This was getting really long (it's my senior year, I can't help but be nostalgic about it), so I split this into two parts so that it will be a slightly easier read.
Defining Runners
There’s more guys that could have made this list, but
ultimately I narrowed it down to just these two. Keep in mind that the seniors
in this class are my age so I “grew up” watching and comparing myself to them (and
thinking, “Holy crap, how can these guys possibly be my age?”). My two main
focuses over the years were XC and the 800, so these guys seem like logical
choices.
Brad Miles, North
Penn
Miles first burst onto the radar in XC his sophomore
season. I couldn’t believe the kid was just a sophomore as he posted awesome
marks at Briarwood and Carlisle, rounding out a crazy strong top three for
eventual XC state champs North Penn. The signature moment for him that season
in my eyes was his 15:24 at districts as a sophomore (placing 4th).
I think that moment really blew my mind.
Over the course of three XC seasons, Miles was to 6 in
the district each year. His team won two golds and a seemingly improbable
silver. He has three top 10 finishes in the state. He’s run 15:20 at Carlisle,
15:20 at Salesianum, and 15:49 at Briarwood. During Miles senior season, he
went undefeated against PA competition and dominated his league and district
before unleashing a filthy kick to win the state championship in a then course record
of 15:47. He then won the Footlocker Northeast Regional (only Affolder has done
that since, no one I can remember had done it before). Miles has qualified as
an individual for both Footlocker Nationals and Nike Nationals in his
career-the only PA guy in the history of the meets.
Miles track career was never quite as dynamic as his XC
one, although he did post some strong results. He qualified for the state
finals in the 1600 as a junior and ran 9:15 for 3200 in a loaded state finals
as a senior. Brad was also quick enough over 800 meters to help his North Penn
squad make the district finals in the event.
Tom Mallon, CB
South
If Miles sophomore year blew my mind, you can imagine
what Tom Mallon’s year looked like. The CB South sophomore grabbed his first
state medal indoors at 800 with a 1:56 (a big PR at the time). As the tide
turned toward outdoors, Mallon continued to turn heads. He helped elevate his
4x8 into the state title discussion after they clocked a 7:53 to win the League
title and then dropped a 4:23 for 1600 to defeat Zack Montijo for another gold.
A week later, CB South took 2nd at Districts in the 4x8 with Mallon
producing a personal best 1:53.89 in the 800 to earn the silver.
But his first state championship appearance was where he
really shined. After anchoring his 4x8 with a 1:52 split (they ran 7:46), he
shocked the world with a surprisingly easy state title run in the open 800.
Doubling back, Mallon clocked a 1:52.35 to win state gold by over a second.
Again, he was just a sophomore.
That put a lot of pressure on Tom as he entered his
junior track season. There was a target on his back all season as he raced
against Mike Palmisano of Upper Dublin. Although it seemed Palmisano had the
upper hand, Mallon turned it up a notch at the most important moments. He won
the Meet of Champs 800 over a doubling Palmisano in a season best 1:57.26
before blasting a historic 1:51.79 state record at PSU a week later. For good
measure, he anchor his team’s 4x8 in 1:52 to steal another state gold. His indoor
campaign ended with a 2nd place finish in the individual 800 at
nationals and a 3rd place finish in the 4x8 (behind two teams that
would go on to run under the national record at Penn Relays).
Mallon’s junior outdoor season was all about the 4x8 as
CB South chased (and got) the 4x8 state record. Mallon split under 1:50 on two
of the biggest stages-Penn Relays and States-including a 1:49.1 anchor carry
that was basically solo. They clocked times of 7:36, 7:37 and 7:33 that year to
put them under 7:40 three times! Individually, Mallon ran 1:52.02 (fastest time
of the year), won the outdoor state title relatively uncontested and, somehow,
seemed like he underachieved. But his senior year would give him time for
individual accolades.
Indoors, Tom focused on the mile distance his senior
season. That worked out pretty well as he qualified for the Millrose Games and
then won the mile state title over PA #1 Tom Kehl of Father Judge. Mallon also
anchored his DMR to a win at the Meet of Champs and a 5th place
finish at states. Tom tried for an ambitious triple at states with the 800
falling in between the mile and DMR. Although Mallon won his section of the
800, he finished 4th overall as three runners from Heat 2 ran a
faster time.
With extra mile strength in his back pocket, Mallon got
to work in the spring at 800 meters. At Henderson, he blasted a 1:49.61 which,
at the time, was PA #3 AT. After winning leagues in the 1600 (3 straight) and
800, he went to districts and clocked a 1:52.71 district record. Then it was
time for states. Here, Mallon blasted a 1:49.31 to take his third straight
state gold and set a state meet record that had lasted since 1984. Mallon
capped things off with a third straight sub 1:50 open time of 1:49.01 at the PA
Distance Festival which made him “co-record holder” with Paul Vandegrift (who
clocked 1:48.8h in 1987).
When Mallon hung up his spikes at graduation, he was the
state meet record holder in the 800 both indoors and outdoors. He was the state
record holder in the indoor and outdoor 800. He was the state and national
federation record holder in the 4x800. He had claimed 7 state golds.
For the record, Mallon also had multiple sub 16
performances in XC and two top 30 finishes at the state championships. His
senior season he was top 10 in District 1 for XC, state champ indoors for the
mile and raced on the 5th place 4x400 at states.
Defining Teams
What’s interesting about this year is that there weren’t
many dominate teams. I think that made for some truly memorable races, but
maybe not truly memorable teams.
Henderson
The 2009 Henderson XC team started a big trend for the
Warriors. Those around during the prime years of the blog know Henderson as a
power that routinely won the district and competed for state gold, but before
2009 they had been routinely denied the title, watching Ches-mont rivals
Coatesville and WC East take home the gold instead. But in 2009, Henderson
stormed to a runaway victory at Lehigh and, with a deep team, eked out a
victory in one of the tightest state meets in recent history (it included 5
teams with realistic title hopes). They had just one state medalist (Will
Kellar), but got top 50 finishes from Khattabi, Andrews and Grab to help seal
the golds.
On the track, Henderson continued to excel. Indoors, they
won the state distance medley relay and their 800 man Luke Lefebure won
individual gold in his best event. Outdoors, Henderson qualified for the
Championship of America in the 4x800 relay and had a gold and silver medalist
individually at outdoor states.
Quaker Valley
Top AA squads can tend to be overlooked in Pennsylvania,
but the Quaker Valley boys made people notice them this decade. In XC, QV won
district titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 with scores of 47 and 41 points in those
final two seasons. They posted six individual medals in that three year stretch
and took 5th, 2nd and 2nd at states. Although
they were narrowly denied a pair of state golds on the trails, they ended up
making up for it on the track. Quaker Valley won the 2009 state title in the
4x8 with a 7:58 before turning it up a notch in 2010. They clocked a 7:46.46,
the 2nd best time in AA meet history, and rolled behind a 1:52
anchor carry from Omar Hyjek. Hyjek ended up doubling up on his golds by
winning the 1600 meters shortly thereafter.
Altoona
Altoona was the first team I can remember that went after
team titles in track. They weren’t afraid to double or triple where necessary
to try and steal points. I think that was most exhibited in Wade Endress. The
junior doubled with the mile and the DMR at indoor states, winning in an
impressive bronze in the former before nearly nipping Will Kellar at the line
to steal gold in the DMR. During the spring, Endress added medals in the 1600
and 800 while also being a 4x4 piece for their state final team. Altoona also
had the sprint god that was Brady Gehret. Brady rolled to the state title
indoors at both 200 and 400 and was splitting in the 45s for the 4x4 since his
junior season. The dude was unreal.
By the way, the Altoona XC team was memorable as well.
The school from District 6 made a legit push for the state championship in what
would have been a huge surprise against the powers of the bigger districts.
Although they ended up 4th in the final standings, Altoona finished
with two state medalists (Endress and Chris Fischer) as well as another top 40
finisher (Liberman).
Honorable Mention:
Baldwin
What a wild season Baldwin had. The WPIAL squad spent the
fall posting excellent team results, led by a loaded top 3 of Dennis Logan,
Matt Cecala and Bobby Bishop. However, they remained in the shadow of the titans
from North Allegheny. They missed NA by just 12 points at Tri-States and 17 at
Coopers despite averaging 16:45 and 16:41. At states, they finished 5th
in the standings, just 26 points off the podium.
During the indoor season, Baldwin emerged as a state
title contender again-this time in the DMR. The Baldwin boys clocked a 10:26.78
at the TSTCA Championships and set themselves up as the #1 seed in the state.
After impressive middle legs from Arkangelo James and Dennis Logan, sophomore
Bobby Bishop was put in a position to close it out for the title. However, the
ultra-talented sophomore couldn’t’ quite hold off the all-time greats he was
racing and Baldwin had to settle for 4th in 10:25.50. A little while
later, Baldwin trekked to indoor nationals and earned 3 top 8 finishes in the
distance relays taking 7th, 4th and 7th in the
4x8, DMR and 4xMile.
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