Timing

Timing is everything in our sport. You have to time your move at the right moment. You have to time your training to peak correctly. Heck, the way we measure how well someone did on a given day is by timing them.

 

When we talking about Casey Comber, the discussion, unsurprisingly, revolves around timing. At Van Cortland Park this weekend, Comber ran 15:36.4 to place 4th overall in the Northeast Footlocker Qualifier, securing his place in the National Championships in San Diego. It was perhaps the best race of his career and the timing could not have been better.

 

Comber’s time is the 5th fastest mark by a PA athlete on the course over the past 9 seasons. His place of 4th matches the highest finish of the past five seasons (Brendan Shearn was 4th as well in 2012) and he has a chance to challenge for a top 20 finish at Foot Locker, which would place him in the top five for finishes in the past decade.

 

Comber did something that his former state champion teammates Sam Hibbs and Conner Quinn failed to do when he qualified, making him the first in school history since Josh Hibbs qualified a decade ago. Comber also made some history for his school this year when he clocked a 15:12 and 15:19 back-to-back weeks at Lehigh, giving him two of the 25 PA sub 15:20 performances that have come on the course in the past nine years and likely the fastest two marks in program history.

 

What may be sweetest about the performance for Comber is a victory over conference rival Jake Brophy. Comber beat Brophy for the league title in 2013, but had not been able to beat him in a championship cross country race since. After PTXC, Comber pointed out in an interview that he wanted to peak better to beat Brophy when it counted. Just when it appeared the rivalry was over, Comber outlasted Brophy by a second to take PA’s top spot at regionals.

 

Comber started his rise to PA prominence as a Junior when he finished 13th at the state championships in a surprising coming of age story. He had the unfortunate timing of making the leap just after Conner Quinn and Sam Hibbs graduated, leaving him without a superstar training partner that so many other top runners have benefited from.

 

However, Comber’s work ethic and leadership helped lead this year’s Hatboro Horsham squad on a nice run that included some top invitational performances at meets like PTXC. Many of his teammates continued to train through for Regionals, accompanying him on the long, cold journey. Their efforts likely played a role in his success on November 29th.

 

As a Footlocker qualifier, Comber has officially joined PA’s elite, however, just how high on the All-Time list could he go? Unfortunately, here Comber’s timing is unfortunate. This year, Comber ran into an historically loaded AAA field. As a result, he finished second at his league championships, third at districts and sixth at states despite running some of the fastest marks in each meet’s history.

 

Out of Footlocker Finalists from the last 9 seasons, only Comber and Ben Furcht have never finished in the top 5 at a XC state championship. Furcht had won the District One Championship and the Foundation meet in a time faster than the winning time at States. He was widely considered the best runner in the state even before he punched his ticket to San Diego (barely slipping in as the 10th and final qualifier). During that same time span, only Comber and Max Norris qualified for the Footlocker championships after finishing outside the top two at their district championship. Norris was still recovering from a recent injury at District time so the right analyst could have predicted his rise during the extra month of training (although not me). Comber had a much different story. Although many believed he was a Footlocker contender, few were picking him to finish as PA’s top runner, let alone in the top four of the entire race.

 

So is Casey Comber a fluke? Did he get lucky to make it to Footlocker?

 

The answer is a simple and emphatic “No”. In fact, he was unlucky his best running was overshadowed during PA’s fastest ever season. Comber’s 15:48 at the state championship would have placed in the top two at any other state championship the previous seven seasons. It also would have given him state gold in 2008, 2010, 2011, or 2013. He was only two seconds away from finishing in the top four runners. The top three runners ran the three fastest times in course history.

 

Before the state championship, many forget just how dominate Comber had been. He was winning all sorts of races and although many were not against the marquee names, he was incredibly impressive in the regular season. In almost any other year, Comber would be remembered for a dominate year and Footlocker would have been the logical exclamation point.

 

Timing and luck have a lot to do with how we remember many of the best runners in past years. But when you’re as talented as Casey Comber, you find a way to make your own luck.

 

Congrats on a great season Casey and good luck at Footlocker Nationals!