In 2012 the WPIAL was preparing to enter a state of flux. North Allegheny was losing a slew of their top tier guys to graduation for the second straight year. Mount Lebanon lost their top three runners from the previous season and their emotional leader in Alex Moran. Baldwin lost district champion in the 3200m Andrew Kuchta and seemed to be losing some of their old spark. The teams that had dominated the district in the past had serious question marks next to their names and young, up and coming teams saw this as their chance to make a name for themselves.
One of those teams was Kiski Area who had been fourth the previous year at Districts, a spot that was no longer state qualifying with the addition of Class “A”. They had an up and coming state title contender in Brent Kennedy (7th as a sophomore in 2011) and had impressed at the NXN Regional meet the previous November, where they defeated the state champions North Penn. Another team on the rise was Fox Chapel, who was led by a pair of twin Juniors Ethan and Colin Martin.
Despite the hype and discussion surrounding the new up and coming powers, when the boys out West battled at their first big invitational the results were oddly familiar. Although Kennedy and Ethan Martin took 1-2 in the meet, North Allegheny reclaimed the Red, White and Blue title, defeating Mount Lebanon and showcasing a new skill: pack running. The team had an absurd 17 second spread between their #1 and #5 runners, a remarkably small figure.
In 2009, 2010 and 2011, North Allegheny had massive spreads at the state championship because they used an effective low stick (Ryan Gil or Logan Steiner) to carry them. They had been incredibly successful using this strategy, finishing 2nd, 1st and 3rd, but now it was time to show they weren’t just a one trick pony.
The other thing that stood out about the 2012 Tigers was their incredible youth. At RWB they had three sophomores in their top 5: Scott Seel, Seamus Love and Matt McGoey. The only senior in their top seven was their number one runner, Josh Zemet.
Despite their impressive first meet, the discussion around the state featured very little of North Allegheny. The big debate was between Cardinal O’Hara and West Chester Henderson, two fantastic teams that had not just state title potential, but national qualifying potential. Henderson’s Tony Russell had made a big first statement in his first meet of the season, running stride for stride through the line with reigning AA state champion Brendan Shearn. O’Hara, meanwhile, showcased a fantastic top three of Dan Savage, Kevin James and Ernie Pitone and ended up with the win in their first regular season match up at Briarwood.
After Henderson had taken it’s shot, it was North Allegheny’s turn to battle with PA’s #1 ranked team at the Pre State meet. At the invite, O’Hara was convincing, putting six in the top fifteen. They defeated North Allegheny 40 to 75 for another commanding win. North Allegheny was good, but the state title talk had to be put on hold.
The good news was NA had taken second without one of their top guys in Scott Seel. In addition, the Tigers got Mike Meehan back in the line-up, the only remaining member of their state title team in 2010. He delivered with a top 10 performance and was the Tiger’s first finisher at the meet. This inexperienced North Allegheny squad likely benefited much more than O’Hara did from an extra run on the Hershey hills. There was work to be done, but the potential was there for something extraordinary.
However, misfortune struck the team midseason when Meehan suffered an injury that would keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the year. With arguably their best and most experienced runner down for the count, many thought North Allegheny may begin to show signs of vulnerability. But at Tri-States any doubts were quickly extinguished.
North Allegheny dominated the meet, scoring just 49 points behind a 16 second spread. Their three stud sophomores took 8th, 11th and 12th overall behind Josh Zemet’s 5th place finish. They rolled through districts as well scoring 50 points and boasting an 18 second spread from Zemet (7th) to Scott Seel (14th). Now all that remained was a state championship fight against O’Hara and Henderson.
Riding a 2-5 finish from the Martin twins, Fox Chapel took 2nd and locked up a place in the state championships. Meanwhile Mount Lebanon barely fought off Hampton for the final spot. The two teams tied and a 6th man tiebreaker swung things in favor of Lebo. Sam Hughes of Lebo beat Jack Reidy of Hampton by less than a second to keep the score tied and then Brad Pollock delivered as the 6th man.
The three WPIAL teams as well as their 15 other individuals gathered at the state championship meet in 2012 to perfect conditions. North Allegheny was a long shot for the title as all the drama was centered around O’Hara and Henderson. Henderson had taken the 1st and 3rd spots at the district championships and had won the meet handily over Council Rock North, despite resting some of their top five. O’Hara won the District 12 meet handily, only LaSalle was able to break up their scoring five.
The pressure would be on North Allegheny’s inexperienced youngsters, Seamus Love and Matt McGoey, who had never run a state meet before and were only sophomores. How would they handle the pressure?
The first mile was vintage North Allegheny as they packed it up around 5 flat and ran conservatively, letting teams like O’Hara, Henderson and CRN put distance on them. That was certainly what O’Hara had intended to do. Their top three runners were all out under 4:50 for the first mile with their top fiveat 4:56 or faster. The problem as, North Allegheny’s Seamus Love had lost his shoe at the beginning of the race, a killer issue from a mental and physical point of view. If the Tigers were going to compete for a podium finish, they couldn’t afford to have bad luck.
During the second mile, Henderson and O’Hara continued to prove they were the teams to beat and North Allegheny found themselves in a dog fight with Council Rock North. NA’s pack that had won them so many races was struggling to keep pace with the killer front three of CRN. At 2 miles, CRN at three guys in the top 28 overall while North Allegheny had just two in the top 60.
Over the last mile, North Allegheny fought hard to stay competitive. Josh Zemet moved up to 15th while Scott Seel joined Luoco in the top 50. But Love’s shoe problems combined with McGoey’s inexperience cost the team valuable points. Their spread, which had been under 20 seconds each of the previous two weeks, scored to over a minute and as a result, Council Rock North slipped by them for third,137 to 149.
At the front, O’Hara and Henderson had a race for the ages. For the second straight year, O’Hara tied for the state title and, for the second straight year, they lost on the 6th man tie breaker. The boys from West Chester Henderson, led by a double gold from Tony Russell, put 6 in the top 50 and 7 in the top 52 to beat out O’Hara in a 69-69 tie.
The Tigers had to settle for fourth, left as a distance memory behind two of the best teams in PA history. To make matters worse, essentially the same Henderson team would return in 2013 and North Allegheny would lose their top runner and only state medalist. Despite all the hype and excitement about North Allegheny, their youth, their potential and their magnificent spread, they had fallen short, were not favored to win the next year’s title and lost their defining identity. At the end of the season, they graduated their final tie to state gold in Mike Meehan.
And thus the last memories of the Ryan Gil era were gone. It was time for a new era to begin.
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