The Most Underappreciated Runner This Decade?

In the late 2000s, District 10 was the powerhouse of AA distance running. In 2007, North East stormed the state to an XC championship before following it up with a 4x800 title. The next XC season, District 10 took 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 9^th individually at States. The 9^th place finisher, who had been their district champion, went on to run 4:10 and 1:52 at the same state championship as Sam Havko finished faster than the AAA winner in both contests.

Watching these runners rise to success was Saegertown freshman Nate Tallada. Running at a small school within the district, Tallada first turned heads his freshman season when he won the Penn State Behrend Invitational. Then, against a loaded field, Tallada took 5^th at the 2008 Sharpsville Invite in a time of 16:21. Although Tallada was 6^th at the D10 championships that year, the unbelievable depth at Buhl Park was made evident when he finished 12^th at states a week later. Overall, it was one of the most impressive freshman campaigns the district had seen.

A year later, Tallada returned to the trails with that extra bit of strength and experience. Most of the D10 talent had graduated in front of him, but one large threat remained. Alex Beardsley of fabled North East was the top returner in AA and proved his potential immediately with a win at Foundation and a sub-16 mark at Sharpsville. Tallada put up a valiant fight against Beardsley, but ultimately finished a distant second.

But Tallada would get a rematch at the District Championships. Going head to head with the state title favorite, Tallada pulled off a fantastic upset and defeated Beardsley for the surprise district title. Conditions, as they often were, were sloppy at Buhl Park, but the gold medal is not awarded based on fast times. With the victory under his arm, Tallada entered the state championship looking to better his top 12 finish from the prior year. Given his success against one of the state’s best at Districts, it wasn’t crazy to think he could challenge for a spot in the top 5. Perhaps even win the title.

On race day in Hershey it seemed he was perhaps a year away. The Saegertown sophomore was in 7^th at two miles and in the mix with the lead pack, but ultimately ended up in 10^th at the finish. He ended the day as the #4 returner in the state and would end up elevated to the #3 spot when fellow sophomore Aaron Wilkinson was elevated to AAA the following fall.

Tallada had likely been dreaming bigger than a 10^th place finish at states after the win at districts, but the fire was really lit inside him after the 2010 track state championships. Tallada ran a phenomenal race at Shippensburg, dropping a 4:25 1600 in the trials. Typically, that kind of time not only gets you into the finals, but in contention for a medal. However, Tallada’s time was not fast enough to advance him to the state finals. Mike Bedell, who finished one spot ahead of him in his heat, claimed the last finals spot.

One of the breakout stars of that 1600 final was North East freshman Ryan Smathers. After delivering a fantastic leg on the team’s 4x8, Smathers placed sixth in the state championship final as a 9^th grader. This drew the eyes of many runner fans and made Smathers a hot sleeper pick in what was shaping up to be a wide open 2010 XC State Championship battle.

Somehow, everyone was overlooking the defending district champion. But Tallada wouldn’t have to wait long to remind people about his talent. Nate began his junior season with his best ever performance at the McDowell Invitational where he defeated Smathers to take the gold medal. Then he won the Big Red Invitational before traveling to the PIAA’s Foundation Invite and handling a loaded field of title hopefuls. In a matter of moments, the narrative had shifted back toward Tallada and the junior was ready to put the state on notice.

After wins at Rocky Grove and the D10 Region 3 meet, Tallada ran his best ever time on Buhl Park by outdueling Smathers for a second straight District 10 title. His time of 16:11 was just enough to slip by the speedster Smathers who finished at 16:13. Things were setting up perfectly for redemption in Hershey.

When the runners began to traverse the Parkview layout, Tallada followed a familiar foe. Ryan Smathers stormed aggressively to the start and put the pressure on his opponents. The sophomore led through two miles in a blistering pace and dared anyone to follow. Tallada was following at a safe distance, running within the pack. He was 4^th at the mile and 5^th at two-miles, but seemingly well within himself among the pack of standouts. As Smathers began to fade, the door opened for Tallada to grab his title.

But disaster struck. Sometimes the legs don’t cooperate with the mind, especially on the Hershey hills. Leaving the back part of the course, Tallada struggled to hang on to his position and in a devastating turn, the state title hopeful drifted all the way back to 19^th in the final standings. Tommy Gruschow of Trinity ended up the champion as District 3 had knocked off the D10 powerhouses for a 3^rd straight season.

After a trip to the Footlocker Regional meet, another season was in the books for the Saegertown standout. Now only one was left. Still, Nate was a two-time district champion with a plethora of big race victories. He’d be back and he’d be a contender once again. But some of the swagger Tallada had during his early years in high school had faded a bit.

The 2011 XC season started very slow for Tallada. He was not among the early contenders for state gold and, in fact, he was not even the best runner on his own team. Hunter Johnston, a junior from Saegertown, came storming out the gates with a 16:01 time at the Red, White and Blue Invitational. Tallada was just 31^st in that race and 11^th at McDowell.

But Nate would eventually reignite the spark. He had decided to pace himself this season and try to save his best running for the end of the year. Things began to click at the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Invite, where Tallada ran a blistering sub 16 time. He finished 4^th, competing valiantly with three of the top competitors in the Pittsburgh Area (Ean DiSilvio, Mike Runco and Alex Moran).

Shortly thereafter Tallada claimed his fourth straight D10 Region 3 title with a 16:09 at Dempseytown, easily his fastest performance in this meet over the course of his career. This set him up for a return to Buhl Park and yet another showdown with a top runner from North East. Ryan Smathers was waiting anxiously for Tallada, trying to reclaim the D10 title for his high school.

Conditions were terrible and there was even discussion about changing the race to a road race. But Tallada thrives on this stuff. He had won in slow conditions as a sophomore and he was ready to handle them again today. Smathers and Maplewood sophomore Jeremy Parsons took the race out hard as Tallada waited, running the early mile behind Hunter Johnston. But as the race progressed, Tallada sensed the moment and surged at the right time, putting away his competition for a third straight title.

Tallada’s three year stretch of district championships is not unprecedented, but it’s incredibly rare, especially in a district like this 10. Conditions are unpredictable in late October and no three year stretch is without some type of madness on the course. It not only takes a unique physical talent to defeat the depth of small schools in the district, but it takes a sharp mental state to bring your best stuff regardless of the conditions.

Although Tallada had once dreamed of state gold, it was not meant to be. The 2011 season in AA proved to be the year of the up and coming talent. Brendan Shearn led a buzz-saw of juniors across the Hershey Hills and into the shoot. Nate, instead, ran his own race and it ended up working out pretty well. Tallada finished in 9^th position, his best ever finish at Hershey. His time of 16:45 was almost 20 seconds better than the time he ran to finish 10^th two years earlier. It was just a different class of talent in AA in 2011.

The career of Nate Tallada may end up forgotten, especially considering the era of AA talent that followed immediately on the heels of his epic peak. But Nate was truly a phenomenal runner and one of the best runners that District 10 has seen.

A few years later, Saegertown finally got to see that state gold. The freshman and sophomores on the team that Tallada captained saw first hand what it took to be the best and eventually rose to the tops of class A in 2013 with one of the most impressive state championship victories of any classification. But we’ll get to that.

https://www.meadvilletribune.com/sports/tallada-again-top-boys-runner/article_67073494-57fc-5f59-86eb-10fde46266d2.html

Throwback Thursday: Etrain Not Picking Magaha

The year 2011 was right around the time that I started to pick up some momentum with my prior blog and I transitioned away from small shorter posts and into more "article" type stuff. I wasn't quite as polished or well researched as I ended up being in the later years, but it's fun to see those moments when I began to try and branch out. Here was one of my first big analysis pieces prior to the 2011 championships ....

etrain Not Picking Magaha

10/31/2011

http://etrain11.blogspot.com/2011/10/etrain-not-picking-magaha.html

Yes, I am aware that I just refered to myself in the third person which is kinda toolish, but hopefully it doesn't discourage anyone from reading the post.

As the title suggests, I will not be picking Drew Magaha to win the state championship in my official predictions (which will go up one I've seen the D6 Championship results just to make sure that Mountain hasn't gotten injured or that Patrick Reade hasn't secretly taken steroids and become a boss or something like that). So since I have not picked Magaha, the clear favorite in my opinion, and the choice of many to win thus far in my talks and reading, warrants some explanation. So let's begin.

First off let me say a few things about Drew that can not be denied:

1. In the past month no one has touched him. He has dominated every field he has faced in very fast times. Districts wasn't even close.

2. If I was in a fantasy draft, he'd have to be my #1 pick. I have a lot of reasons to think he won't win, but the upside that he has is huge.

3. He ran a 4:07 1600 as a Junior with a huge negative split for the last 400m. He is extremely talented.

4. He can run hills, he had a solid finish at the Pre States meet and he rocked the Salesianum Invite which is no cake walk.

BUT, I am not picking Drew to win states this Saturday. Which begs the question, why?

Well for starters: history. What Drew did last spring season was re-write the history books, so I'm not saying he can't do it again, but an individual who has never before medaled at a cross country state championship has not won states in about a decade (Dan Mazzacco, Baldwin in either 01 or 02 I can't remember). Mazzacco easily could have been a medalist his Junior year considering he was a top finisher at the District 7 championships the week before states and established cross country name.

Since Dan there have been a boat load of guys who have been close to accomplishing the feat (Keith Cappecci, Ben Furcht, Rad Gunzenhauser, Charles Lockwood, Bud Plaszenski, Neal Berman, Zach Hebda, Greg Karies, etc.) but none of them have actually pulled it out. In fact the past couple years the state champions have been big names that are amongst the top returners from the previous season. Miller, Miller, Miller, Weller, Dennin, Tarsnane, Miles and Gil all finished in the top 10 the year before they won the state championship. Magaha finished 127th last season at states and 81st as a sophomore. There is a certain level of experience that I feel is required to run on the big stage, in a big race and have the confidence to know how to win. I'm not sure if Drew has that experience based on his previous finishes at states.

It's undeniable Drew is the favorite, most District One Champions are, but in Cross Country, unlike track, upsets aren't just more frequent, they have become increasingly likely. In the past 5 years the "favorite" going into the state championships has won just once (Brad Miles). In addition the District One Champion has one just once since Ian Gottesfield did in the early turn of the century (same guy, Brad Miles). Guys like Furcht and Hebda have gone on to prove they were the best runner in their year in PA by making Footlockers, however, they don't have any state gold to show off.

One of my other big questions about Drew is his attitude. Drew is obviously a fierce track competitor, he runs hard and he runs gutsy, how else could he unleash the kicks that he has on the field. However, Drew does have a tendency to sometimes mentally fall out of races (indoor states in the mile and the 8, the outdoor 800) which isn't too big of a deal, but there is evidence to suggest the mindset is there.

But it's more than just the occasional lack of being able to double that concerns me about Magaha's attitude. First of all, Magaha does not put in the mileage that the other top guys do. There is reason to suspect based on his recent interviews that he has been down in the 30s for the past few weeks, looking to ride his peak to states. He hasn't even been pushed in a race since Salesianum and has raced in the best conditions out of any of the top guys in the past few weeks. At states, I don't expect the weather to be nice.

Lastly, Magaha himself has said this season his not all his main focus. He has confessed he is a track guy and is just using this season to "show college coaches he can do it".

So after almost a month of not being pushed and racing quite all out at flatter courses, being at low mileage, and having the mental attitude about cross country he has had, I don't think Magaha will have the same edge that the other top runners will have coming into the race. If Magaha comes in expecting things to be easy on the Hershey course and doesn't have his day, he will be vulnerable and he may lose.

These historically tendencies and Drew's recent interviews, races, and training cycle are enough for me to hop onto another bandwagon for the championship meet. Could Drew win? Oh, definitely, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, but, in my opinion, the same can be said for him losing.

That's what makes the state championships so interesting I suppose.

As the expression goes, It's kind of like a box of chocolates. You never know who is going to have the race of their life and pull out the victory.

Or something like that.

-train

Throw Back Thursday: The Upset

Look, I don't love dwelling on this, but it was a crazy story and its something a lot of people have written about. North Penn's State Title was not just an upset, but something that basically no one could have seen coming. Penntrack actually wrote two different things about it (linked below) and I was still talking about the state title in 2016 on my blog. So take a trip with us back to the moment when the team trophies were decided.

https://pa.milesplit.com/articles/75769#northpenn

https://pa.milesplit.com/articles/75786#tieshappen

Team Titles Revisited
8/23/2016

https://therealtrain.blogspot.com/2016/08/state-team-titles-revisited-2011.html

In 2011, Cardinal O’Hara established themselves as a championship contender from essentially day one. The boys surged to impressive wins at Briarwood over powerhouses North Penn and LaSalle then they traveled to Foundation where they defeated Mount Lebanon, the #1 contender in most people’s eyes to that point. In my October 11th rankings, I wrote, “Only thing I can find that concerns me is that if a guy gets hurt in their top 5 they don’t have much of a 6/7 that I have seen to come save the day. We will see, but definitely #1 team.” Arguably the most impressive performance (despite the fact that it was a quick course), came when O’Hara traveled out of state. At Great American they placed 4 runners under 16 minutes (including freshman Kevin James) and had 6 runners at 16:16 or faster. That seemed to answer the few remaining doubters.

The remaining top five teams in those mid-season rankings were, in order, Mount Lebanon, North Allegheny, Henderson and North Penn. I had a hard time letting go of the North Penn Knights writing, “They were my pick to win Districts and I am really having a hard time letting go of that (they are still my pick to win by the way, I don’t back out of things I say very easily, I’m just stubborn like that).” Of course that point would be smashed just a few weeks later as West Chester Henderson threw down a monster performance at Lehigh for the District Championships. With a top 3 of all sophomores (and none were arguably their most talented soph, 2010’s #1 frosh in the state Reiny Barchet who was injured) Henderson scored just 89 points and defeated North Penn by 66 points. In fact, North Penn wasn’t even the 2nd place team as Great Valley (who had sophomores at #2 and #3) stormed ahead of them by seven points behind a second place overall finish from Ned Willig.

But the bigger upset happened in the WPIAL. Mount Lebanon, one of the preseason favorites for gold in the state was hoping to end North Allegheny’s title streak in District 7. NA, who had won state gold the previous season but graduated the majority of their core, was beaten soundly at Tri States and seemed like the underdog. However, thanks in part to some wild weather on race day (no one broke 17), NA pulled off a big upset and smashed the competition, winning 50 to 115. Their #2 and #3 runners were a sophomore and a freshman respectively.

The wacky circumstances threw the state into flux heading into the state championships. Could North Allegheny or West Chester Henderson, the state’s previous two state champs, muster up one more big race and usurp Cardinal O’Hara? Or would the PCL finally get the state title they had been chasing since joining the PIAA in 2008?

As of October 31st, 2011 (the Monday after Districts), I posted up my predictions for the team race. I had O’Hara at the #1 spot, North Allegheny at the #2, and North Penn at the #7. In my mind, O’Hara was a big favorite. North Allegheny was getting some love as a sleeper team as well as they really started to turn it on at the right time (again). North Penn, who had won state titles in 2007 and 2008, was no relegated to an afterthought. Even Dan Davis, one of the team’s senior leaders, said this in an interview with our site, “Coach Werner and assistant Coach Hertz were having doubts about winning this state meet because of our position and other teams’ rankings and previous performances at bigger meets. Coach Werner told my dad that he hopes to at least pull away with a fourth place.”

Interestingly, the theme of the meet was certainly youth. As mentioned, all the competitive squads had young guys in key slots. O’Hara featured a frosh at the #5 spot and were almost exclusively juniors at the other spots. I mentioned North Allegheny, Henderson and Great Valley’s incredible youth, but it’s important to remember North Penn’s #4 and #5 runners were also just sophomores. Lebo had Patrick Quirk, a sophomore, contributing in a critical role as well although their projected top three were all seniors. How would all the young runners handle the difficult Hershey hills?

It was a wild day on November 5th, 2011. In the individual race, Conner Quinn of Hatboro Horsham pulled off one of the most unlikely wins in the last decade when he stunned guys like Drew Magaha, Logan Steiner, teammate Sam Hibbs and more to become the first junior to grab state gold since Craig Miller in 2004. But somehow the team title would be decided in an even more surprising turn of events.

At the mile mark, O’Hara got out fast as expected. They had 95 points and six runners under five minutes. But surprisingly, North Penn was keeping pace with them. The Knights got out very well and had 98 points, three less than O’Hara. A newcomer to the varsity squad, Hunter Hill, was out as their #4 runner in 4:57 and 50th overall. The bold early pace buried some early contenders as well. North Allegheny sat back in 6th place through the mile with 217 points and just two runners under five minutes. Their inexperienced duo of Luoco and Seel were their 6th and 7th men and were outside the top 150 overall. Great Valley had been even more conservative and were 13th through the mile with 341 points.

Unfortunately, 2 mile splits weren’t available for this race as they would have likely told a compelling story. But we do know that, by the finish, the fast pace had taken its toll on many of the runners. Holy Ghost Prep, who was in 3rd place at the mile, slipped back to 10th in the standings and all the teams were over 100 points overall. As the runners filed in, it looked like O’Hara had done enough to take gold. They placed 4 runners in the top 50 overall (top 25 of team scoring).

North Penn had surprised with three of their own in the top 50, including an impressive breakthrough for Junior Jack Macauley who bounced back from a 22nd finish at districts to take 17th at states. But their #4 runner was 20 seconds back of O’Hara’s and none of their top 3 had beaten the corresponding top 3 member of the opposition.

North Allegheny placed two runners in the medals and Lebo’s top two were both in the top 30. The squads were battling for position throughout the finish as Roddy-Seel-Quirk finished all in a row at 17:24 with Bojarski at 17:23 as well. Henderson had two strong runs by their lead sophomores, but finished without a state medalist in a rare turn of events. Each team had their fair share of flaws that likely meant they would not finish with the title.

But O’Hara’s #5 ended up back in the field farther than expected and it opened the door for a surprise. In a relatively unprecedented sequence O’Hara’s #4 and #5 were separated by 53 seconds. North Penn sophomores Ryan Grace and Matt Molloy stepped up big time in the mad dash for the 4-5 spots and finished 78th and 82nd overall. That was better than all but 2 of Henderson’s runners and a big step up from their 52nd and 53rd place finishes at Districts just a week earlier. Their finishes bridged the gap back to O’Hara and, when they examined the scorecard, the teams were exactly tied at 132 points. North Allegheny was just 12 points back in 3rd and Lebo finished 21 points away in 4th.

The tie-breaker in XC is the position of each team’s 6th runner. That was Hunter Hill for North Penn, who, after a JV race the previous week, went out hard at the state final and held on to be just 13 seconds ahead of Christian Ostrowski of O’Hara and clinch the victory for the Knights. It was their 3rd state title in 5 years and proved that every second truly does count.

There was definitely some heartbreak for the other teams. Kevin James, O’Hara’s 5th, didn’t have his best day on race day, but ended up giving O’Hara one or two (or like sixty) high quality races including a state championship anchor leg and an 8:57 3200. So he turned out alright. And the majority of the team came back in 2012 and delivered with a 5th place finish at nationals.

And that Henderson team that ended up having an off day? They turned out alright as well. They ended up grabbing back to back titles in 2012 and 2013 led by a couple of those super sophomores we were talking about before.


And Great Valley? Well varsity member Garrett Zatlin ended up becoming a writer for this blog. So, yeah, I guess things didn’t get any better for him. But you can’t win them all.

The 2011 Season in Review: AAA

In 2010, the WPIAL grabbed the individual gold for the first time since the beginning of the previous decade. A year later, most projected the title would shift back to the perennial power of District 1. Heading the list of returners was Hatboro Horsham’s Sam Hibbs. The rising senior was the top returner from the prior year’s state meet (7^th) and was the top sophomore in 2009 (12^th). His track season was excellent, including a state medal in the 3200.

But as can often be the case, fans were much more excited about other rising stars from the track season. Drew Magaha of Upper Moreland had lit the state on fire with a 4:07.32 record setting performance at Shippensburg, breaking a record that belonged to three-time XC state champ Craig Miller. Magaha had never been a state medalist in XC, but he had shown flashes of potential, including two top 20 finishes in District 1 and two SOL American League championships. The other track stars who turned heads were Alex Moran (4:14 miler) and Ned Willig (4:11 for 1600).

North Allegheny’s hope to keep the title in house was Logan Steiner, the #2 returner from the prior year’s championships (finished 13^th). After the four year stretch the Tigers put together, Steiner and his teammates garnered a large amount of preseason respect. Regardless of how things looked on paper, this program had proven they would produce contenders. PTXC ranked the defending state champions #1 in their preseason rankings.

O’Hara (3^rd the prior year, returned 4 of 5) and Henderson (2^nd, returned runners 4 through 7 from states) were also ranked in the top 3 overall. O’Hara had lost their #1 runner and state medalist Chris Garrity, but the pack component of their team was still there. Henderson was much more of a wildcard. Like NA, they had a reputation that got them a lot of love in the rankings. But the Warriors lost their first 3 runners from states and we would eventually learn that their #4 runner, freshman standout Reiny Barchet, was going to miss the entire season due to injury.

I personally liked the upside for North Penn. Although they had finished just 12^th at states, they returned their entire scoring five from states including two rising juniors and a rising sophomore. This Knights squad had also finished second at districts behind eventual state runner-ups Henderson and had a recent championship history, winning states in both 2007 and 2008.

Despite my excitement about North Penn, other emerging teams quickly made us forget about their upside. North Penn’s major invite debut came at Briarwood when they went head to head with PCL champs Cardinal O’Hara. Although O’Hara had home turf, they left little doubt who the better team was. Dropping 48 points, O’Hara easily knocked off North Penn (93) and put 5 guys in the top 14 overall. Junior Dan Savage led the way with a real breakout run, dropping a 16:09 and finishing in 3^rd overall.

Meanwhile, at the Red, White and Blue Invitational, Mount Lebanon scored 83 points to defeat North Allegheny at the West’s first major invitational. The Tigers had just two top 20 finishers and Lebo’s front running proved to be the difference with Alex Moran, Lawton Tellin and Kevin Tramaglini leading the charge. That victory, combined with a 15 point performance at Marty Uher, was enough to catapult Lebo to #1 in the PTXC rankings.

But Mount Lebanon wasn’t the only surprise at RWB. Grove City’s Dan Jaskowak, who had just squeaked into the state’s top 50 in 2010, entered the race as something of a nobody compared to the WPIAL talent around him. But the junior not only won the race, he scorched the trails to the tune of 15:24. A state title contender had just emerged from obscurity, a sign of what was to come in the 2011 Cross Country season.

Although the Jaskowak emergence was quite jaw dropping, Sam Hibbs was still the clear favorite through the early weeks of September. The senior started his season with three straight emphatic wins. The first came at Viking before he won at Centaur and then the non-championship section of Briarwood. His teammate, junior Conner Quinn, was just within a shadow’s length in each of the races.

Toward the end of the month, almost all of the early favorites converged on Hershey Parkview for the Foundation Invitational. Hibbs and Quinn would lead the individual match-up while O’Hara and Mount Lebanon would vie for team supremacy.

As expected, Hibbs took the individual title. Pennsbury junior Connor Harriman split up the Hatboro Horsham sweep in second. Interestingly, Drew Magaha, the track standout, took 4^th in the standings. He started conservatively in the early part of the race before moving up to 4^th overall, just 2 seconds back of Quinn and 9 seconds back of Hibbs.

The front-runners for Mount Lebanon and O’Hara took 6^th and 7^th in the final standings respectively. Although Moran outlasted Savage, it was O’Hara that won the team title. The final standings just titled O’Hara’s way with a score of 79 to 85. Lebo had the front-running to win but O’Hara’s pack was absolutely spectacular. Although O’Hara’s senior leader Mike Bilotta had a sub-par race in 20^th, his teammates stepped up around him. Junior Chris Pastore was 12^th overall and freshman Kevin James, running in his first major invitational, snagged 19^th. James and #5 man Ernie Pitone (21^st) were both new to the scoring line-up for O’Hara.

Up the road at Carlisle, the defending state champions from North Allegheny were taking to the course. Compared to the previously stacked fields at Carlisle, the 2011 race lacked a bit of fire power. So, despite a convincing 76-155 victory over LaSalle, it felt like the Tigers were missing out on the real fight. The good news was their front running was gaining steam. Steiner took 5^th overall and teammate Tim Appman added a top 10 finish of his own. Their 3 through 7 pack included two freshman and a sophomore. And of course, in typical North Allegheny fashion, the Tigers swept the first 7 spots in the JV race.

Individually, the race was won by AA standout Brendan Shearn, but the top AAA spots were both a bit of a surprise. Tom Coyle of LaSalle had finished 2^nd overall and Mike Runco of Pittsburgh Central Catholic was 3^rd. Neither had any top 50 finishes in XC, but both guys had shown flashes of brilliance on the track. Particularly impressive had been Coyle, who had split a 1:54 at the Penn Relays as a sophomore. He had a clear flare for the big moment and would be interesting to watch against O’Hara in the PCL postseason.

The last major invite of September was Paul Short. The team title went handily to LaSalle who defeated, among others, a preaseason darling in District One’s Great Valley. While Independent Leaguer Dustin Wilson dominated individually, the race did prove to be a breakout opportunity for Harriton junior Max Norris. Norris was the only non-Wilson runner to crack 16 minutes and knocked off the top two runners from Carlisle in Shearn (3^rd) and Coyle (7^th). Two defending AAA state medalists also made cases that they belonged in the top 5 discussion for states as Korey Replogle of Altoona and Aaron Wilkinson of Valley View each cracked the top 5 overall.

But October is ultimately where the picture stars to come into focus. And man did October start with a bang. O’Hara entered the Race of Champions at the Fabled Great American Cross Country Festival and absolutely rolled. The PA boys represented the state admirably with a 1^st place team finish. Dan Savage cooked a 15:32 and three other O’Hara runners dipped under 16 with a 5^th at 16:01.

The same day, in two other states that were not Pennsylvania, more drama unfolded. In Delaware, Sam Hibbs and Conner Quinn lined up for the Salesinaum Invitational on the ultra-hilly Brandywine course. A few feet away was Upper Moreland’s lurking monster Drew Magaha. And the monster hit his stride at the right time. With an unbelievable display of hilly running prowess, Magaha didn’t just win against PIAA #1 Hibbs, he opened up a 16 second gap with an all-time great Salesianum performance of 16:22. The victory sent shock waves through the state as the superstar miler looked like he may have finally cracked the code on Cross Country.

In New Jersey, the always exciting Henderson boys toed the line for the first time in a while. Led by breakout star sophomore Tony Russell, Henderson placed a narrow 3^rd at one of the state’s most competitive invites. Henderson averaged 16:51 on a very difficult layout and scored 82 points with three sophomores in their top five.

The big question entering league championship season was would the surprising results of early October hold or prove to be flukes? O’Hara answered their question with two more statement victories. First, they stormed to the gold at DELCO with just 19 points. Only Jack Huemmler broke up the O’Hara top 5. Then they went to Belmont for the PCL Championships. Against a very strong LaSalle team, O’Hara posted 28 points and boasted a 16:22 average on the challenging course. All five of their scorers placed in the top 10 overall.

At the Ches-mont Championships, Henderson survived a close battle with Great Valley, winning 32-40. However, a closer look at the line-up showed that Henderson did not race their #1 man from Shore Coaches in Tony Russell. Instead, Sam Haugh led the charge and AJ Chaborek stepped in as the #2 with a breakthrough race. Henderson seemed poised for another District title in a week’s time.

Although Drew Magaha and Sam Hibbs were both at Lehigh for their League Championship, the pair wouldn’t be going head to head. Still, fans hoped to compare times between the two to get a sense of what districts might bring. Magaha cruised to a 31 second victory in 15:50 while Hibbs ran 15:53 in his championship. Yet the fastest time of the day belonged to Hibbs’s teammate. Conner Quinn had his best race to date, racing to a 15:47 and winning the league title. Horsham took 1-2 overall and were then followed by three runners from North Penn. North Penn finished with the best average time in the SOL, averaging 16:25.

Out West, the boys were preparing for back to back races at Coopers. The first was Tri-States where Mount Lebanon and North Allegheny would match-up for the first time since RWB. The Tigers WPIAL title streak appeared to be in serious jeopardy after Lebo bested NA 76 to 90. The positive for the Tigers was that Logan Steiner looked to be back to his championship form. He won the individual title by six seconds over Dylan Mountain, leading the race from the gun in 5:04 through the mile. Brent Kennedy, a sophomore from Kiski, finished 3^rd and Alex Moran led Mount Lebanon from the #4 spot.

After watching the Tri-State championships, it seemed Lebo was just too good for North Allegheny to jump. Yet as Districts approached, the weather started to turn dramatically. The rain was pouring buckets on the athletes and so the teams set out to navigate an absolute slop at Coopers Lake. From the gun, North Allegheny decided they were not going to sit back in the elements. They had Steiner in the lead early and opened up a 68 to 105 advantage over Mount Lebanon. There was still plenty of time for Lebo to make up the gap, but as the race continued to unfold it became clear that things were actually trending in the wrong direction. At the finish, North Allegheny had just 50 points to Mount Lebanon’s 115. In fact, Pittsburgh Central Catholic came just 7 points away from beating Lebo and actually had a faster average time. The heroes for the Tigers were the young guns as sophomore Cordon Luoco finished 9^th and freshman Scott Seel finished 10^th, the two spots directly after Alex Moran. With Steiner winning individually and Tim Appman, Mike Meehan and Tyler Nicotra all finishing in the top 20 (i.e. their top 6 guys were all top 20), this one ended up a blowout.

Blowouts seemed to be the theme of the weekend. In District One, West Chester Henderson became champions again with an emphatic 89 to 148 victory over Great Valley. North Penn, my preseason darlings, fell to 3^rd with 155 points, causing me to officially jump off the bandwagon on this team. Individually, Drew Magaha continued his dominant stretch with a 15:16, winning by 18 seconds over Ned Willig, the Ches-mont champion. The two top stars in the mile from the most recent track season had now risen to tops in District One. Conner Quinn was 3^rd and his teammate Sam Hibbs slipped all the way back to 9^th in the final standings after the duo led 1-2 through the mile. It was unclear what exactly happened to Hibbs down the stretch, but his status as favorite seemed to have disappeared.

O’Hara also won the District title comfortably, scoring 33 points to LaSalle’s 54. O’Hara once again had strong individual success, placing 4 guys in the top 20, but the pack wasn’t quite where it had been. Christian Ostrowski was the team’s #5 and Kevin James was the team’s #6, placing 15^th and 17^th in a shallower field. It was a small note of caution for O’Hara supporters, but something that seemed very fixable considering both runner’s past successes within the season.

Despite the doubts, O’Hara had done enough to prove their spot as the favorite, particularly when their top competition in Mount Lebanon had their own problems at WPIALs. In my predictions for the meet, I slotted O’Hara with the top spot, followed by the up and coming North Allegheny team. I was concerned about Henderson’s youth considering three of their scorers were sophomores with little state championship experience. I actually had confidence that Mount Lebanon could bounce back as well, maybe even mix it up for state medals.

Individually, the biggest point of debate seemed to be Dan Jaskowak. With Magaha suddenly emerging in Hibbs position as the District 1 superstar, he had become the state title favorite. But Jaskowak was no slouch either. The problem was, he hadn’t raced a major invitational since the Red, White and Blue meet in September. I couldn’t quite get a strong read on his late season fitness.

Personally, I was concerned about Magaha on the Hershey hills. He had not finished off a season with a state medal in XC before and, although he was clearly at another level from a confidence and fitness perspective, I went with a true grinder in Logan Steiner for my pick to win. I wasn’t buying a big bounce back race from Hibbs (although many thought he could), but I did think Conner Quinn would benefit from the move to a more hilly course in Hershey as opposed to the faster, speed oriented Lehigh course. Quinn was my pick for 3^rd behind Steiner and Magaha.

But ultimately, all the predictions meant nothing when the runners lined up on state championship Saturday. As expected, Conner Quinn, Drew Magaha and Dan Jaskowak got to the front early, but the PCL/D12 champ Tom Coyle was first to come through the mile split. The runner-up at Carlisle had broken 16 minutes on the legendary Belmont course and felt he belonged in the state title discussion. He pulled fellow PCL runner Dan Savage with him into the top 3.

O’Hara in general followed a fast approach, with their entire top 6 going out under 5 minutes through the first mile. As a result, they had 95 points and sat in first place overall. But surprisingly, that was not enough to establish a large lead. Although O’Hara had buried Henderson (4^th – 160), Mount Lebanon (5^th – 169) and North Allegheny (6^th – 217), the boys from North Penn had shot out like a rocket over the first mile and hung right there with O’Hara. Dan Davis led the charge, but the key riser was junior Hunter Hill who coasted out in 4:57 and put this team in a position to improbably compete for the win.

As the race progressed into the signature Aloha Hills, the hot start from Coyle started to take its causalities. Logan Steiner, who had got out conservatively in 37^th place, started to rise through the field and he moved into the mix alongside Conner Quinn. Dan Jaskowak lingered out front as well, but Magagha had backed off his early sprint to the front and was absent from the top group. Then, after biding his time, Jaskowak made his move. As Coyle slipped back a bit, Jaskowak went to the lead and only Quinn could follow. The two runners moved ahead of the pack and it became clear the title would be decided between them.

The one guy who could maybe flip the script was Boyertown’s Brett Kelly. Although Kelly was already a two-time top 30 finisher at states, the Senior had been something of an afterthought in the state title discussion. He was just 5^th at districts, but after two plus miles, he was moving into third position and hoping to try and steal more.

Coming into the final hill, Quinn had found the extra gear he needed. With a herculean final surge, the Hatboro Horsham junior broke away from Jaskowak, now in a battle for second with Brett Kelly, and powered home for the epic state championship gold. It was one of the most stunning upsets the state had seen in what was a truly tumultuous year atop the PA standings.

Jaskowak held off Kelly in the battle for 2^nd and 3^rd while Dan Savage of O’Hara made up serious ground on the final mile to earn 4^th place overall. Logan Steiner was 5^th and Magaha, making up a massive amount of ground in the late stages of the race, ended up just behind him in 6^th.

With Savage taking 4^th overall, things were off to a hot start for O’Hara in the team standings. Things looked even better when Mike Billotta sprinted home in 11^th place, holding his own with big kickers Ned Willig and Connor Harriman (who both came from way back in their own right). Ultimately two more O’Hara boys would cross the line inside the top 50. That seemed like it would seal it.

However, a few key things happened in the final 200 meters. For starters, Chris Trimble and Dan Davis both threw down some massive kicks for North Penn. Jack Macauley was already in the clubhouse with a state medal, but the squad’s other two top 50 finishers needed every point they could get in the final straightaway. Davis was able to pass O’Hara #3 Ernie Pitone and Trimble finished just two spots back.

Then, with both Matt Molloy and Hunter Hill beginning to fade, Ryan Grace came through in the final mile of the race, including a big kick off the final hill to cross the line as the team’s #4, saving what would prove to be valuable points. In the end, freshman Kevin James and senior Christian Ostrowski for O’Hara couldn’t quite find their form in the closing stages of the race and North Penn, on a sixth man tie-breaker courtesy of the ambitious starting Hunter Hill, won the state championship. The final totals for both schools were 132.

The sixth man tie-breaker is a rule rarely seen in XC, especially in large meets, but here it was necessary to implement not just to decide a minor place, but to determine who was actually leaving Hershey with a state championship.

North Penn went from 3^rd in the district to 1^st in the state in the blink of an eye. They seized a moment that was there for the taking for multiple teams. North Allegheny, the WPIAL champions, finished in 3^rd place overall only 12 points behind the winners. Their three seniors came to play, but the young heroes of the district championship Louco and Seel, both struggled to capture that same magic in their return to Hershey. Their old rivals from Mount Lebanon finished at 153, just 9 points back. They pieced together a much more successful bounce back campaign and ended their season on a strong note.

The district champions from Henderson, who had handed North Penn an emphatic defeat at Lehigh, ended up 5^th in the standings with 195 points. Although Russell and Haugh, the team’s #1 and #2 runners, ran strong, they didn’t quite duplicate their district efforts. Sophomore Seamus Collins, a key scorer in the early season, ended up finishing as the team’s 7^th man.

Ultimately, the year was up for grabs from the start and, although many teams seemed to have a hold of the season in mid-October, it was North Penn who ended the year raising the trophy. It was undeniably the biggest shock of the decade in the team title contest. You could argue that teams like North Allegheny, Henderson and even O’Hara were just a bit too young for the moment, but North Penn managed to pull off the victory with sophomores in the 4-5 spot of the line-up. Matt Molloy, who had watched the 2010 State Championship from the sidelines, stepped in off the bench and ended up delivering one of the game changing scoring positions. The other top 6 runners: Davis, Trimble, Macauley Grace and Hill, cut a combined 145 seconds off their times from the previous state year.

That season, North Penn did not win the team title at Briarwood, Salesianum or Districts. They lost to O’Hara by 45 and Henderson by 66. They finished 3^rd at districts, a worse finish than they had posted either of the prior two seasons (where they were 12^th and 9^th at Hershey). They didn’t participate in any of the three major mid-season invitationals (Foundation, Carlisle and Paul Short) to gain big meet experience or learn about their rivals. They trained. They practiced. They believed they could win.

What is perhaps equally wild to think about is what happened next. North Penn went to the Nike Northeast Regional, perhaps out of a feeling of obligation more than a feeling of desire. The results reflected this as they struggled to find energy on race day. They finished 21^st in the team standings, losing not only to North Allegheny, but also to Kiski who had been 9^th at states just behind Great Valley.

The 2011 State Title was the third in 5 years. They had placed in the top 3 at districts each of those 5 seasons. Going into 2012, they returned 5 of the top 7 from their state championship team, but surprisingly, they haven’t been back to states since that 2011 state championship.

For the record, Hibbs ended up 13^th in the state final. Comparatively, he ran a much better race than districts which included a big kick to the finish to make sure he got in the top 15 for a third straight season. Although Hibbs had a disappointing stretch run to the season, I am happy to report that he bounced back in a big way during the track season. He was second indoors in the 3k to Dustin Wilson and 1^st outdoors in the 3200 for his first state title.

The 2011 Season in Review: AA

For years Quaker Valley had been one of the favorites for a state championship in AA Cross Country. However, after a string of disappointments, including a surprise 3^rd place finish at the 2010 championships, it was hard to push all your chips in for the WPIAL powerhouse. Entering the 2011 season, it seemed QV would have their best chance ever to change the narrative. The team returned their entire scoring 5 from the state championships, including past medalist LJ Westwood and Nat Fox.

Northeast Bradford was an interesting wildcard. The District 4 champions had narrowly missed state gold the previous fall, losing on a bizarre DQ. In 2011, they returned their top 3 runners, including rising juniors Sam Williams and Curt Jewett, but depth would be the big question for this squad.

District 10 received a lot of love in the Penntrack preseason rankings. Both West Middlesex (12^th at states but returned 4 of 5) and Mercyhurst Prep (missed states by one spot, returned 3 of 5) received votes and showed up in the top 5 preseason poll. However, North East (4^th at states, returned 3 of 5) seemed to be the most dangerous squad from this district considering their pedigree and potential front-runner in Ryan Smathers. As a sophomore, Smathers had finished 5^th individually at XC states and was the runner-up outdoors in the 1600 against Tommy Gruschow.

Smathers was the top returner individually and led the way for an incredible class of rising juniors. There had been 6 sophomore medalists in 2010 including District 2 champ Luke Jones and District 11 champ Brendan Shearn. Shearn was also coming off a track season in which he had placed 2^nd to John Trueman in the state championship 3200m.

The aforementioned LJ Westwood would be the big hope for the senior class. The reigning state champion at 800 meters, Westwood had placed 8^th at Hershey the prior fall and was also the WPIAL champion over Cooper’s Lake’s hills. He had the right combination of speed and strength to do real damage his senior season.

In his first major invite, Westwood showed exactly what kind of potential he had. The senior stormed to a 15:50 on the Red, White and Blue course which was good enough for 4^th overall and tops in AA. The result also helped carry Quaker Valley to a third place finish in the team standings, behind only the AAA powers of Mount Lebanon and North Allegheny. Nat Fox (16:11) and Roy Hadfield (16:22) each turned in top 25 results against the stacked field.

The same weekend at PTXC, Brendan Shearn made his case for the top spot in the AA power rankings. At the always competitive PTXC meet, Shearn took control of the race and never looked back as he rolled to a 16 second victory over Altoona’s Dylan Mountain. Across the state at the Big Red Invitational, Ryan Smathers finished with a silver medal in his season debut, taking second to Austin Pondel of AAA Corry.

At the same meet, North East won the team title in the Red Race with 42 points. In the White Race, West Middlesex was the top squad with 47 points. The Red Race featured more of the larger schools, but ultimately West Middlesex was higher ranked school in PTXC’s next ranking set.

The defending champions from Elk Lake showed their cards for the first time at the Lackawanna Invitational on September 17. In the team race, Elk Lake was something of a non-factor, taking 4^th against a large AAA field. But the bigger story was the race from junior Luke Jones. He stormed to a blistering 15:31, some 20 seconds ahead of one of the bigger names in AAA, Aaron Wilkinson. After the statement victory, all eyes were on the Foundation meet where LJ Westwood, Ryan Smathers and Luke Jones were set to face-off for the #1 spot in AA.

But as usual, things did not follow the script in Hershey. The Northeast Bradford duo of Sam Williams and Curt Jewett, running the state course for the first time since their heartbreaking loss in Hershey, came out firing. Jewett took out the race hard, leading through halfway in 8:01, before Sam Williams took over in the latter half of the race to surge home with gold. Williams ran 16:33 for the victory, 10 seconds ahead of silver medalist Ryan Smathers. Jewett held off Elk Lake’s Luke Jones by 1 second for the bronze. Williams time was not only best in the Blue Race, it was also faster than all those in the AAA race, which included ET #1 Sam Hibbs.

Notably missing from the results was Quaker Valley’s #1 guy LJ Westwood. After his RWB race, many were eager to see what Westwood could do against the top guys in Hershey, but he didn’t start the race for QV. Despite this, Quaker Valley still not only won the meet, but absolutely dominated. Thanks in part to a big improvement from senior Matt Cooper, QV stormed to the win 106 to 182 against North East. Holy Redeemer, using a tight pack, finished in 3^rd place and preseason darlings Mercyhurst Prep finished in 4^th, led by a freshman in Sebastian Curtin. The two main protagonists from the 2010 state champions, Northeast Bradford and Elk Lake, finished in 9^th and 21^st respectively.

Looking at the full results, what jumped out was the number of Juniors. The 11^th graders took the top 6 spots in the meet and 9 of the top 11 places in total. The only seniors to breakup the onslaught were Nat Fox and Saegertown’s Nate Tallada. Seeing Tallada’s name in the results, in 8^th place, was an interesting wrinkle. Nate had been an absolute force in AA the previous two seasons and, if he was healthy and in form late in the season, would be a sleeper pick to use that senior experience to upset the juniors.

Although the excitement all centered around Foundation, the always loaded Carlisle Invitational was happening at the same time just up the round. Here, Brendan Shearn proved formidable again. With a time of 16:05, Shearn defeated a loaded AAA field that included North Allegheny front-man Logan Steiner and LaSalle rising star Tom Coyle. A week later, when Shearn placed 3^rd at Paul Short in 16 flat, it became clear that he was amassing one of the best resumes in the state: regardless of classification.

But the state landscape is always changing in Cross Country. While Shearn, just a day after Paul Short, ran a blazing 15:58 at the Northeast Invitational, many top AA runners were heading to New York for the McQuaid Invitational. Williams, Smathers and Jewett, the top three from Foundation, would get a rematch on the three-mile layout. This time, it was Jewett who topped the trio, running 15:38 to take down Smathers by 8 seconds. However, it was another small school runner who stole the show. Barrett Kemp of District 9’s Oswayo Valley threw down a jaw-dropping victory with a 15:30 winning time. Suddenly, there was another junior whose name belonged in the state title discussion.

Meanwhile, the team race was becoming a bit less clear as well. Quaker Valley raced at Pittsburgh CC, once again without LJ Westwood. It was revealed that the team’s star runner was recovering from injury and, although he hoped to return for the postseason, it was unclear how much fitness he would still have. During the same weekend, D10 powers North East and West Middlesex both grabbed invitational victories, the latter coming at Cochranton. Canton out of District 4 had also turned heads, winning at the Northeast Invitational.

It wasn’t until October 13^th that we saw Westwood back in action. As expected, Quaker Valley stormed to victory at the Midwestern Athletic Conference championships. Westwood finished as the team’s #3 runner on race day, running 18:15 for 8^th overall. The team comfortably won with 6 top 20 finishers. Nat Fox was the league champion. Despite some question marks, this team was still clearly the one to beat in AA.

Individually, the big names picked up some nice wins during league week. Brendan Shearn dominated the Schuylkill League with a blazing 15:39. Sam Williams won at Meteor while Curt Jewett was the winner at NTL Coaches. Ryan Smathers won at the D10 Region 4 meet while Nate Tallada, showing a return to championship form, dropped a 16:09 to win at Region 3. Things were set for an exciting district week.

In District 3, things started off with a familiar result. Anville-Cleona knocked off Lancaster Mennonite  for the second straight season, behind a strong individual victory from Shawn Wolfe. Fitting the theme of the year in AA, the entire top 4 for AC were juniors. District 2 had their championship a day later where the favorites held form. Luke Jones was the individual champion, defeating Holy Cross’s Rico Galassi. Holy Redeemer was the team champion in runaway fashion, scoring 31 points for an easy victory.

In District 4 we finally got an upset. The top 5 names individual were all as expected (and, by the way, were 5 juniors), but Wellsboro ended up the surprise team champion. They knocked off Canton and Northeast Bradford, both more acclaimed teams, en route to an automatic bid to the state championship. Northeast Bradford would not go home empty handed, however, as they took 1-2 individually behind Jewett and Williams.

Brendan Shearn and Barrett Kemp both became district champions without much fuss as Kemp helped his Oswayo Valley team to a 1 point team title in D9. Dan Alexander was the D1 AA champ, adding yet another junior to list of contenders in AA. His Lower Moreland team was headed back to states as a result.

But the two biggest meets of the week were District 10 and District 7. In Buhl Park, it was the long awaited matchup between North East and West Middlesex. While both teams had been among the Top 5 seasonal rankings, only one could be the D10 champion. The race was incredibly close as North East had the better front running, but West Middlesex narrowed the gap with their pack. In the end, North East just barely hung on with an 88-91 victory. Individually, Ryan Smathers wasn’t as lucky. After following a very quick early pace from Jeremy Parsons, Smathers found himself running on empty over the second half of the race. In the end, that allowed Nate Tallada to once again come through for the District title, winning by 8 seconds in a sloppy race.

As sloppy as things were at Buhl Park, things were perhaps uglier at Cooper’s Lake. The conditions might things ripe for an upset, but Quaker Valley was unphased. The defending champions did what they have come to expect: crushing a 42 team field with just 29 points. They put 5 runners in the top 11 scorers and boasting the gold and silver medalists. Roy Hadfield, another junior, was the district champion with a time of 17:21, followed by Nat Fox. Places 3 through 7 also belonged to juniors.

And so Quaker Valley once again entered the State Championship as a popular pick for victory. Not only were they a deep team with excellent coaching and experience, but no clear challenger had risen from the other districts to challenge them. Quaker Valley lined up at Hershey with heavy pressure, but the race was undeniably theirs to lose.

One mile into the race, things were as expected. QV rolled through in first with 88 points. The next closest team was already buried behind them as Holy Redeemer came through with 162. Wellsboro and Anville-Cleona were the only remaining teams under 200 and then the three District 10 squads filed into 5^th through 7^th. Quaker Valley’s front four had gotten out well and clear of traffic. Their 5 was a bit further behind, but still in a great spot. That would be the only point of weakness for other teams to attack.

As Quaker Valley dominated, the more interesting part of the race became the individual battle. Barrett Kemp of Oswayo Valley had the lead through the mile, but state title favorite Brendan Shearn was right on his hip. There were 22 runners that took the race out under 5 minutes, led by Kemp and Shearn at 4:54. The top 8 runners at the mile were all juniors as were 13 of the top 14. The only senior to break them up was Nate Tallada, sitting in 9^th place at 4:56.

A mile later, Curt Jewett had taken over the lead. Jewett, who led through halfway at the Foundation Invite, found himself in a familiar place. He split 10:14 through the 2 mile and had three other runners right behind him including Shearn. The District 2 duo of Jones and Galassi were in 3^rd and 4^th. Ryan Smathers, who had led the race through two miles a year earlier, was now in 5^th place and had his eyes up for the final mile. With a bit more conservative of a start, he could be a dangerous sprint finisher in a close race.

It was still anybody’s race individually, but the team title was becoming much more certain. Quaker Valley, determined to leave nothing to chance, was flying through the course. They had 92 points at 2 miles with four runners inside the top 20 team scorers. Matt Cooper was once again excelling on the Hershey hills and Nat Fox was in a medal position individually. The #5 spot was still their only weak point, but sophomore Rob Veltre had stepped up and taken over for Josh Szymanski. As a result, QV crossed the two mile mark with the best 5^th man in the field.

North East, behind Smathers charge, had jumped to 2^nd in the team standings. They had 154 points and the edge over Wellsboro and Holy Redeemer. The familiar foe of West Middlesex was in 5^th, but they needed to get an individual further up the field. Their top runner was 21^st in the team standings. Wellsboro had three in the top 25.

Minutes later, we would be tabulating the final points. But before those would be announced, a sprint finish was on to decide the individual state champion. Coming out of the back hills Brendan Shearn and gotten his legs underneath him and prepared for his final surge. Going into poop-out hill, he had the lead by Elk Lake’s Luke Jones was still within striking distance. Ultimately, the pair battled on the home straight, but Shearn never let things get too close as he sprinted home for the gold medal and Jones took a strong silver.

Those two were well clear of the rest, but the top 5 had also open up on the nearest competitors. Rico Galassi finished one spot behind his District 2 rival and Sam Williams held off a late charge from Ryan Smathers. As expected, the top of the field was mostly juniors, with 8 11^th graders cracking the top 10. But the top senior was a big surprise. Beaver Area’s Josef Dipietrantonio, who was just 11^th at districts in the WPIAL, finished 6^th overall at states and was the top senior. His WPIAL mate Nat Fox was the #3 senior across the line in 11^th.  In total, 19 of the 25 medalists were juniors and 1 was a sophomore, meaning that 20 of the 25 medalists would be returning the next season.

After Nat Fox came home in 11^th, three more Quaker Valley runners came through in the top 31 overall including Roy Hadfield’s state medal winning 23^rd place finish. LJ Westwood threw down a big final kick to get all the way to 29^th in the final standings, only 10 seconds outside of the medals. As a result, QV had 4 runners in before most teams even had 2 across the line. When Rob Veltre crossed as the team’s #5 runner, the state championship was clinched. Quaker Valley emphatically put their stamp on the race with a score of 90 points, half of 2^nd place’s 181.

The second place set of medals ended up going to North East who survived a late charge from Holy Redeemer in the race’s closing mile 181 to 190. Holy Redeemer had a 59 second spread, but no top 20 finishers and so North East was about to hold them off. North East freshman Gary Olson stepped with a massive breakthrough, finishing as the team’s #2 runner in 25^th in the team standings.

The big surprise of the day was District 12’s Masterman. Entering the race as a relative unknown, the Philly Public school was not featured among the discussion of top teams. There was good reason: the last time Masterman came to Hershey, the finished just 14^th at the Foundation meet. But the Masterman boys hung tough during the fast start and used their experience on the Belmont hills to rally late in the race. After sitting in 11^th at the mile, Masterman surged to 8^th at 2 miles before closing rapidly to the finish to grab 4^th on a tiebreaker over West Middlesex. Keaton Naff led the way for Masterman with his state medal winning finish, but the team’s pack behind him was the difference maker. They had strong surges 2 through 6 down the stretch and ultimately outpacked the pack kings from the season in West Middlesex.

This Should Have Been Our First Clue

For much of the early part of the decade, there was a great debate over the fact that District 3’s district meet was run on the Hershey Parkview State Course. In AA the boys District 3 individual champion had gone on to win the state championship in Hershey four years in a row (2007 to 2010). So clearly, there was some advantage to having the opportunity to preview the course ahead of time. However, there were also some complaints from the AAA side. In 2007, District 3 champ and eventual Footlocker Finalist Vince McNally enter states as one of the co-favorites for the title, but had a truly rare off day and finished 18^th at states (his worst ever finish, even including his freshman season). A year later, Kyle Hurston, who had won at his prestigious home invitational, fell to the same 18^th spot at states after winning the district championship.

In 2009, it seemed like the curse may have been broken. Chuck Lockwood won Districts and went on to finish 4^th in the state with Logan Mohn, Michael Beegle and John Pope all joining him in the top 20 places overall. The top 4 at District’s all had success in their return trip to Hershey. Problem solved, right?

Well, a year later, things reverted back to chaos. And not just any chaos, but more chaos than ever before. In one of the fastest championships to date, Alex Galli smoked the Hershey hills to win the district championship in 16:20. Just behind him was fellow LL runner Matt Groff, whose silver medal performance helped his Hempfield squad claim the team title.

A week later at states, Galli ended up 45^th in the final standings, fading from a medal position at 2-miles. He was defeated by the district champion from D1 (4^th), D2 (6^th), D4 (29^th), D6 (2^nd), D7 (3^rd), D10 (5^th), D11 (8^th) and D12 (17^th). But Galli wasn’t alone in his struggles. D3 had only two medalists overall: Zack Greth (12^th) and Ed Schrom (24^th) who were the 3^rd and 7^th best guys at the district meet. In the team competition, D3’s best squad was Cumberland Valley, who placed 14^th out of 24 teams. Hempfield, the district champions the previous week, fell to 19^th which was the worst of the 5 teams the district sent.

Obviously, wacky things happen every year. Great runners have days where everything clicks and those lead to big successes, but those same great runners also have days where it seems nothing goes right. That could occur anywhere, regardless of course. But I’d be lying if after seeing this unfold, I wasn’t paying particular attention to the 2011 District 3 championship meet. Little did I know that this meet would end up the most unpredictable district championship of the decade.

But let’s back-up a moment. The landscape for District 3 entering the fall of 2011 was already a fuzzy picture. The top 9 runners from the D3 championships a year earlier had now graduated. State qualifying teams Hempfield, Cumberland Valley and Cedar Crest each lost their top 3 individuals to graduation as well and the other two qualifiers didn’t have a returning runner who had finished in the top 25 the prior year. So each mid-state invitational was a new chance for someone to prove themselves.

Things started at the PTXC Invite at Kutztown. Junior Evan Williams was the top runner from D3, taking 4^th overall, followed closely by Lower Dauphin’s Jeff Groh and Chambersburg Senior Nick Rotz. Williams had spent the prior year training with and learning from Logan Mohn, a former top 10 finisher at states in his own right. He seemed like a strong bet for a top 5 finish at the championships later that month. Groh had been 11^th in the D3 championships during his freshman season (#2 returner) and was an exciting prospect.

Adding to the fun, Governor Mifflin won the team section of PTXC over Chambersburg in a nail biter by a score of 69 to 73. Chambersburg, second the prior year at districts, had entered as the favorite, but the boys from GM had been able to surprise with narrow wins at 4 of the 5 spots.

Chambersburg and Nick Rotz would race again at the Ben Bloser Invite at Big Spring. Here, they were greeted by yet another up and coming contender in the individual race. Vinny Todaro won the meet on his home course with a solid 16:33. Rotz was the next best D3 runner with a 17:08. On the team side, Chambersburg delivered an encouraging performance with 3 runners in the top 20 overall.

All the early meet season stuff is fun, but people don’t really start to take stock of performances until the big midseason stretch: Foundation and Carlisle. At the Hershey course (the first of three trips for the D3 athletes who competed there), Evan Williams finished as D3’s top runner in 10^th overall and his teammates easily took the top D3 team spot by finishing 3^rd overall behind only super powers O’Hara and Mount Lebanon. Manheim Township finished as the #2 D3 team in 8^th.

At Carlisle, the top program was Lower Dauphin, who became the second different D3 team to edge out the talented bunch over at Chambersburg. Lower Dauphin scored 229 to place 3^rd overall while Chambersburg was at 242. The top two squads were, ironically, the two other D7-D12 powerhouses from that season: North Allegheny and LaSalle.  Individually, Adam Katora of Dallastown had the impact performance of the day as he surged to #1 in District 3. Michaiah Schlicher of Elizabethtown was perhaps an even more surprising #2.

Other big names cracked the top 20 overall, showing they could contend for the District 3 title in a month if training went their way. Cole Nissley of Lower Dauphin jumped his fellow sophomore Jeff Groh as the pair took 14^th and 19^th in the meet. Connor Strynkowski of Palmyra, one of the rising stars in district, had been top 50 at states in 2010 and truly excelled in the 3200 during track. He proved his XC acumen was still strong with a 15^th place performance. John Ausel (16^th), our boy Nick Rotz (17^th) and John Felts (20^th) all turned heads as well.  

When you talk about District 3 during this part of the decade, you have to keep your eyes out for Cumberland Valley. Although they were absent from Hershey and Carlisle, they showed up at Paul Short for their midseason check-in. Finishing 11^th in the team standings, they ended up the #1 D3 team in the meet and did it with 4 juniors and a sophomore in the scoring 5. Alec Kunzweiler, a 1:56 800 runner the previous spring, was their star of the day with his 15^th place individual finish, also tops in the district.

In that race, Kunzweiler looked like a guy who could be the district champion in October, but at his next race, Connor Strynkowski showed him what work was left to be done. Connor broke 16 on the Gettysburg course to finish tops in PA in the race. His time of 15:54 was 12 seconds ahead of the next best D3 guy, John Felts, and 21 ahead of Kunzweiler. Adam Katora, the big dog at Carlisle, finished 10^th overall in 16:22.

Having trouble keeping track of who the favorites are? Well, Connor Styrnkowski was trying to make it easy for you as we entered league week. Within perhaps the deepest league in the state, Strynkowski raced to his first invitational gold in 16:42. Jeff Groh and Cole Nissley, the Lower Dauphin sophomores, were 2^nd and 4^th, split by John Felts of Red Land. Kunzweiler and Vinny Todaro rounded out a loaded top 6.

The team battle was equally compelling here as Chambersburg got revenge on Lower Dauphin 87 to 89. Chambersburg had 4 guys in the top 20 overall and the 2^nd best #5 runner in the field so their depth won out. Cumberland Valley sat lurking in 3^rd place with 107 points and the best #5 of the group. Their #3 had been just 28^th overall (Alex Coburn), but the junior had the potential to run in the top 10 of this league on a better day.

Adam Katora (YAIAA), Harrison Schettler (Lebanon-Lancater) and Evan Williams (Berks) were the top AAA runners in the other major D3 leagues. Team titles went to Dallastown, Manheim Township and Governor Mifflin.

And that set the stage for the District 3 championships. Let the craziness begin!

As the district championships kicked off, the boys shot off the start line quicker than a starting pistol. The Governor Mifflin duo of Evan Williams and Dalton Fisher went straight to the front, hoping to be two low sticks toward a team title bid. The pace was absolutely breakneck and a gap to the pack opened up pretty quickly. The only one brave enough to truly follow was Lower Dauphin’s Jeff Groh, with Strynkowski and Elizabethtown’s Nate Kreider also committing about halfway.

The Mid-Penn champions, Chambersburg, had taken a bit more conservative start. While Nick Rotz put himself with sight of the front, the rest of the team’s pack was some 20 seconds off the leaders a mile into the race.

As things progressed, the pack started to come back on the ambitious starters. John Felts of Red Land helped lead a charge toward the Aloha Hills and by the two mile mark, although Williams and Groh still led, there was a bit more of a crowd around them. Also within an arm’s length were Felts, Ryan Hertzog of South Western, Harrison Schettler and Alec Kunzweiler. Strynkowski was beginning to fade, but was still lingering dangerously. Nick Rotz of Chambersburg had worked his way to the shoulder of Governor Mifflin #2 Dalton Fisher and he had confidence that the guys behind him were timing their surge as well.

Leaving the hills, Lower Dauphin sophomore Jeff Groh decided to begin his run for home. He put in a big surge through the down hills and broke away from the pack to start the journey to the finish alone. Williams continued to pursue in second with Ryan Hertzog the surprise story in third. Perhaps the pre-race favorite, Styrnkowski was still in the top 10, but it seemed his bid at the title was over.

At the finish, Groh proved he had saved enough to get home safely. With a perfectly executed race, the youngster shocked the field for the District gold. Junior Ryan Hertzog fought his way to second position and John Felts managed to out dip Williams for the bronze. Vinny Todaro, Connor Strynkowski and Nick Rotz rounded out the top 7 in that order.

With Groh’s title in house, Lower Dauphin had banked 1 point in the team standings. That gave them hope of not just qualifying for states, but winning the district championship. Chambersburg, Governor Mifflin and Cumberland Valley all had one top 10 guy of their own. The teams watched the line nervously before Governor Mifflin broke through with the 15^th and 16^th place finishers. Levi Lang and moved up dramatically over the final mile to usurp his teammate Dalton Fisher.

After those results, it seemed like Governor Mifflin had clinched it. A second Lower Dauphin and Cumberland Valley both proceeded the first Chambersburg athlete. It was the 800 runner Ryun Holder who came through as the team’s #2 runner, a bit of a surprise. It was quickly revealed that he had pulled Adam Harriger with him, giving Chambersburg 3 in the clubhouse. Maybe they had a chance.

In the large meet that is the district championship, waves of runners came crashing through the finish line, but in 48^th place, Chambersburg got another lift. Their #4 was the first to come through as Danny Klink crossed at 17:29. Things were a little closer.

About 10 seconds later, Lower Dauphin put two guys in. Now they had 4. Then Governor Mifflin’s Andrew Lesko. That was 4 for them as well. What was the gap? Who had the lead now? While we were still doing that math, Zach Coleman came flying through to the finish line to round out the scoring 5 for Chambersburg. His time of 17:49 made him the best #5 in the field. And it turns out that would clinch it for his squad. The D3 champs scored 178 points to defeat Governor Mifflin, who ended up just 12 back in 190. The wait for Lower Dauphin proved to be drama filled for another reason as they slipped back to 5^th in the standings as they waited for their #5. On a team who had been carried by sophomore standouts, it was senior Dan Mummau who stepped into the gap in the scoring group and did just enough to help Lower Dauphin defeat defending champions Hempfield for the last qualifying spot.

The biggest surprise of the day belonged to Red Lion. This team had been second at YAIAA, the most overlooked league in the district already, but they jumped not only Dallastown, but a number of teams favored to defeat them as they finished 4^th overall in the final standings. Matt Croft led the way in 16^th with junior Caleb Gatchell also delivering a big lift in 32^nd. But Nate and Josh Pardoe were the x-factors as they really narrowed the team’s spread by closing the gap from the 4-5 spot. Cumberland Valley was 3^rd in the final standings, but only 8 points ahead of this upstart Red Lion team.

It’s not every day that a sophomore wins a district championship. Sure, its been known to happen, particularly in some of the smaller districts, but in the “big 3” (D1, D3 and D7), it’s downright impossible. Even District 3’s chosen son, three-time XC state champion Craig Miller, couldn’t pull out the district title during his sophomore season (although he came within 0.72 seconds). Jeff Groh’s achievement was not just surprising, but incredibly rare and impressive.

So now the million dollar question. The question that started all of this. What happened to these guys at states? Well, unfortunately, the story goes back to being wacky. District 3 ended up with just one state medalist on the first Saturday of November. They also boasted 6 total top 50 finishers. But if you looked at the district results, you’d probably be surprised to find out who exactly those runners were.

Leading the charge was actually Cumberland Valley junior Alec Kunzweiler. The stand-out went from 9^th position at the district championships to 14^th in the state. It led something of a banner day for the young CV squad as they ended up 11^th in the final state tally, the top team within District 3 for a second straight season.

The other top 50 finishers included Vinny Todaro (26^th at States / 5^th at Districts), Ryan Hertzog (37^th / 2^nd), John Ausel (39^th / 10^th), Adam Katora (41^st / 11^th) and Connor Strynkowski (45^th / 6^th). Dalton Fisher was actually next to come through (54^th / 16^th) as he and Evan Williams led Govern Mifflin to the #2 spot out of D3 teams in 15^th overall. Red Lion (16^th) and Lower Dauphin (18^th) both also ended up better than the district champions, Chambersburg, who finished in 20^th.

Once we saw the craziness in District 3 unfold, we should have known there was going to be a lot more craziness to come when the state descended on Hershey.