All My Friends are Runners: Dynizzle Gets their Goldizzle

Chapter 11: Dynizzle Gets Their Goldizzle

North Penn is a legendary 4x800 meter relay school. So, to no one’s surprise, they trotted out another special team in 2007. North Penn had already won the indoor state championship in the 4x8 and finished as the top PA team at the Penn Relays. Their 7:48 from Districts placed them in the pole position going into the outdoor state championships.

Despite North Penn’s year in and year out success, they had suffered tough defeats at the previous few championships. After their state title in 2002, they had lost the next four state championships by a combined 3.25 seconds[1]. During that span District 3 had captured three state titles, including wins by Cumberland Valley and Central Dauphin, two teams that were breathing down North Penn’s neck in this year’s title race. Central Dauphin was particularly scary: their anchor, Andrew Rotz, had already run 1:53 for 800m and was the runner up for the indoor state title.

North Penn felt they had a complete team featuring four very capable runners and they hoped that would be enough to hold off some of the star power on the opposing anchor legs. Zack Montijo and Justin Bookheimer had both split 1:56 for the team at the Penn Relays. Steve Franks had run 1:56 in the open 800m at the District Championships, running step for step with Chris Ferry of Henderson in the battle for second. Rounding out the quartet was sophomore Brian Quintrell.

Central Dauphin, the District 3 Champions, barely slipped by Strath Haven in the trails, but clinched a finals spot all the same. Surprisingly, York Suburban and Chambersburg emerged as the title threats from District 3, running 7:50 and 7:51 respectively to take the top two seeds in the final. Quietly, the WPIAL champions Baldwin, continued to improve on their season best and made it into the finals between a sleeper team from Wissahickon, and the National Champions from Cross Country, Coatesville. Coatesville had been second at districts to North Penn, but they had dropped the baton during the race. They were the experienced powerhouse with real upset potential as the state finals loomed. Like Weller, they had a certain “clutch” gene that you had to respect.

For the final, North Penn decided to lead off Justin Bookheimer, a strong relay runner with great speed (he was a top notch 300m hurdler). Bookheimer got stuck a bit on the first lap as Central Dauphin controlled the race through 400m. However, CD’s lead off had been too ambitious and he faded on the second lap. In his place was the leadoff man from State College, followed closely by Chambersburg, Wissahickon and then Bookheimer. These four had clearly separated themselves from Dave Adley of Baldwin who was among the leaders in the chase pack. Bookheimer had stuck North Penn in contention on the lead off with his 1:56.1 split, putting him right alongside Wissahickon’s Kevin Bray in the top group.

Chambersburg took over the lead on the first lap of the second leg followed closely by Kern of Wissahickon and then State College. Quintrell, like Bookheimer before him, tried not to get out too fast on his first lap. He sat in about 4^th just ahead of Central Dauphin, who was again charging out hard and chasing the leaders. The pack of four was increasing quickly as West Chester East also added itself to the mix behind second leg John LaColla, who had run in the 15:30s for 5k during the fall. On the next lap, Chambersburg paid the price for their move to the front and began to slip back through the field. Wissahickon’s Scott Kern found himself at the front, trying to power away from a line of chasers led by the surging Central Dauphin runner, Tyler Golden. Quintrell swung wide on the final turn for North Penn and dug down deep to try and keep his team at the front. His 1:58.8 split was one of his best times of the season.

The breakthrough close from Quintrell set up third leg Steve Franks quite well for North Penn. He charged to the front and took over the race. Wissahickon’s Kumar tried his best to keep up, but Franks was setting a strong pace against a slew of third legs that were not at his ability level[2]. As Franks continued to control the race out front, a bouncy haired youth from Baldwin was beginning to fly through the field behind him, picking off spot after spot. It was sophomore sensation TJ Hobart. Baldwin’s first two legs had placed them about 3 seconds behind North Penn, but Hobart was quickly beginning to make up ground, even against the talented Franks. As they rounded the turn and headed for home on the next lap, Hobart was furiously kicking to try and draw even with Franks. Both men had put a clear divide between themselves and third place. With the race less than two minutes from its conclusion, North Penn once again found themselves in a tight knit battle for the state championship.

Franks got the stick to anchor leg Zack Montijo about a half second before Hobart could pass the baton to his anchor, Chris Wolfe. Wolfe had been a solid 400/800 runner for Baldwin each of the past two seasons and was hoping to cap his senior season with an upset victory. He stalked Montijo, waiting to unleash his kick, sucking off the Knight’s energy at the front. Meanwhile, Zack could not sit around and wait. He knew that Central Dauphin’s Andrew Rotz was giving chase. Wolfe’s strong and powerful frame cast a shadow over Montijo as he continued to stalk his prey, but Montijo remained calm and focused. He had anchored the boys to a title indoors, and he knew he could do it again.

Meanwhile, the chase pack had been shuffling madly over the past 400m. Coatesville’s Owen Dawson was in third coming off the final turn of the first lap, but Nick Crits was right there for Wissahickon as was Dan Addis from Great Valley. Rotz was back a few more spots in 8^th, but he was charging around Chambersburg and East, his eyes ahead on the next group.

Despite the action behind, the race for first remained a two-man battle. Montijo continued to hold off Wolfe down the back stretch and around the final turn. It was now or never for Wolfe as he began to swing wide to try and put in one more burst to get by Montijo. But Zack was ready. Wolfe’s heroic charge was answered in earnest by Montijo over the final 100 meters. Unleashing his own finishing kick, Montijo sprinted away from Wolfe and got to the line first, giving North Penn their long coveted title 7:43.22 to 7:44.08. Montijo out-split Wolfe 1:53.4 to 1:53.9 in personal best runs for both men.

Behind him, there was a mad dash by the anchors to get to the finish. Nick Crits was leading with just 100m to go, but Andrew Rotz was charging hard, flanked by Owen Dawson on his outside for Coatesville who was trying frantically to keep pace. Chambersburg and Great Valley were also right there, sprinting on the inside line. The hard charge from Rotz was enough to get Central Dauphin third, his 1:51.9 split good enough to best Crits, who ran 1:53. Coatesville and Great Valley battled to the line for 5^th and 6^th respectively while Chambersburg held off a fantastic late charge from State College to round out the medalists.

It was a fantastic win for North Penn. They had taken back the state title in the 4x800m and once again proven themselves as one of the best mid distance programs in the state. But perhaps more intriguing, every member of the relay was returning the next season. And the chain of events that would lead to a new state record in the 4x8 had officially begun.

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[1] 2002- 7:45.47 (1^st)

2003- 7:48.77 (3^rd) Cumberland Valley 1^st 7:48.11

2004- 7:48.42 (3^rd) Central Dauphin 1^st 7:47.28

2005- 7:41.04 (2^nd) Conestoga Valley 1^st 7:40.06

2006- 7:43.90 (2^nd) Simon Gratz 1^st 7:43.43

[2] I’d say typically teams end up putting their weakest runner third. It’s just the way it works out. But 4x8 order strategy is highly underrated and super over analyzed by yours truly on an annual basis.