The Etrain 11: Follow the Leader

By Jarrett Felix

I want to start this by saying Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I know that I personally would not be the man I am today without the love and guidance of my dad and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. Remember, no matter what has happened in your life thus far, somewhere each of our fathers our smiling at us, ready to extend a hand to help and lead us whenever we need it.

While fathers are many times the leaders and role models for our lives, on a track and field team we often have coaches and perhaps more importantly seniors to take on that role. I know I learned a lot from each of my captains I have had during my 8 years of organized running and some of my favorite and most insightful teammates were not ever distinguished with the high honor of captainship.

Sometimes people are born leaders, other times people have leadership thrust upon them. Often times you are a leader without even realizing it. But leaders are the undeniably the key to creating a successful environment in a sport like track and field that depends so much on discipline and mental fortitude. 

In June of 2014, a few teams graduated incredibly important, program changing pieces. West Chester Henderson graduated all 4 members of their DMR, all 4 members of their 4x8 and 6/7 varsity XC runners. Cardinal O'Hara graduated Nick Smart and Jim Belfatto, the final two legs of a near national record setting DMR. Fox Chapel graduated the Martin twins, a pair of state champion distance runners who had transformed the team into a WPIAL contender. 

There are countless other examples, but these three jump specifically to mind. Each of these teams could have slipped dramatically from their position among the states elite, but each team found new leaders to step into the shoes of those who passed and continued a winning tradition for yet another year.

West Chester Henderson was a cross country power house that had won back to back state championships. However, they had lost a ton of talent, including multi time state champion and state course record holder Tony Russell. But seniors Alex Knapp, Will Swart and Gordy Barchet emerged early as leaders for their youthful and inexperienced team. Knapp particularly lead the way, producing consistent results, helping push the teams DMR to states and running 9:20 in the 32. Unsurprisingly, in what was likely Knapp's last moments in a Henderson uniform, Knapp chipped in to help rabbit the meet of champions mile for Zach Brehm, Jaxson Hoey and Mike Kolor, all of which ran their fastest times of the year thanks in apart to his efforts.

He is also headed to MIT next year. Not too shabby.

Cardinal O'Hara was one of the best DMRs in state history in 2014. But in 2015, they got their only state title of this fantastic stretch of running. The key contributor was senior Kevin James who has been with the team through all the ups and downs it has experienced over his 4 years. James gave up what was likely his best shot at individual gold in the indoor 3k to give himself maximum rest for the DMR. As a result, he was able to run a fantastic anchor and clinch the gold for OH.

But we can't forget the efforts of his teammates who set him up for success. Rob Morro has been a fantastic running mate for KJ this season, developing into a medal winner in XC, running an underrated 3:10ish type 1200m split and running sub 2 and sub 9:30 in the same outdoor season. Ryan James added an incredible sophomore XC season, the 2nd soph in the AAA state race. And you can't forget Jack Nolen. Like any runner, The 800m man has had a few ups and downs this year but when the team needed him most, he came through and ran an excellent leg on the teams state winning DMR. 

I believe Nolen heads to Delaware next year and James will be continuing his career at Syracuse.

And lastly, there was Fox Chapel. The team was dominated by the Martin twin hype. Ethan grabbed state gold in the 3200m as a junior, Colin took indoor gold in the 3k and put his name on the sub 9 list. When those men graduated, there were few people still paying attention. But they should have been. Elias Graca quickly stepped in to the very large shoes waiting for him. He blasted a quick time at RWB of 15:44 and continued to excel on the trials, even though he was considered by most outsiders as an 800m specialist. He finished 28th at states in XC after barely cracking the top 100 a year previously.

Graca's 800m accomplishments from that point on are well documented. He ran an absurd 1:50.8 indoors at the state championships, won a WPIAL title outdoors and inspired many runners with a gutsy chase at now national champion John Lewis. 

And behind him Michael Bove developed into an outstanding 800m runner in his own right, running 1:55 at districts and coming very close to making the state final in his first trip. If you take your eyes off this Fox Chapel squad again with Graca graduating, you might miss another meteoric rise. 

I believe Graca is heading to Penn in the fall.

Pretty smart and successful kids here, not just talented athletes.

The fact of the matter is talent is only a piece of the equation. Coaches love to have guys like this on the roster and although they are obviously talented, there most important contributions often times have nothing to do with splits or PRs. 

Remember, there can only be one state champion in each event. But there's no limit to how many runners can be an inspiration to their peers.