The Etrain 11: When Life Gives You 9th Place, Make Lemonade

by Jarrett Felix

Growing up, after a hard fought basketball game or a particularly good math test, my mother and father used to give me the same piece of recycled parenting jargon: "Remember, there's always going to be someone worse than you, and there's always going to be somebody better". On it's surface it seems such an obvious thought, but honestly, it's a concept I feel the need to remind myself of on almost a daily basis. It's the ultimate reminder that you can never settle, you should always be chasing the next person. But at the same time, you have to be able to be proud of what you've accomplished and appreciate the gifts you have been given in your life.

There are few runners that are strong enough to make it through to the state championships. Fewer still have navigated the preliminaries and made it into the finals. From here, in each event, exactly 8 athletes will leave with hardware. Only 8. So naturally, the place most heartbreaking to receive when the dust settles is 9th. One spot away from the shiny necklace.

In these moments, it's harder to remember the someone worse and easy to think of someone better, probably eight someones better to be honest. At every state meet, someone has to be 9th. Even if you take 12 sub 4 minute milers and throw them on the track, someone has to be 9th. This year, in the AAA races, we saw some incredibly talented athletes slotted into that ill-fated 9 hole. So while the wound heals, remember my parent's old lesson. And allow me to take this moment to remind you why you should be proud of your accomplishments.

Nathan Henderson, JP McCaskey 9th 3200m 9:08.89

For starters 9:08.89 has won state championships in the past. By my count, over 50% of them including the 2013 state title. Sophomores are rarely ever this fast and this is a truly remarkable time to run at such a grand stage. But when the dust settled at Shippensburg University, those were simply numbers as a historically deep field torched the record books and all-time lists, leaving medal spots 7 and 8 for a pair of sub 9 two milers.

As a sophomore this fall, Henderson was making strong leaps in his performance. Milesplit had him marked down as just a 5:11 miler heading into the 2014-2015 season and he had yet to qualify for a spot in any of the state championship meets. But things turned quickly with a third place finish at the Bull Dog Invitational (and a nearly two minute drop in time from the previous year) and then an outstanding 11th place finish at the always competitive Carlisle Invitational two weeks later.

He didn't slow down from there. He grabbed a Lebanon-Lancaster League Championship, finished 5th at Districts and completed the brutal back-to-back Hershey stretch with a 13th place finish at states, the highest by any sophomore in AAA. Not too shabby for a first state meet.

But clearly he wasn't finished. Double gold at Millersville. Double gold at Lebanon-Lancaster Leagues. And then an eye-popping 9:18 3200m at Districts, second only to eventual state champion Zach Brehm. That time was nearly a 10 second PR and was over a minute faster than his final run at Leagues in Spring of 2014.

Coming into the state meet, many so called experts, left Nathan far off their ballot for the medals. It was obvious the 3200m was an incredibly deep event. Things were going to be fast. It was far from an environment that a sophomore with a 9:18 PR was suppose to be able to handle. But Henderson stuck his nose in the race anyway. He hung tough in the pack, even when he started to slip. When Brehm went by him during late race surge, Henderson used it as extra motivation and persevered. It paid off as he grabbed another massive PR, dropping to 9:08. He ran 9:07 indoors for 3000m.

Now Nathan will enter his Junior season after running on the heels of defending cross country state champion Jake Brophy with a new pack full of conferences. Plus that hair just gives him all sorts of swag.

Sean Weidner, Lower Dauphin 9^th 1600m 4:20.52

During the 2013-2014 season, the boys from Lower Dauphin were running the best races the program had seen in the past decade thanks in large part to seniors Jeff Groh and Cole Nissley. The boys from LD grabbed a District championship in Cross Country and Groh won individual gold outdoors and dropped times from 1:56 to 9:13. When these two greats graduated, the team would need to find a new source of leadership and inspiration.

Enter Sean Weidner. During Cross Country, Sean stepped immediately into a front running role. He grabbed a 4^th place finish at the PTXC invitational and followed it with an 11^th place run at Pre-States. District 3 was loaded during the fall of 2014 season, so it was going to be difficult for Sean and his teammates to make any sort of dent in the top group of teams. But under his guidance, two sophomores, Colton Cassell and Kyler Shea, emerged as true stars and gave the team a potent top three that was almost enough to pull the upset and retain their spot on the starting line in Hershey.

Despite the team’s absence, the three Lower Dauphin individuals that did qualify certainly got their money’s worth. During the difficult D3 double at Hershey, Weidner followed up his 10^th place finish at districts with an impressive 20^th place finish at the state championship meet. He also helped teammate Kyler Shea finish in the top 50 as just a sophomore.

During the indoor season, a time when many top runners outside of the Philadelphia Area are absent, Weidner unleashed a flurry of impressive, under the radar performances, including a strong 3k win at the Lebanon Valley Invitational. Ultimately, his hard work paid off at states when he won the slower section and earned himself a state medal, finishing 8^th.

When spring hit and the weather turned, Weidner really hit his stride. He clocked PRs in all of the major distances, running 1:55.7h, 4:20.10 and 9:19.76, the last of which added him to the PA elite all-time list. His district meet double of 9:19-4:20 was particularly impressive. He finished third in the 3200m behind only eventual state champ Zach Brehm and super soph Nathan Henderson and doubled back for second in the 1600m behind Brehm.

Although Weidner came up just short in the 1600m final, he fought valiantly throughout and was a narrow 9^th place finisher. During a year where some thought Lower Dauphin would disappear from the spotlight with the loss of two fantastic seniors, Sean took it upon himself to ensure the flame was not extinguished. His team had an impressive title defense and Sean’s leadership and example have blazed a trial for his younger teammates to follow in his footsteps and usher in the next era of excellence at LD.

Thomas Nicewicz, Mechanicsburg 9^th 800m 1:55.31

At the 2014 Stan Morgan Invitational Thomas Nicewicz of Mechanicsburg ran the agonizing time of 2:00.09. According to milesplit, this was his fastest mark of his sophomore campaign around the oval. But, as is the case with many close misses, the heartbreak quickly turned to motivation.

As the 2015 outdoor track season began to heat up, Nicewicz was emerging as a solid 800m sleeper pick, winning the Bruce Dallas Invitational and placing third on the double at Pan Ram. His first big breakthrough came at Shippensburg when he ran 1:58.99 for his first invitational sub two of his career. Although the time was strong, the Junior from Mechanicsburg was far from a household name, especially in a district that featured stand outs like Zach Brehm, Matt Wisner, Brook Wilson and rapidly emerging Ethan Gatchell.

When Districts rolled around Nicewicz was slated to run both the 1600m and the 800m, a double that concerned some analysts. He was written out of the state qualifying picture by many in favor of the big names and stars. But Thomas was unintimidated. After a disappointing 1600m, he returned with a fire for the 800m and stuck his nose in the thick of things to finish in a time of 1:57.17, which would be good enough for 5^th place and a spot on the line at Shippensburg, the same place where he had clocked his early season breakthrough almost a month earlier.

What made the race even more impressive was the fact that Nicewicz’s seed time had placed him 13^th on the performance list. That meant he had to run out of the slower of two sections with few runners to push him to a fast time. In fact, he won his heat by a margin of almost three and a half seconds. At a district championship, every fraction of a second is so important. It speaks volume of Thomas’s character that he was able to push himself to his limits in the slower section and to have the mental fortitude to ensure that he got the SQS time of 1:57.32. This fortitude would serve him well at the state championships.

At states, Nicewicz was in the second of two heats with a group that included John Lewis, the top seed at 1:49.15 as well as Dylan Eddinger of Boyertown. In the first section, 7 runners had broken the 1:57 barrier and in Thomas’s section another 9 runners had seed times under that mark. Considering Nicewicz was fresh off a fairly sizable PR to even get to 1:57, he was something of an afterthought in the second preliminary.

However, his mental fortitude proved strong once again. He hung on courageously to a blistering early pace from Eddinger and gave everything he had in pursuit of a top 4 spot, which would guarantee him a trip the finals. But the top four looked to be clear and a group of 4 runners around him were all fighting feverishly for a chance to advance on time. Nicewicz’s final meters allowed him to finish a close 5^th, but his time, without the knowledge of FAT results, was going to be very close to the bubble. When the results were announced, Thomas’s efforts were rewarded. Again, every tenth of a second had matter as he was the last runner to qualify for the Saturday’s final.

In the final, the Junior could have simply been content to enjoy his moment of victory from Friday afternoon. Few had expected him to get to this point and in field featuring men with PRs at 1:55 or faster, Nicewicz was an underdog to say the least. However, he didn’t simply fold. In a race where the leader strolled through 400m in an unthinkable 51.1 seconds, Nicewicz fought his way around the track, keeping careful track of the medal positions and racing hard to try and get there.

When the dust settled, Nicewicz ended up in the dreaded nine spot. However he had clocked a nearly two second PR less than 24 hours after running his initial PR in the prelims. His time of 1:55.31 marked an impressive five second drop from his 2:00.09 from a year previously. Thomas came a long way during the 2015 season and showed fantastic amounts of strength and heart during his impressive journey to the state finals.

Twin Valley, 9^th 4x800m 7:55.29

During a year that will largely be remember for individual performances, the seniors from Twin Valley reminded us what it means to be a team. Although they had their fair share of individual highlights, Twin Valley was always willing to sacrifice for one another and put “we” ahead of “I”.

In the fall, the Twin Valley boys navigated the Cross Country season well. They had a strong group of seniors, leading the charge with experience and maturity. The team had heart and they were determined to get back to the state championships at Hershey. At the District Meet, Lower Dauphin flooded the front running positions with their impressive top three, but Twin Valley’s pack of team players was able to outlast their competitors and secure a spot at the state meet.

During the indoor track season, Josh Coakley emerged as a strong 800m threat, running 2:02 in December. With the Geary twins and Dom Digiacomo also providing strong splits, Twin Valley was able to produce some excellent relay marks including a 10:50.80 DMR that earned them yet another trip to the state championships.

By the time the outdoor season had rolled around, TV was clicking on all cylinders. Josh Coakley had run fantastic marks of 4:21 and 1:56 while The Geary twins were rolling around the 4:30 and 2:00 barriers. Dom Digiacomo continued to display excellent improvements in speed, while still maintaining his excellent long distance strength.

The team looked excellent at districts as the broke the eight minute mark in the 4x800m and completed the triple state qualifier. Although other teams may have featured flashy names or better front runners, Twin Valley bested all but Cedar Crest despite having no individual state qualifiers.

Once the boys tripped out to Shippensburg, the team faced a big test in the prelims. Within their prelim were five district one teams, all of which had run 7:54 or faster at districts. There was also Cardinal O’Hara, the District 12 champions and cross country power houses, who came in with a 7:55 seed. Only the top four were guaranteed a spot in the final and, despite TV’s best efforts they had to settle for a hard fought 5^th. They did manage to beat out multiple other top tier teams, but it was unclear if it would be enough as their time was just 8:01.

After a nerve-racking second heat, Twin Valley watched the clock tick down on the 8^th place team in Heat 2 and breathed a sigh of relief as they realized their mark would just barely be good enough to escape day one and run in the finals on Saturday. They were the last team to qualify.

In the finals, the pace was extremely quick from the gun. Despite an impressive run by Colin Geary on the lead off leg, most teams were running around 1:56 or faster at the first exchange. It was hard to stay confident, but Twin Valley continued to compete, ignoring their seed time or their prelim finish and fighting hard to pursue a medal.

Despite an incredibly impressive kick over the final 100m by anchor Josh Coakley, Twin Valley had come up just short of a medal, finishing in 9^th place. However, the relay ran an excellent time of 7:55.29 and cut a few more seconds of their relay PR. In typical Twin Valley fashion, it was a team effort from four seniors who all gave it their best. According to milesplit, the splits recorded for each runner were faster than any of their previous open PRs.

At the end of the day, you can only control your own efforts, you can’t control what everyone else does. These seven runners all toed the line and states and gave remarkable efforts, including some fantastic PRs. What you appreciate the most about each of these athletes is their heart and their determination. They each faced obstacles, but they never gave up.

In the past, 9^th place finishers or 26^th place finishers in XC, have gone on to do impressive things in later years. They use these moments as motivation for the future. Guys like Tony Russell and Vinny Todaro never forgot their close calls for the medal stand and went on to become state champions. Others like Aaron Gebhart and Ben Scheetz have used their finish as motivation to win district championships or set NCAA records.

 
Each of these runners proved this season that they are not only physically strong, but mentally strong. And that is something that never goes away. Regardless of what is next for each of these runners, the future looks very bright. Even if there is always someone better, that should never stop you from trying to be the best. And for these kids, I know it won’t.