PAs Greats

PA has rarely been THE state on the national scene, very few times while I've been around the game have we seen individuals in the mix for national championships on the XC trails or on the track. Even when we had a 7:33 4x800m, one of the top 8 or so times ever at that point in time, that was the third best mark of the year. While I've been following the scene (which admittedly is a small window) the top national runners were probably bookending my periods of time. Coatesville won a national championship at NXN in 2006 just as I was beginning to understand and follow the sport and Tony Russell mixed it up for an individual title at NXN in 2013 right as I was leaving the sport. Russell also ran a big anchor leg on a indoor 4xMile squad that was just off a national title and ran a top 10 time in history. But I hesitate to count the indoor season as a true national representative. For me it's all about XC and Outdoors which is why I don't give too much credit to guys like Max Kaulbach who won an indoor national title in the 2-mile (back when there were two indoor national championships). The east coast has a massive advantage on this end because we are one of the only areas that truly takes it seriously.

But talking about our relevance on a national scene got me to thinking about who are the best PA runners that I have seen since I've been following PA HS athletics, i.e. Fall of 2006 to Fall of 2013?

It's not an easy question that much is certain. If you're talking XC you have to look at what Russell has done with two regional titles and ranking him up there as one of the best, if not the best. He also boasts a slew of course records and two state titles with a team and as an individual.

But once you move past him you have a lot of interesting names to consider. Max Kaulbach, Mark Dennin, Vince McNally and Chris Aldrich all graduated together and were in arguably the best class of XC individuals we have seen. Dennin has the top finish at the Footlocker meet since I have been here. He and Jason Weller have a pair of the clutchest wins I can remember.

Dustin Wilson and Zach Hebda represented very well at Footlocker, but it was a bit more of a decline those years. You look at what it was like when Dennin was there and how loaded it was at the top before NXN shrunk it down a bit and you can really appreciate the stretch run Dennin had. Max Norris and Shearn were also up there for representing well on the national scene.

Ryan Gil has one of the most memorable state championships in history and Wade Endress, despite some middle of the season rockiness, was a boss that year, qualifying for nationals at NXN that season. Endress may have been the most versatile runner that I have seen.

There are plenty of names to mention across the board as you can tell and it's really hard to put together any sort of ranking system. So I broke it down briefly by graduating years and put out the top 5 in each of those years in order.

Class of 2007
1. Jason Weller- State champ and super clutch, ran sub 15 at Lehigh and almost broke it at Hershey
2. Paul Springer- 14:47 is the course record at Lehigh, he could run fast and he snaged a footlocker bid in there as well
3. Kyle Dawson- 14:58 mark of his own, did a lot of the hard work to get the fast times for everybody else while leading perhaps the greatest team in state history
4. Lucas Zarzeczny- AA state champ, dominated the AA scene that year in XC out of Avonworth
5. Scott Van Kooten- name probably sounds familiar, his brother Jeff recently grabbed a medal, but Scott was a fantastic runner in his day, another guy who liked to go out hard and made the races at districts and states fast

Class of 2008
1. Mark Dennin- atop a loaded class, had one of the greatest 3 race stretches in state history, look at the names of the guys that beat him at nationals that year, they should look familiar, Derrick, Fernandez, Puskedra, Lowe, Cabral to name a few
2. Vince McNally- kinda a career achievement award, he was 13th at states as a freshman and top 5 as a soph, he ran 15:02 and qualified for nats
3. Max Kaulbach- didn't get as much love because he was independent league but ran hard for a good team and if he hopped in races with guys like Dennin he may have been able to win, we just never got to see it, didn't have individual xc qualifiers back then
4. Chris Aldrich- 15:02, district champion, 2 time top 5 finisher at states, footlocker finalist, another great henderson product
5. Dan Lowry- another guy who didn't get to show how good he was until it was too late, he came from lasalle before they were in the piaa, really underrated xc talent who was 12th at footlocker that year

Class of 2009
1. Joe Beveridge- gotta give credit where credit is due here, he didn't get to footlocker, but the guy came up huge at the state meet, he absolutely dominated Spisak and Santana (a couple guys who became quite good in college) and won states in AA as a junior as well
2. Ben Furcht- I'm bias here. He ran a 15:08 and made it to footlocker but he didn't come up big at states and lost to Tarsnane (and a bunch more really) Furcht is one of my favorite guys to come through the state and he was a gutsy racer, smart runner and incredibly hard worker. He and Berman really helped catapult Lower Merion into a real deal program and almost carried them to states that year (might have been a top 10-12 team in the state). Ben is one of the best runners to have 0 state titles.
3. Jimmy Tarsnane- He got the Ws at states that's what really matters in the end. He too helped PV get to a new level pulling Perozze and Armstrong along with him and maybe helping Dallago a bit for the future. PV got 4th at states that year! Tarsnane was a game changer for that program and probably earned #2 on most non-biased peoples list here.
4. Neal Berman- The other man in the Lower Merion duo made people think about 1-2 at states. Ran a blazing fast mark at Lehigh with just one shoe and finished 11th at Footlocker regionals that year. He too suffered at states, but was another smart runner who had to have liked training with somebody like Ben. I've got both of their autographs still.
5. Matt McCullough- Out of Malvern Prep, a squad which is back on the rise again, he was an under the radar guy from the Independent league who finished among the top 20 or so in the region. Another very smart racer who liked to run even splits. Loved the way guys like him raced. He almost managed to steal an indoor mile state championship as well!

Class of 2010 (a class close to my heart ...)
1. Brad Miles- Probably the biggest name I left out of the intro. Before Russell, he was the only guy who was a Regional champ for PA while I was watching. Miles really broke through to win districts, states and regionals all in a row which very rarely happens, it's been done only 3 times (twice by Russell) since I've been watching.And oh yeah Miles won two team state titles during his time at NP and got the team back to states out of the tough district one with basically nobody besides Sam Bernitt and himself. Incredible.
2. Radford Gunzenhauser- Name alone should get him on this list, but he also came through for a huge stretch of quality racing at the end of the season. He was the best guy in the state for a lot of this year and gave Miles one heck of a fight at states. Gunz also qualified for Footlocker, keeping his name in a big bunch of greats.
3. Will Kellar- A leader on that Henderson team for 2 years in a row and got them the title in 09. He finished second at states as a junior, 6th as a senior and in total has 3 individual medals from XC. He finished in the top 5 at districts a couple times in a row which is no easy task in itself.
4. Sam Bernitt- Gotta give credit here. He shut down his season after a rough states, but he was running on Miles level for most of the year. He might have been going to footlocker if he had chose to head out to Sunken Meadow. He was 2nd at districts and also grabbed a team title as a junior when he finished in the top 10 of states. I've got his phone # no big.
5. Chuck Lockwood- Probably the best guy on the AAA level when it comes to doing well after winning District 3. He won District 3 and finished 4th behind three guys who went on to qualify for Footlocker that season. Lockwood is another really under appreciated talent on the PA XC scene.
Honorable Mention: Gus McKenzie, GFS- Led a team to a huge surprise NXN qualifying mark and did work out there in the Independent League. If he had raced more of the big names that I put on the above list he probably would be up near the top, he just didn't get the same chance to prove himself because he wasn't in the PIAA.

Class of 2011
1. Zach Hebda- Huge fan of this guy. It's crazy because he was the 3rd best guy on his own team for the first 3 years of his high school career and then he became the best guy in the state. He didn't get that state title, but if he had a little bit more experience I think it could have been his.
2. Ryan Gil- Hard to rank this class of guys because all of them are so fantastic. Gil had an incredible career, 3rd as a junior and 1st as a senior. Hebda was better than him that year I feel, but Gil overcame all the injuries and timed his win perfectly at states. It's a shame he had to fight those injuries his senior year or he could have been one of the special ones. He went through some hard times in his younger days when NA got stunned at states (twice in a row) but he ended up leading them to the state title as a team his senior year for sweet revenge. In total Gil finished with 5 XC state medals, including two golds, one footlocker finalist appearance and he was also the top guy on the NA squad that finished top 12 at nationals in one of the greatest feel good stories of XC that I have seen. Lots of nice things to say about Gil.
3. Wade Endress- He always went out and tried to race the best guys. He went to the WPIAL course to race the 3-headed monster of North Hills, he went to Coatesville to race Chris Campbell. He lost both of those races, but he pushed himself outside of his comfort zone and it paid off at states when he finished 2nd and almost kicked to the win. Plus Endress got an individual qualifier to NXN. Gotta give props to Wade, he was a class act and a great competitor. He just wanted to race the best no matter what it took. He made that Altoona XC squad a swagger filled bunch of guys. Can definitely make a case he was the best in their year.
4. Chris Campbell- Just dominated District One that year. He beat Endress and crushed Steel City. He qualified for Footlocker. The guy was really strong his last two years at the state meet and he had a great finish. Most years that kinda resume gets you higher than 4th, but this was just a crazy year.
5. Jacob Kildoo- This is a tough one because let's face it I easily could have gone Silenieks, Kush or Ayers here because all of those guys were fantastic! But this year was just a little too deep. I'm gonna talk about everybody here though, even if I'm giving Kildoo the big nod. Ayers finished in the top 10 at states 3 years in a row. Incredible. The only guy to do it while I've been watching. Silenieks and Kush made up the best 3 some in XC state history as far as I'm concerned and they almost all got to Footlocker that year. And lastly Kildoo was the big dog at states that senior year. Came up with a strong race at Carlisle, finished 5th at states and also had his own top 12 finish at Footlocker regionals to boast about. His senior year he was the best of this group overall I would say, but you can certainly make a case for the other 3 in this slot.

Class of 2012
1. Dustin Wilson- Represented us fantastically on the big stage. Mixed it up with the All-Americans when he went out to Footlocker. Again the Independent league thing really limited our perception of just how great he was that season compared to the other PA guys.
2. Drew Magaha- Look the guy is certainly best known for his track marks which are quite absurd, but in XC his senior year he really put it all together, Magaha dropped a killer solo XC mark at districts and despite lots of talk of his XC credentials not being fit for hills, he pulled out a 6th place finish at the state meet. Props for a track guy to do it big like him.
3. Brett Kelly- Look there weren't a lot of stand out names in the class of 2012 if you remember, but Brett Kelly held his own. The third Boyertown guy on these lists, Kelly sported a great 3rd place finish at states and 3 top 30 finishes in his years there. He also managed a strong footlocker finish that year. He was 10th at districts 3 years in a row.
4. Logan Steiner- Steiner was a very strong runner for NA, he helped them continue to stay relevant and win another WPIAL title. He was top 5 at the state championship and did well at the NXN meet. He has 3 state medals to his name as well and was a WPIAL champ in some really crappy weather. Can certainly make a case he deserves to be higher on this list.
5. Josef DiP.- I honestly can't spell his last name, but Josef was the only senior among a sea of phenomenal juniors at the AA level. D-P ran really well that year and you can argue his best race wasn't that state meet, he did some nice work later that year on the track as well. An underrated guy among all the super stars in AA.

Small shout to Sam Hibbs. His senior year in XC wasn't his year, but he finished with 3 XC state medals and helped coach up and motivate the state champ in Conner Quinn. Then Hibbs went to the track and proved himself in a big way. Mad props.

Class of 2013
First off, I think this class is the hardest to rank. You can make a case for 15+ guys on this list. Just sayin.
1. Brendan Shearn- Although he didn't win the state title his senior year, he did win as a Junior, qualified for Footlocker and finished up near the All-American mix. I respect the race Shearn ran at states that year, he ran really gutsy and pushed himself to the limit. Plus Shearn is partially responsible for putting AA on the map with his achievements on the AA side. He showed they can hang with the best of em.
2. Max Norris- Norris was the feel good story of the year from XC districts until Penn Relays basically. He could kick down anybody and somehow came from left field in the last few races of the season to push himself into the conversation for top 5 at states, then top 10 at regionals and then all-american at nationals. Truly a guy who rode the momentum of a good race and he took it all the way to the top.
3. Austin Pondel- I give Pondel a slight nod here because he got the ultimate achievement when he locked up a Footlocker spot at Van Cortland. Pondel had a phenomenal senior XC season, becoming the breakout performer of the year and challenging for a state title at season's end. He came incredibly close considering he didn't have the flashy track times and he just ran a very hard race in very muddy conditions the week before. Pondel ends that year as a very underrated XC guy with a great story. Heck Pondel's school could have been AA, but his Coach wanted their school to race the top level. No excuses. That's a fantastic story,
4. Vinny Todaro- Gosh how is this guy 4th in his year? He probably deserves to be higher considering his senior year he dominated at Carlisle and beat Shearn and Jaskowak in one of the best races in state history. Todaro would have given Russell a run for his money that year I have to imagine, but he didn't run the post season and that kinda hurt his ranking as a result. But I am a huge fan of how Todaro raced in his Senior season. Another guy who doesn't get as much love, but had a fantastic series of races to grab the title.
5. Rico Galassi- Ugh do I have to pick just one guy? I go Galassi because he is a gutsy sub 16 at states in the first ever A race. He runs hard and he had a very good series of races that year and came up just a little bit short at the end of the season for Footlocker, but clearly belonged in the conversation with the best in the biz.

That being said I have a few more names I want to throw out. How about Dan Savage? Senior leader on an O'Hara team that was 5th at Nationals and was 1 point away from winning the state title two years in a row? He kept that team motivated and provided excellent leadership through all the heartbreak.

How about Luke Jones? Just a few seconds away from a state title. Twice in a row. And proved himself nicely at Footlocker regionals as well. I think he also got his squad a state championship in there. Very nice stuff for an underrated guy in Luke Jones.

Dan Jaskowak was also a beast. He suffered too from that Pondel mud battle and it may have screwed him out of a state title. I doubted him hard core all his junior year and all he did was almost steal the state title at the very end. He had some solid Footlocker finishes in back to back years as well and a really memorable win at Red, White and Blue his Junior year.

And a small shout out to Conner Quinn. He had the greatest upset perhaps in any state race ever! Who saw that coming? I mean really though? That was a sick race and although his senior year wasn't perfect he battled back hard and still had a nice series of races and a good Footlocker race.

Gotta give props to the Horsham boys.

Class of 2014
Gotta admit, I wasn't watching this one that closely, but here we go
1. Tony Russell- As I've said, on paper he is the best to ever come through. I believe he has 5 XC state medals, 4 were gold, two regional championships, the state meet course record, a sub 15 and he has some nice invitational wins and fast times on other courses. He led his team to two NXN titles and delivered in an upset and when he was the favorite. He was 11th at NXN as an individual his senior year which is the highest finish since Dawson. The achievements speak for themselves.
2. Ross Wilson- Gave it his all every race he ran, have to appreciate what he has accomplished as well, with a couple runner-up finishes at districts to Russell and almost again at states. He also will be competing at Footlocker in a couple hours with a chance to really cement his legacy.
3. Reiny Barchet- Barchet has run fast times at Lehigh, has grabbed 5 state medals of his own and has been a top guy in the district since he was a freshman. If he was around his sophomore year he may have had another medal in the collection. He came up with a very clutch race at states this past year and as a Junior he was an All-American at NXN beating some of the biggest names in the sport like Montoya and Leingang. His high moments are nice moments.
4. Dominic Deluca- This is a guy who really came on strong after I stopped being a poster. He was actually very strong early in his Junior year and then kind of faded at the end of the year. Then we all forgot about him until he ran 9:13 or so and then he never looked back from there. He absolutely dominated the AA guys this year and with a little bit more big race experience maybe could have been a footlocker guy this year.
5. Colin Martin- He wasn't the big name Martin a year ago, but he really stepped out of his brothers shadow and cemented his own legacy this year. He has done a great job winning big time races and competing with the best at the state, capping it off with a 12 place finish at regionals. Who knows what Ethan would have been if he was healthy, but it is nice to see Colin, who has always been running very good times, carve out his own legacy.

Well that's that. If anybody actually comes across this stuff and reads it I'll keep going with some other events and maybe some XC teams worth noting.