although there were highlights, Tunkhannock ultimately posted just a 13^th place finish in this major invitational. They scored 394 points and had two scorers finish outside the top 100. There were three District One teams ahead of them, all of which were question marks to even make it to the state championships. If Tunkhannock wanted to be competitive on the big stage, there was clearly still work to be done.

The good news was they had found their 5^th piece. Tom Damiani, a junior racing varsity XC for the first time, held his own as the team’s #3 and #4 in each of the opening meets of the season. He wasn’t necessarily running jaw-dropping times, but he was consistent and competitive. And that was the attitude they needed to bottle headed into championship season.

The championship season started with a trip to Misericordia for the Ed Narkiewicz All-League Meet. It was on this stage that the line-up took a clear step forward. Not only did Tunkhannock pick up their first win of the season, but they had just a 20 second spread between Ayers and #4 runner Jake Siegel. David Novak had his best race of the season, taking 3^rd overall. In the end, Tunkhannock eased past Dallas by 9 points, setting themselves up for a rematch a week later for the lone state qualifying spot.

At the district meet, Tunkhannock doubled down on their success. After a breakthrough performance a week earlier, the squad’s top 4 somehow found a way to level up once again. This time it was Jake Siegel’s turn for a best run of the season. He finished 3^rd in the district as the team also took 1^st (Ayers), 7^th (Novak) and 8^th (Robinson).

Ironically, it was Damiani, their most consistent piece to date, who had a rough day at the championships. He finished back in 24^th overall and failed to crack 18 minutes for the first time all season. As a result, Tunhannock had to sweat things out for a moment after the race’s conclusion. Dallas had not matched Tunkhannock’s front running, but they had packed up with a meet best 30 second spread. Ultimately, when the final points were tallied, Tunkhannock had earned a trip to states, but their 13 point margin of victory was not quite an emphatic message to the rest of the state.

Regardless of the margin, Tunkhannock had punched their ticket to Hershey. Now it was time to reset and see what they could do. Naturally, Tunkhannock entered the meet as an afterthought once again. District One was sending a terrific set of teams yet again including the defending champions from West Chester Henderson and 2007-2008 champs North Penn. Meanwhile, District 7 countered with North Allegheny and Baldwin, two teams that had traded punches in a loaded WPIAL. The PCL had not just one, but two competitive teams in O’Hara and LaSalle. There wasn’t much room for District 2.

Over the course of the first mile, Tunkhannock realized just how crowded this race would be. The opening 1600 had its usual fast start and Tunkhannock’s pack ended up somewhat buried in the masses. While Reece Ayers had, of course, positioned himself excellently, the next closest piece was Novak in just 179^th. A quick scan of the first standings would show Tunkhannock was 19^th out of 24 teams after the first five minutes. However, Jake Siegel had not registered going through the mat.

When Siegel next popped up at mile 2, Tunkhannock fans realized just how much of a difference his score would make. Siegel came through the two mile in 54^th place overall at 10:32. That was good for 28^th place in the team standings. Meanwhile, his teammates had stepped up behind him. Novak, Damiani and Robinson had all made big moves through the field. Their score had dropped enough to put them in 10^th place overall.

But Tunkhannock wasn’t finished. Over the final mile, the boys came off the hills and continued to race aggressively. Novak in particular closed like a fiend, moving up 14 spots in the team standings and 32 spots overall. Tom Damiani, the team’s weak link at districts, had gone out aggressively from the start, pushing right alongside Ben Robinson and the pair ultimately dragged each other forward another 10 team spots on their way to the finish. With Siegel and Ayers each holding form in the top 50 overall, Tunkhannock got through the final shoot with just 208 points.

How did that stack up? 208 points was good enough to land Tunkhannock in 6^th place overall, just 1 point away from Altoona for a spot in the top 5 and only 7 points back of Baldwin for 4^th. It was a truly dramatic transformation from the two major invitationals earlier in the spring, not to mention the fact that they had cut their prior year’s state score in half.

Check out this swing from Carlisle to States:

Carlisle

North Allegheny – 114 (+198)

Altoona – 161 (+151)

Cumberland Valley – 226 (+86)

LaSalle – 237 (+75)

Chambersburg – 240 (+72)

Mount Lebanon – 263 (+49)

Grove City – 311 (+1)

Tunkhannock – 312

States

North Allegheny – 124 (+78; -120)

Altoona – 207 (+1; -150)

Tunkhannock – 208

Mount Lebanon – 212 (-4; -53)

LaSalle – 233 (-25; -100)

Grove City – 324 (-116; -117)

Cumberland Valley – 337 (-129; -215)

Chambersburg – 379 (-171; -243)

They were a small school, a school in a place that no one would think to look for a state title contender. District 2’s champion had been 16^th, 19^th, 18^th, and 19^th the previous four seasons (and 12^th, 18^th, 17^th and 19^th the next four)

And yet when the pressure was on and the lights were brightest, Tunkhannock ran big. They took on the challenge of the AAA mantle and battled their way to 6^th in the state. 208 points. 17:08 Average. So where do they stack up on the all-time small school lists?

Maybe it’s a trick question.

Throwback Thursday: The Legacy

This was the first post that I wrote in a multi-part series about North Allegheny's rise to the top of the state after their 2014 gold medal winning performance. It talked about how North Allegheny won their first title of the decade in 2010 with what was arguably the least talented team they had during Ryan Gil's four year career, but perhaps the strongest mentally. Check it out!

http://therealtrain.blogspot.com/2014/12/chapter-1-legacy.html

This is the first post in a 5 part series I'm writing on North Allegheny's road to the state championship this year. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Legacy
Flash back to 2010. North Allegheny, a team with three straight near misses, was heading into what looked like their final chance to win the title before their window closed. Senior Ryan Gil, a Footlocker Finalist in 2009 and 9:03 3200m runner, had been the team’s top runner for the previous two seasons, but in the final and most crucial season, injury struck.

A foot injury to Gil left him on the sidelines for a few critical midseason meets, including the Tri State championships, a mere two weeks before the state championships. Without their front runner, the preseason state title favorites, not only lost to district rivals Baldwin by 32 points, but also were nearly edged out by Altoona, who finished just one point back.

“Baldwin had a really strong team that season. They had lost Cecala and Logan who were both in the 30s at States the year before, but they returned a state medalist in Bobby Bishop and they also had Paul DeGregorio and Andrew Kuchta who both ended up graduating with district titles in the 3200m. Even if Gil had been in the race and taken first, things would have been within a few points.”

After weeks of cross training, Gil braced himself for a return at the WPIAL championships, a meet his school had won each season since 2005. Anything but a peak shape Gil was going to have his hands full against the top WPIAL contenders. The North Hills monster (Juris Silenieks, Zach Hebda and Joe Kush) had just swept Wade Endress, who many considered one of the contenders for a state title, the previous week. Despite the obstacles, the hope was that the mere appearance of the team captain would provide the necessary lift to topple Baldwin and help the team build momentum towards a state title run.

It may have provided too much of a lift. Logan Steiner, the team’s #1 man in Gil’s absence, charged to the front of the race and his team followed. Only Gil appeared to have held something back off the start. NA was leading at the mile by 9 points over Mt Lebanon and by 27 points over Baldwin. At 2 miles, the gap was beginning to shrink. Baldwin was making up ground on the overzealous Tigers and their front-runner Bobby Bishop had moved in front of both Gil and Steiner. Baldwin had their top 4 ahead of NA’s third. Baldwin’s freshman 5th man George Kelly was back a ways in 58th, but he had already made up 20 spots since the mile. NA still held a lead at 2 miles, but it was just 11 points.

Over the course of the final mile, things continued to shrink. Gil, who had given up on chasing the impressive 1-2-3 sweep of North Hills, fended off Bishop and brought his teammate Steiner with him. Tim Appman and Mike Meehan had big final miles and the NA pack mixed it with Baldwin’s, giving them enough to barely hold off their rivals late charge 80-86.

But there was still the rematch looming at states, not to mention the defending state champions: West Chester Henderson. The state course can really hit you hard if you go out over your head, so NA would have to ride a different strategy if they were going to continue their success on the Hershey hills. For the most part, the team held back compared to their district race. Steiner chose to sit back in 71st instead of 1st. In the team standings, North Allegheny was in 4th place overall and 61 points behind first, behind West Chester Henderson, Altoona and another district rival, Mount Lebanon.

Despite his teammates’ slow start, Ryan Gil had not held back. After a cautious qualifying meet at WPIALs, Gil went out in 4:52 at the state meet, placing him 2 seconds off the lead in 17th place. Zach Hebda and Juris Silenieks from North Hills were leading, hoping to continue their monstrous dominance over the rest of the state.

Over the course of the second mile Gil continued to chase the leaders. At the two mile mark, he was in 7th place, three seconds off a new leader, Reece Ayers. The three-headed hydra of North Hills was beginning to look shaky, Juris and Hebda were now in 4th and 5th while Kush was in 14th. Gil, who only two weeks previously had been held out of his league championship, was running in the top 10 of the state championship. The pacing,10:01 for the leaders, was not anything too dramatic so maybe Gil would be able to sneak into the top five or maybe even the top three. Winning seemed improbable: as talented as he was, he had lost a substantial amount of training and racing time. Yet he had to try, ever point was critical for his team success. He knew Wade Endress, a 1:52 half miler, was lurking in third, ready to strike so his move would have to come soon.

Meanwhile, the Tigers were rapidly picking up spots behind Ryan. Logan Steiner had moved from 71st to 19th over the course of the second mile and the team had lowered their score by 40 points overall. Tyler Nictora and Will Appman were running in the 3-4 spots with the teams 3-6 separated by just 5 seconds. Defending champions Henderson still held a slim 14-point advantage, but the gap back to third had grown. It was now just a two-team race. Baldwin, the team that had given North Allegheny such a scare at districts, was all the way back in 6th place.

To get the state title, every spot would matter over the course of the last mile. Nictora was in 87th  overall, Appman 93rd and Tonzo 99th. Meehan was outside the top 100 as the 6th. The front running excellence of Gil and Steiner would only be able to carry the team so far. Eventually, it would take a complete team effort. That was the task for the final mile.

At the front a group of six seniors all thought they had a chance at gold. But Ryan Gil was the top returner from a year ago and the most experienced. He had been in all types of races, running at both the NXN National Championships and the Footlocker National Championships in back to back years. He made a hard move earlier than expected and the others were not prepared to follow. He found himself with daylight as he approached the finish, an important fact. Endress, Hebda and Campbell were all kicking furiously, but Gil was clear enough to hang on and grab the victory. It was an incredibly gutsy performance and a testament that heart and desire are more important than fitness and numbers.

It also was critical for North Allegheny as a team: they now had the ultimate low stick. Behind him Logan Steiner continued to sprinting hard to the finish and outlasting Henderson’s #1 man Bryan Andrews. Meanwhile, Junior Tim Appman had made up nearly 50 spots over the course of the last mile moving from 93rd to 54th. He passed Henderson’s #4 and nearly caught their #3 in the process. A solid finish from Nictora and Meehan clinched it for North Allegheny. They beat Henderson by 22 point for that elusive state title.

After all the struggling and close calls, after all the injuries and obstacles and heart breaking, Ryan Gil and the North Allegheny Tigers had won their long deserved state championship. It had been four years of historic success for the North Allegheny program, thanks mainly to their fearless leader Ryan Gil. When he graduated at the end of that season, it was hard to say what would happen to the program he left behind.

Little did they know they know that after four more years of fighting, the trophy was waiting for them once again.

Throw Back Thursday: etrain's First Article

Prior to the 2010 Paul Short Invitational, I saw an article on Penntrack that noted they needed a freelance writer to cover the high school races. Seeing this as a prime opportunity to utilize my weird running obsession, I jumped at chance and volunteered to write for the site. The rest is history. Here's the first recap that I ever wrote!

https://pa.milesplit.com/articles/51789-

Race Story by Jarrent Felix for PennTrackXC.com

 

Boys Brown
With a stellar group of college races already having torn up the Lehigh Paul Short Invitational course (both literally and figuratively in the case of Sam Chelenga), the High School Boys and Girls competing Friday were ready to get dirty. Chesnut Hill Academy’s Dustin Wilson described the course simply as “sloppy”, and the muddy first mile certainly slowed down what is normally one of the fastest courses in the state. The High School Boy’s Brown race featured a score of talented runners who all went straight to the front of the pack. A pack of roughly ten leaders, followed very closely by the rest of the tight-knit field, flooded the opening mile marker already covered in mud. Brett Kelly (Boyertown) led the group through in about 5:00 followed by a group that included Quinn Devlin (Downingtown West), Ed Schrom (Central Dauphin), and Reece Ayers (Tunkannock) who were 5th, 6th, and 12th respectively at last week’s very deep field at the Carlisle Invitational. The pack also included Wilson, who ran 15:12 for 5k this past winter, Matt Groff (Hempfield-3), Ian Barnhill (Downingtown West), and Nate McClafferty (Conrad Weiser).

Devlin was determined not to lead the race through the mile. He claimed that after his somewhat painful experience leading the Carlisle race, he would much rather be amongst the followers. The pack made their separation from the field as they approached the two mile mark with a solid lead. They came through in approximately 10:15-10:20. At this point it was hard to distinquish who the leader was as Devlin, Schrom, Ayers, Wilson, Barnhill, Kelly and McClafferty all shared the load. It was clear the race would have a tight finish.

After the grueling back hills, Devlin came running downhill with a lead, but Ayers was still close. Then Devlin’s lead disappeared as Ayers finished with a solid kick on the upsloap, and with a yell of triumph as he stole the race in the final straightaway, breaking the tape in 15:48. “I didn’t have a plan for this race and I didn’t even feel good until after the mile so I just tried to stay with the leaders, and when they started to pull away I just kicked” he claimed. It was a great redemption race for Ayers who seems to be rounding into top form. He finished 8th at states as a sophomore and 9th last season.

Devlin seemed satisfied with the race but upset at getting outkicked, yet it was a great PR for him (15:49). “Regardless of the conditions this course is always fast.” Devlin is just a Junior and has had two top finishes amongst extremely talented fields. As for Wilson, who finished fourth, he is coming off a stress fracture and was just happy to get out and race such a prestigious invitational. “We don’t get the chance to run many meets like this. It was a lot of fun.” Ed Schrom, Ian Barnhill and Nate McClafferty turned in sub 16 performances despite very “sloppy” conditions.

St. Joe’s Prep was the top PA team taking 3rd place and Nate McClafferty helped his PA #10 Conrad Weiser team take 5th place.

 

Girls Brown
The girl’s brown race featured Pennsbury “Super Soph” and Milesplit U.S. #10 Sara Sargent, but Homer Center Junior Angel Piccirillo almost stole the show. After a fantastic track season, Angel has started fast this cross country season and was looking to drop her already impressive 5k PR of 18:24 on this extremely fast, yet muddy Lehigh course. Sargent went to the front early and navigated the messy first mile through in 5:34 instantly claiming a solid lead.

Piccirillo and Coach Michael Gentile had planned to spot Sargent a bit of a cushion on the first mile, looking for a first mile in the 5:35-5:40 range. Angel nailed it with a 5:37 opening split. Coach Gentile decided the best way to run fast would be to let Sargent get out hard and work up to her on the second mile of the course. He was a little surprised by how quickly Piccirillo caught back up when it was time to play catch up. The two were well out ahead of the field stride for stride as they passed the start line on their way to the second mile.

The quick pace had strung out the field leaving only Lindsey Olivere (Archmere Academy DE) and Jess Cygan (Liberty) within sight. As the leaders moved toward two miles Sargent’s power up the hills took its toll on Piccirillo, who was dropped on the following down hills with about 1200m to go until the finish. Sargent continued to roll over the final k of the race, running an astounding 17:43 under less than ideal conditions. Piccirillo fought off a late charge from Olivere as the two finished in 18:03 and 18:04 respectively. Gentile and Piccirillo were very happy with the PR at what will be their last invitational. “We executed our plan very well. We were almost perfect,” He laughs, “Almost.”

Sargent and Piccirillo are the early favorites at their respective classes for the state cross country title.

Pennsbury used Sargent’s first place finish to snag the team title at the meet over Liberty who was lead by Jess Cygan, finishing fourth in the race with a time of 18:18.

 

Race Story by Jarrent Felix for PennTrackXC.com

 

Boys White
In the Boys White Race the pace was just as fast through the first mile as the Brown Race with the leaders coming through in about 5:02.

Ryan Matthews from St. Augustine headed the pack. However, when the harriers came back past the start line the group had packed up again, led out front by Ben Pickett (John Carroll) and Taylor Brandon (Kennard Dale).

Over the last mile Brandon broke away, flying down the final straightaway with a blistering kick to break the tape in 16:14. Following Brandon was Central Dauphin East’s Kyle Klaboe in 16:16. Sophomore Brendan Shearn (North Schuylkill) was in the mix for the whole the race and turned in a top time for his class, running 16:29 on the messy 5k layout.

Girls White
West Chester East stole the team title, led by Nick Libbi’s 17:01 15th place finish.
In  the Girls White Race a solid group of girls led the first mile through in sub 6 minutes, the leader at 5:53. This leader, Catie Skinner from Penn Charter went on to not only hold her lead but expand it as she finished nine seconds ahead of her closest competitor finishing in 18:45. Freshman Gianna Frontera (Newburgh) also held her place at the mile running a solid 18:54. 7 more girls went on to break the 20 minute mark in the race.

A solid pack led Bethesda-Chevy Chase to the team title. Fronted by Ava Farrell who finished 8th. St. Basil’s Academy was second and West Chester East was third. Each had a girl under 20 minutes in the race.

The 2010 Season in Review: AAA

The 2009 Team Championships were a thrilling back and forth affair with 4 teams all vying for state gold. In 2010, it seemed we could an equally exciting championship, if for no other reason than none of the top teams seemed to be bring much back. Each of the top three teams were losing at least three scorers and no other top 10 teams returned an inspiring herd. Altoona, fourth in 2009, was cast as the favorite with North Allegheny waiting in the wings behind them. NA barely returned anything, but they did have an incoming transfer, Logan Steiner, who had medaled at states for Meadville the previous fall.

While there was plenty of doubts about the top teams, no one had reservations about the individuals. Ryan Gil of North Allegheny was a heavy early favorite after he not only qualified for the Footlocker National Championships, but added a 9:03 3200m on the track. Gil was a member of the loaded class of 2010 that had two years earlier put four sophomores on the medal stand. Alongside Gil was Wade Endress of Altoona, Jacob Kildoo of Grove City and Reece Ayers of Tunkhannock. The remaining power districts each had a prime contender as well in Chris Campbell (D1), Logan Mohn (D3) and Tom Trainer (D12).

Wade Endress, and by extension Altoona, made it clear from the start that they intended to do whatever it took to be the best. The boys schedule included PTXC (where Endress would race Logan Mohn), Carlisle, (Gil, Kildoo, Trainer and Ayers), Steel City (Campbell) and Tri States (North Hills Monster). Who was a whose who of Pre-Season favorites. Would this team be up to the challenge?

In early September, Altoona answered with an emphatic “Yes”. They rolled to victory at the Big Valley Invitational and then followed that with a win at PTXC. The squad knew they needed someone to fill the space between Endress and the pack and the man to do looked to be junior Korey Replogle. He finished 3^rd and 4^th in the team’s two opening contests. Tyler Lidwell was also off to a hot start for the reigning District Champions.

Individually, Endress looked as sharp as ever. He rolled to wins in each of the first two invitationals. However, the headlines in the opening week of the season were dominated by the WPIAL. Not only did North Allegheny come out looking better than ever, but North Hills senior Zach Hebda had absolutely torched the Red, White and Blue course to announce that he might be the guy to beat in 2010. Gil was bested by both Hebda and last year’s 5^th place finisher from states Joe Kush.

Endress would get his own shot at Gil at the Carlisle Invite on September 25^th and Altoona would find out if they were deserving of that #1 state ranking. Endress ran aggressive at Carlisle and finished as the #1 PA runner in the field, taking second overall in 15:43. Tom Trainer of LaSalle was third across the line and then it was Ryan Gil in fourth. Overall, the Carlisle race featured 13 of the 25 AAA runners who would eventually take medals at states later that year.

While Gil was unable to assert his dominance individually, his team had no problem. The posted a winning score of 114 that knocked off Altoona comfortably by 47 points. The Gil-Steiner punch combined with their usual deep stock of pack-runners was too much to handle. That being said, Altoona held their own through the first 4 runners (77 vs 74 from NA) and could have used Patrick Reade (out with illness) in the rotation on race day to help narrow the gap.

We had to wait a bit to see what the next chapter of the team battle would feature. But individually, the top athletes were throwing haymakers. At Paul Short, Reece Ayers beat out Quinn Devlin (one spot behind Gil at Carlisle), Ed Schrom and eventual Independent State Champion Dustin Wilson in order to grab the gold medal. Zach Hebda and Joe Kush continued to fly across the west, rolling to the victory at Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Chris Campbell unseated Wade Endress from the #1 spot in the Etrain rankings with an emphatic win at the Steel City Invitational. Jacob Kildoo, Tom Trainer and Hatboro Horsham’s Sam Hibbs all added some notable wins as well as the state prepared for championship season.

The most eventful meet of the season was the Tri State Championships at Coopers Lake on October 21^st. Not only did it establish the North Hills monster as a full-grown beast when Silenieks, Hebda and Kush swept the top spots ahead of Wade Endress, but it also shook up the team landscape. With Ryan Gil out due to a toe injury, Baldwin shocked North Allegheny for the team championship. Even if Gil had raced, Baldwin still likely would have won the title. Altoona was third, finishing just behind the Gil-less North Allegheny Tigers. Although their top 4 all placed in the first 20 overall, they didn’t quite have the #5 needed to contend at the highest level.

Meanwhile, on the Eastern part of the state, one program on the rise and one unkillable creature were beginning to ascend. At the Ches-mont Championships, West Chester Henderson made their first PA-soil appearance. After wowing in New Jersey, the defending state champions rolled to a league title with 25 points. Austin Steckliar grabbed the individual gold as well in a very quick 15:53 to defeat 2010 breakout star Quinn Devlin. Two days later, at the famed Belmont Plateau, there was a changing of the guard. O’Hara, who had already made a statement by obliterating the field at Foundation, became PCL champions over LaSalle (the team that shook up the PIAA the prior two years). Chris Garrity led the way with an individual championship of his own, beating Tom Trainer by 15 seconds.

At Districts, these two schools were victorious again. Henderson in particular looked lethal. They won a second straight district title by score 73 points. They finished with 4 in the top 20 and a fifth at 32^nd overall. It was a freshman, Reiny Barchet, who turned the most heads with a fantastic 14^th place finish in 16:05. After three straight easy victories, the defending state champions were the favorites for states.

But North Allegheny did manage to claw back some momentum. The Tigers defeated Baldwin in a rematch, helped in large part by the return of their super star Ryan Gil. The wounded athlete finished an impressive fourth at WPIALs behind the North Hills monster despite a conservative start. He was closing rapidly over the final 1k, indicating he might be able to mix it up for a top three finish at states.

But Gil had missed a lot of time due to training. It was later revealed his toe was broken and he had only transitioned from pool workouts to actual running a couple days before districts. So it was no surprise that on State Championship Saturday, Gil sat back at the start and let the others dictate the terms. At the mile, Gil was in 17^th place. Zach Hebda and Juris Silenieks, two of the favorites, were in the lead spots. Wade Endress followed them as did Chris Campbell, who had just become District One champion, and Alex Izewski of CB East.

Gil’s North Allegheny teammates seemed to take the same approach as he did. The Tigers were in just fourth place at the mile marker and Logan Steiner, the fifth place finisher at both Leagues and Districts, was buried in 71^st place. They consistently relied on him finishing not far behind Gil in order to win the big meets. He had some big ground to make up.

Henderson was first in the standings with 125 points despite the fact that the team didn’t look like they were exerting themselves much. Their top six runners were all within 10 seconds of one another and the pack seemed ready to shine. Altoona was in second, only 10 points back of Henderson. Endress helped the cause with his first position in the team standings, but their top 5 runners were all off to great starts.

Mile two at Hershey is where the race really starts to take shape. The hills have started to take their toll and the ambitious starters have begun to pay for their mistakes. Henderson was still in the lead, boasting a score of 131, but North Allegheny had moved up into second place and now only trailed by 14 points. Logan Steiner had done exactly what he needed to do, moving up to 19^th place and continuing to close. Now it was time for the rest of the pack to make its move. Henderson’s #3 and #4 runners were in 20^th and 31^st respectively. That was still a long ways away for North Allegheny’s corresponding 3-4. Altoona sat in third place in the standings, Endress and Replogle both in medal positions, but Mountain and Lidwell each starting to fade a bit. Patrick Reade was giving a strong performance at the #5 spot.

Baldwin and Cardinal O’Hara, two pre-meet favorites, were starting to sneak into the picture as well. Both teams were still over 200 points in total, but they had moved to 6^th and 5^th in the standings. O’Hara had experience on this course and they could sense the opportunity opening up for pack to make a surge.

Individually, the race was completely wide open. The top runners had all begun to eye each other up as the leaders traded positions. At the two mile split, it was Reece Ayers who had the lead. Ayers had already placed in the top 10 twice at states and this year he wanted a little extra. Jacob Kildoo of Grove City flanked behind him. Then Wade, Juris and Hebda. Gil was in 7^th, Chris Campbell following just behind in 8^th. Then, expertly timing his move, Gil made a surge. His tactical savvy that made him a great racer would not diminish because of stubbed toe. His mind was too sharp. The top five athletes began to break away from the field. Gil, Endress and Kildoo, Hebda and Campbell. Ultimately, the jump that Gil had gotten on his competitors was enough to hold on for the victory. Endress kicked it for second, fighting off the late charges of Hebda and Campbell. Then Kildoo came home to complete an epic 5 runners under 16 minutes on the fabled Hershey hills. It would take some time before this result could be bested.

Logan Steiner crossed the line in 13^th place overall, coming across before any runner from Henderson, Baldwin or O’Hara. North Allegheny’s top two runners had come through. Now it was up to their pack to deliver. Bryan Andrews was Henderson’s first runner across the line, taking 16^th place. Austin Stecklair was next, just two spots outside the medals. Altoona ended up with two runners in the medals as Korey Replogle delivered a 25^th place finish as a junior. That meant three teams had two guys already in the clubhouse, each from a top 3 team at the two-mile standings.

Henderson was excited to see their guy next as Tim Collins crossed in 51^st place. But only two seconds later, Tim Appman of North Allegheny was in the shoot, making up over 15 seconds on Collins in the final mile. With no sign of a third runner for Altoona, it seemed like this race was officially down to two teams. Henderson punched back again with their star freshman Reiny Barchet crossing in 63^rd. There was a full 6 seconds behind him and the Tiger’s #4 man Tyler Nicotra. With four runners in for both sides, the standings showed NA at 75 and Henderson at 82. The Tigers had a small cushion, but the Warriors could still steal it.

While they waited anxiously, O’Hara’s #4 runner crossed the line. Their pack had clearly made up ground, but the firepower outfront wasn’t quite enough to get them in the state title discussion. Baldwin got a third home. Altoona was still looking for their #3.

And then, Mike Meehan, the youngest runner on the North Allegheny varsity squad, came sprinting through traffic. He crossed the line at 17:20 and cemented the title for the Tigers. Meehan finished as the best #5 runner for any team in the state, showing once again that depth is king in cross country. Henderson did just enough to cling to the silver medals as their #6 man from districts, Mike Salach, produced a strong file mile to make sure that O’Hara couldn’t close down on them.

Baldwin finished in 4^th place and Altoona 5^th, both teams swapping their positions from the state championships a year earlier. Just six points separated the two programs this time around. Altoona’s Pat Reade ran a great race to keep his team in the mix and stave off the surprise of the day in Tunkhannock who was just 1 point away from one of the most improbable top 5 finishes in state history.

After a truly gutsy front-running style, the boys from Mount Lebanon took home 7^th place. They had four juniors and two sophomores on their varsity squad, putting them on the short list for favorites in the 2011 addition of the championships.

https://pa.milesplit.com/meets/75921/videos#.XhIDNUc3mUk

The 2010 Season in Review: AA

The 2010 season began as one of the most wide-open years PA had seen and perhaps no race personified this more than the individual competition in AA. With sophomore Aaron Wilkinson’s Valley View team transitioning to AAA for 2010, the top five runners in the AA classification were not returning. Overall, just six of the top 20 guys were back. District 6 runner Alex Woodrow led the returners alongside fellow top 10 finishers Harold Lamour and Nate Tallada.

In Penntrack’s September preview for the upcoming season, they expertly spotted Ryan Smathers as a runner to watch in the season. Smathers was just 49^th the year before at states, but he had shown great potential on the track, running a key leg on North East’s 4x8 and adding a state medal in the 1600. Oh yeah, and he did all that as only a freshman. We didn’t know it at the time, but Smathers and the rest of the Class of 2013 would come to define the small school classification not just in the 2010 season, but for the decade to come.

Team wise, the contest seemed a bit less of a toss-up. Elk Lake, the 2008 state champions (a story for another time, but they won the state championship without a single individual medalist), was returning six of their top seven including returning state medalist Mike Bedell. They also appeared to have strong experience and leadership as five of their six returners were rising seniors. Quaker Valley, who had fallen agonizingly short in their most recent trips to Hershey, seemed like they might have missed their window, but with a returning medalist in Nat Fox and real wild card in track star LJ Westwood, there was hope to hoist it open at least a little longer. Holy Redeemer, another District 2 team, also had some potential, returning three scorers from the fourth place team in AA.

A bit further down the list was a wildcard squad from District 4. NE Bradford had finished 7^th in 2009, but they returned their entire scoring 5. The pack included three rising seniors and a pair of soon to be 10^th graders: Sam Williams and Curt Jewett.

When the 2010 season began, we didn’t have to wait long to see the big names race. Nate Tallada of Saegertown outlasted Ryan Samthers by six seconds to win the McDowell Invitational and throw down a statement performance. Meanwhile, NE Bradford absolutely smashed their competition at the Cliff Robbins Invitational. Although their 6^th and 7^th runners each ran above 25 minutes, they put 4 runners in the top 10 overall and scored 54 points to beat AAA Dallas (91) and Holy Redeemer (122).

Elk Lake opened up a week later against stiff AAA competition at the Gettysburg Invitational. They finished 6^th, scoring 263 points, led by Mike Bedell’s 7^th place finish. It was a respectable result from the small school, but with the exception of Bedell, their returning varsity runners were outside the top 50 scorers overall. The bright spot was yet another talented member of the sophomore class. Luke Jones made the most of his opportunity with the first stringers and took home 18^th place.

Although Elk Lake could not best the top AAA programs, another AA athlete had better luck. Trinity’s Tommy Gruschow stormed across the course to run 16:05 and take home the gold medal. In the process, Grow knocked off two returning AA state medalists in Bedell and Kutztown’s Nate Noll. Previously more of a track athlete, Gruschow announced he was ready for the hills in Cross Country.

The Foundation meet at the end of September always serves as a great midseason test for state title hopefuls. After Nate Tallada added two more invite victories at Big Red and Penn St Behrend, he entered the meet with some serious confidence. Here, he would get the chance to take on Slippery Rock winner and top state meet returner Alex Woodrow. The two did not disappoint, but men found themselves at the front of the race early and never looked back. Tallada ultimately crossed the line first in a time of 16:54, topping Woodrow by just three seconds.

In the team battle, the story was once again Northeast Bradford. This time, the two sophomores took over the top spots on their team. Curt Jewett ran an aggressive race, staying with the leaders through the halfway point before slipping back to a distant third. Sam Williams added a sixth place finish behind him with Kent Upham and Jake Balchikonis also finishing in the top 15. Ultimately, NEB put up 66 points, almost half of the next closest team, which was once again Holy Redeemer. Redeemer, led by AJ Limongelli (7^th), had a formidable first three, but could not ultimately match the back end of the scoring from their opposition.

Around the state, other top invitationals were ongoing. Gettysburg champion Tommy Gruschow raced in the Carlisle Challenge race and could not match his feats of a few weeks earlier. The Trinity senior finished 31^st while his former vanquished foe Nate Noll turned in a faster time while nabbing the silver medal in the less competitive Champions race. It seemed like Noll had found his footing and would usurp Gruschow on his way back to the top spot in District 3.

Meanwhile, Elk Lake found themselves against a capable AAA field. This time, it was at the prestigious Paul Short Invitational. On this occasion, the Elk Lake boys seemed better adjusted to the big stage and they raced to 11^th in the final standings. They scored the same amount of points as Hempfield, the team that had previously dominated them at Gettysburg. Behind Bedell and Jones, it was senior Jeff Horvath who delivered the best race of the day for the team in the #3 spot, running 17:20.

Still Elk Lake had to feel much the under dog to NE Bradford. The District 4 squad absolutely rolled through the McQuaid Invitational where Sam Williams clocked a brilliant 15:30 time to finish #1 out of PA athletes. Bradford had 4 guys at 16:05 or faster on the three-mile layout as PA’s AA contingent represented very well. Harley Thompson of Elk County Catholic (15:41), Ryan Smathers of North East (15:43) and Curt Jewett (15:44) all turned in monster results. Bradford picked up yet another invitational win, scoring 93 points with 4 in the top 20.

The run up to championship season saw a few more notable performances. Springfield’s John Trueman looked fantastic at the William Tennent Invitational, running 16:15 to best a crop of AAA District 1 standouts. Nate Tallada and Alex Woodrow were victorious two more times, with Tallada’s first win coming against Harley Thompson, one of the breakout stars of the McQuaid Invite. Out west, Quaker Valley started to come into form with an excellent victory at the MAC XC Championships, posting just 30 points against some strong AAA competition.

While Tallada and NE Bradford had earned the title of favorite, District Week would likely serve as the chance for pundits to determine exactly who would be their best competition. One of the more intriguing individual matchups came right at the beginning in District 3. Tommy Gruschow and Nate Noll went head to head on a modified version of the Hershey course and it was Gruschow who won threw down an emphatic victory, winning by 21 seconds over Noll. The entire winning margin came in the second half of the race.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Elk Lake was hoping to lock up a district title on their home course. The preseason title favorites seemed to have things under control as sophomore Luke Jones dominated Holy Redeemer front man AJ Limongelli by 17 seconds for district gold. Sean Carney then followed up with his best race of the season, finishing 5^th and beating out Redeemer’s Mitchel Ford by a spot. However, Mike Bedell, the team’s catalyst all season, did not finish the race. As a result, Elk Lake was missing a key scorer and the results reflected it. They finished second, 21 points back of Redeemer and just 13 points of Holy Cross, narrowly avoiding missing out on the championships all together.

Around the rest of the state, things held more to form. Harley Thompson, Alex Woodrow and John Trueman all handled their district meets comfortably. Although Nate Tallada got all he could handle from Ryan Smathers, he too emerged as District champion. Harold Lamour of Engineering and Science, the #2 returner from last year’s state meet, posted a dominate victory in his first appearance of the season at District 12, winning by 30 seconds. Brendan Shearn was the victor in District 11 (yet another sophomore) and Joel Christian rounded things out by taking the title in District 4.

But with Elk Lake faltering at their district meet, the biggest story would be who would rise to take their place. NE Bradford did what they had done all season, they dominated the district and posted just 53 points. What was much more interesting to people was the rise of Quaker Valley. QV had won the D7 title each of the prior two seasons with 41 points and 47 points. Those type of performances, within a district that was far from a cake walk, had been enough to make them state title favorites. By all indications, this year’s team was not supposed to be in that league after the hit they took from graduation. And it turns out they weren’t. They were better.

On race day, Quaker Valley scored a mind-numbing 25 points within the 37 team field. All five of their scorers finished in the top 10 overall, led by LJ Westwood’s district championship run. The remaining scorers (Roy Hadfield, Nat Fox, Matt Cooper and Jack McGarry) were all either a sophomore or a junior. This team was doing things the older kids could only dream of and now, suddenly, they looked like an unstoppable force ready to steal the state championship that had narrowly alluded them each of the previous two seasons.

When we reached State Championship Saturday, Quaker Valley had become the clear state title favorites. After taking back to back silver medals in Hershey, this seemed like it would finally be their moment to sport gold. However, the individual race seemed much more unclear. Yes, Nate Tallada had proven himself admirably throughout the season, but the junior would likely get all he could handle from his fellow district champions.

Yet, after the gun sounded, it was someone within his district who made the first move. Ryan Smathers, the sophomore from North East, fearlessly went to the front and dared his competition to come with him. The hot pace left some of the top runners in a tricky place. You had to balance running within yourself with making sure you didn’t get buried in the narrow start. Woodrow, Trueman and Tallada all decided to settle in just behind the ambitious sophomore while Gruschow, Jones, Lamour, Thompson and Westwood all sagged back. I fact, Quaker Valley layed off the hot pace in general, coming through the mile standings in fifth place. Elk Lake, with a strong looking Mike Bedell, were out hard and in second. But Northeast Bradford and their formidable foursome were leading the charge.

As the runners approached mile two, the story continued to be the Same. Smathers had actually opened up slightly by this point in the race with a two second lead over Trueman. The fast opening clip had left many on their heels as Tallada slipped to fifth and Woodrow to seventh, neither looking like they had a big surge in them to fight back. But Tommy Gruschow, lurking in fourth, took the hills quite well and, confident in his speed, waited for the opportunity to strike.

Quaker Valley had spent much of the first part of the race waiting to strike and, two miles into the race, it seemed like they may have waited too long. The core that had dominated the WPIAL championships was buried among the pack as Nat Fox and Jack McGarry found themselves outside the top 90 overall with barely a mile to make up ground. They were a distant 5^th as Northeast Bradford and Elk Lake continued to assert their dominance.

Elk Lake was cutting into Northeast Bradford’s lead, now just six points back. Bedell and Jones were leading the charge, but the pack was running the best they had all season. Sean Carney was lurking around the medal spots as the best #3 guy in the field and Will Bennett, the team’s #5, was within 7 seconds of Bradford’s #5 man. Would he be the x-factor they needed to close the gap?

But as they neared the finish, it seemed the story would not be who could close the gap, but who could hang on. The brutal early pace was taking its toll on many of the top runners. Quaker Valley, who had waiting so long to time their surge to the finish line, finally began to smell blood in the water as their team surged up the standings. For Northeast Bradford, Kent Upham, one of their fantastic four, began to tire and slip back down the standings. For Elk Lake, it was Will Bennett, a consistently reliable scorer, who began to falter.

At the front of the race, the individual battle was seeing a big shake up as well. Tommy Gruschow had taken over from Ryan Smathers and was now minutes away from a state championship. Yet as he made his way through the final stretch, the crowd was cheering furiously, letting him know that the race was far from over. As the intensity ramped up, it was revealed that it was not one of the district champions coming to hawk him down, but instead District 2 runner up AJ Limongelli of Holy Redeemer. Limongelli had been consistently solid all year, but he had not yet worked his name into the state title discussion. On the final straightaway, he saw his chance and poured out everything he had to go get Gruschow.

In the final moments, Tommy unleashed his potent kick and stormed home for a one second victory. His final time was 16:30. After Gruschow and Limongelli, Harley Thompson was the next to come home in 16:40 with Joel Christian and Ryan Smathers rounding out the top five. Smathers led a group of six sophomore medalists including Sam Williams and Curt Jewett from Northeast Bradford as well as Luke Jones from Elk Lake. Quaker Valley’s top sophomore, Roy Hadfield, was just off the medal stand in 34^th.

Although Quaker Valley made a valiant push, led by LJ Westwood’s top 10 finish, it was clear that the boys would once again be denied a state championship. Elk Lake and Northeast Bradford, despite some slippage in the races final stages, seemed as though they had done enough to take the podium spots. The only question was what order.

Initially, the math said the Northeast Bradford had managed to hold on and win the State Championship by one single point. But further review of the tap revealed something tragic. Northeast Bradford’s number three runner, Jake Balchikonis had impeded another runner at the finish line. Officials reviewed the tape very carefully and ultimately decided to disqualify Balchikonis, a result which completely transformed the meet. Not only did this make Elk Lake the champions, it also elevated their district mates Holy Redeemer into the runner-up position. Northeast Bradford was relegated back to 8^th place in the standings as what was initially a 16^-point team score became a 157 score.

Depth ultimately proved to be a big factor for Elk Lake. Will Bennett didn’t have his best day at this meet and they needed one of their six-seven guys to step up. The man who did it was senior Bryan Grosvenor who surged up 16 places in the last mile. Grosvenor and #4 runner Jeff Horvath combined to cut 21 points off their team scores in the last 1.1. Not only that, but Elk Lake also put three runners on the medal stand in Mike Bedell (7^th), Luke Jones (17^th) and Sean Carney (24^th).

https://pa.milesplit.com/meets/75921/videos#.XhIDNUc3mUk