The Etrain 11: It's Never O'Ver

By Jarrett Felix

Since moving into the PIAA, the boys at Cardinal O’Hara have become one of the powerhouses of Pennsylvania distance running. But it hasn’t always been an easy transition. Every step of the way, O’Hara has had something prove. In 2011, O’Hara had to prove they were a state title level team. They had finished 3^rd in the state, but people still doubted that they were on of the state’s best. Few saw them as one of the great programs or performers, but they rolled through the season and placed 4 in the top 50 at states. Unfortunately, they finished 2^nd in a tiebreaker at the state championships and, although they defeated powerhouses North Allegheny and West Chester Henderson, North Penn snuck by for their 3^rd state title.

Then it was time for critics to say O’Hara was a choker or they couldn’t time their peak. But O’Hara stormed back a year later, this time placing all five runners in the top 50 at states. They lost another tie breaker, but they also scored one of the lowest point totals in state history. It was likely a heartbreaking loss, but they didn’t let it keep them down. A few weeks later, they punched their tickets to Nike Team Nationals and then posted a 5^th place finish in the Nation, defeating their rivals from Henderson both times.

But it still wasn’t enough to quiet the doubters. There was still things for haters to be picky about. Even after O’Hara dropped a 10 flat DMR to win the national championship in 2014, people were still picking them apart for the fact that they had failed to grab state gold.

However, O’Hara was never a team to give into the doubters. In 2015, the team captured their long overdue state title in the PTFCA DMR. Kevin James, who had been a part of all the highs and lows from the past four years had the honor of bringing the baton around the final turn in first and clinching the gold.

As he stuck his tongue out in celebration and let out a scream of triumph, the O’Hara boys enjoyed a perfect moment to cap off their four year path to the top of the state. Later that spring, Kevin James graduated from Cardinal O’Hara, seemingly signaling the end of an era.

“On our team, we don’t like to huddle up before races. We don’t do any chants or share inspirational words. We get on the line and tell each other not to be wimps and that’s about it. It’s a tough love team and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

“But my junior year at XC states Kevin James asked us to huddle up about 5 minutes before the gun. There were a lot of emotions considering we never did things like that. He told us to run for each other and above anything else, run for Coach K, who we all have unbelievable love and respect for. That was probably the most exciting and emotional moment in my entire XC career.

“I went on to have what I think was the best race of my career.”

When a team loses one of their top runners, they lose more than just a low stick. They also lose a leader. With the graduation of Kevin James, Drew Pastore and Jack Nolen, O’Hara lost some fast runners, but also some fantastic role models. So it was natural for there to be a transition period heading into the 2015 XC season.

“Our mindset going into the 2015 season was that we were still a good team even without Kevin and that great senior class,” Patrick James, one of the team’s varsity scorers remembers, “But I think I may have underestimated how big of a loss that class would be. We struggled early with a few tough races.”

Although O’Hara was still a strong team, they wanted more. At Briarwood and Foundation, they were disappointed with their team finishes which included a 7^th place finish on the Hershey course preview. Considering many top schools were not at the meet, including Downingtown West and North Allegheny, it was going to be tough for O’Hara to even crack the top 10 when they came back in November.

But struggles are not what defines a team. It is how a team combats those struggles that matters. After Foundation, the team was looking for redemption at their next invite. However, fate intervened. “Weather permitted us from doing an invite the week after Foundation,” says rising junior Jack Becker, who had been the first runner for O’Hara in the JV race at Hershey, “however, it proved to be a turning point for us. We used those two weeks (to build momentum) with a lot of hard work and preparation for our championship meets.”

When O’Hara returned to the trails at Rose Tree Park, the team looked like a rejuvenated and focused team. Ryan James ran a blistering 16:02 for the victory, followed by Rob Morro in 2^nd. Then Patrick James impressed, crossing the line in 7^th place just ahead of future state medalist Liam Galligan. Gavin Inglis and Billy Donovan rounded out the top 5 scorers with 10^th and 11^th place finishes, both cracking 17 minutes on race day. Justin Jones finished 13^th and Jack Becker took 20^th, giving O’Hara a dominant victory yet again at the DELCO Championships with 31 total points.

Patrick James had cut 73 seconds off his Hershey time while Billy Donovan had dropped 68. The top five was coming together nicely for a hard fought O’Hara stretch run.

At the PCL Championships, O’Hara went toe to toe with their talent district rivals, LaSalle. Although they really wanted to keep the Catholic championship in house, they had to settle for the silver. O’Hara took the top two spots overall and placed five runners in the top 17, but LaSalle packed things in brilliantly taking spots three through six. A week later, LaSalle was victorious again at the District 12 championships and the gap between themselves and O’Hara seemed to be widening heading into the state championships.

Heading into the state championships, TheRealTrain blog seemed to be out on O’Hara. In their top team predictions, O’Hara was left off the list and barely received a passing mention for top 10 consideration. The Hershey course that had caused them so much trouble a few weeks earlier was back in front of their face. How would they handle the challenge?

Right from the start, the team pushed the pace fearlessly. Ryan James surged to the lead pack and set the tone at the front of the race. Morro also went out strong and a pack of three juniors, Donovan, Inglis and Patrick James, all put themselves in an excellent position through the mile. O’Hara sat in 5^th place, but had their ambitious early pace been too bold?

By two miles, O’Hara was still gripping tight to a top five position, but the familiar names like Council Rock North, Henderson and CB East had been quickly moving up to chase them down. Patrick James had made a strong surge on the second mile to move up the pack and had pushed Donovan and Inglis to move with him. James and Morro still looked like medal threats, but to keep a hold on their top spot, they would need a gutsy final mile from their pack. 

Over the final mile, the team held strong. Ryan James and Rob Morro both crossed the line faster than a year previously and earned medals for the second straight year, finishing 17^th and 23^rd. Meanwhile, Donovan dug deep on the final mile to finish 60^th in team standings and 102^nd overall as the team’s #3 runner. Every point would prove to be critical as O’Hara held off late charges from Mt Lebanon and CB East by just 1 point and 3 points respectively (as well as Sate College by 7 points). A truly gutsy and fearless run from O’Hara had resulted in an impressive 6^th place overall team finish.

“I knew we were one of the best in the state because of the type of chemistry we had and the firepower that we had up front.” Ryan James, the team’s #1 runner at states, explains.

“We shocked the state and ourselves placing 6^th,” says Donovan, one of the team’s heroes on race day, “Only Rob, Ryan and I had prior experience running in the state championships. At states, we ran as a team and for each other, which resulted in many great performances. This is a testament to the fact that our team had the ability to successfully compete on the state level after losing a great senior class the prior year.”

Patrick James added, “Losing those guys hurt us early in the season, but we matured as the season progressed and found new leaders.”

Guys graduate every year. Given enough time, an entire roster will turn over. Between 2011 and 2015, O’Hara had done just that. But the boys XC squad had continued to evolve.

“O’Hara cross country has given me many great memories. I have met some of my best friends while running on the team. We have a tight knit team and that makes every run fun,” says Donovan, “I enjoy spending time with my teammates outside of practice so that we create team comradery which is necessary for success on race day.”

Rob Morro, who had his best race under Kevin James a year prior, became the senior leader on the varsity squad and was able to push and inspire his teammates in the same way when he came back to Hershey. And a few months later, he would have a chance to inspire his teammates yet again.

In 2015, when Kevin James came barreling down the straightaway, one of the first people to celebrate with him was Rob Morro. He had been the lead off leg for the 2015 state champions and was the only one back in 2016.

“Kevin, Jack and Isaiah are some of my closest friends and we had talked about that race for months leading up to it. I think after the mile earlier that day (where Kevin had gotten second), we really wanted to give it everything we had to get our brother Kev his first, and very well deserved, State title. I’ll always remember how excited we were when Kev came down that last 50 meters, looked over at us, stuck his tongue out and then completely lost it. That was one of the happiest moments I have ever had.”

For many, that moment seemed like a distant memory when the 2016 season began. The buzz was around AAA state champions Downingtown West as well as the Independent league champions Germantown Friends. Also emerging as state title contenders were teams like Central Bucks East with Jake Brophy on the anchor and State College, anchored by Alex Milligan. Even PCL rivals LaSalle were generating significant buzz. But O’Hara was always lurking.

“When we got second at MOC in the DMR without our star 800 leg Justin Jones and when we medaled in the 4x8 at MOC after our lead off dropped the baton and Junior Gavin Inglis ran a big race to get us back in it, we thought we could medal high in both events.” Morro remembers.

Also complicating the O’Hara title defense was the new state championship rules which allowed schools to enter both a 4x800 and a DMR at the indoor finals for the first time. O’Hara decided to enter both the 4x8 and the DMR which, according to etrain’s preview, dropped them outside the favorites.

But O’Hara has always been a team first. “Our goal is to run as many guys as we can at states and bring home as many medalists as possible.” Morro says, “I would have loved to hop in that 3k, but I feel that accomplishing things with your teammates is much more fulfilling than doing it alone. There was never really a decision that had to be made, we all just knew that running both relays was the plan.”

“The team always comes first at O’Hara.”

But despite the team first attitude, it looked like O’Hara may have made a mistake after the day’s first distance event. O’Hara fought valiantly in the 4x8, including fantastic carries from DMR pieces Justin Jones and Rob Morro, but the team ended up in the dreaded 9^th place spot and just outside the medals. Now they entered the DMR with tired legs and nothing to show for it.

Defending their state title seemed next to impossible and the story shifted away from Cardinal O’Hara. The doubters were back. It seemed too easy to count this team out again. But, when it comes to track and field, nothing ever comes easy.

“Before the DMR, we were fired up because we knew we could place in the top three.” Morro says, “I knew a ton of guys in our race were coming off all sorts of doubles. When we were warming up, I saw tons of our competition just laying around. I got excited because I felt like we wanted it more than they did.”

Morro set the tone on his opening leg, handing off in first place and running a gutsy last 400 to break things open. Then it was Tamir Jones on the 400 leg, sprinting away right from the jump and opening up a big gap. Justin Jones took the baton next, running completely by himself, but running faster than he did in a pack earlier that day on the 4x8. That left the baton in the hands of O’Hara’s only fresh leg. It was perhaps their secret weapon and all too familiar name: Ryan James.

“Before the DMR, I was getting in the mindset that we could win the race. We had the arsenal to do it. I felt excited to show everyone that we are there to win and nothing less. I would do as much in my ability to get the win.” Ryan James took the baton and went after it from his lead position. He desperately wanted to keep the gold in house.

“I knew that we had a large lead, but I knew that the people who I was going against had faster mile PRs than me so I couldn’t relax or slow down.” He kept pressing, pushing away from Nick Dahl and Alex Milligan, a pair of runners who would finish their spring track seasons running 4:08 and 4:10. Without the benefit for a pacer or competition, James pushed on and kept his foot on the gas, breaking away and hitting the line first with about a 4:23-4:24 split, a nice PR at the time.

It capped off a perfectly executed race for O’Hara and, against all odds, another state championship in the DMR.

After the victory, Morro compared the win to the year before, “Winning my senior year mean a lot because no one expected it. Not even us. And instead of relying on a 4:15 anchor, we all contributed. It felt great to hit the gas on my last 400 and see who wanted to come get me. It was awesome to watch our middle legs completely break the race open. Ryan went out really gutsy as we O’Hara boys like to do and gave it everything he could on the anchor leg.

“It was great to watch another James brother bring home a state title for us.”

As things shifted to outdoor, O’Hara continued to excel. Morro and Ryan James took 1-2 at the DELCO championships in the 3200m. Gavin Inglis ran some impressive miles and 800s while Patrick James dropped a 4:25.17 full mile at PCLs. Eddie Issertell and Jack Becker ran some gutsy races of their own, including a particularly noteworthy breakthrough for Becker at the Abington 3200.

How does O’Hara continue to find success each season? If you ask any of their athletes, they are quick to point to their coaching.

“Coach Kennedy has been able to take a lot of decent runners and make them into stars.” Says Patrick James.

And Issertell adds, “Coming in as freshmen, the new runners are able to see the success the program has brought to the older guys and want to commit to the program in the hopes that they will progress in their running. It is no secret that if we fully dedicate ourselves to Coach Kennedy’s program, the improvement will come.”

However, the team’s ultimate strength is simple: brotherhood.

“The love we have for the guys standing next to us on the line is what motivates us. That’s what makes O’Hara great: we run for each other, not for ourselves.”

As a relay unit, the team’s DMR handled themselves well in one of the deepest Penn Relays DMR’s in state history and added a surprising sub 10:20 performance. The team’s 4x8 also qualified for the state finals. The list of surprises continued to grow with each week.

But the team is still looking for the next big surprise in their school’s history. Heading into the 2016 season returning a slew of key runners including Ryan James, Billy Donovan, Patrick James and Gavin Inglis from last year’s top 5, O’Hara is setting its sights on the program’s first PIAA State Championship. With many top teams returning, it won’t be an easy task. There will, of course, be doubters.

But I suppose that’s never stopped O’Hara before.