Interview with Wyomissing XC

I’ve got a post in the Etrain 11 series recapping Wyomissing’s ride to the state championship this past fall, but the team gave such a good interview that I also wanted to share their full responses to all the questions I had for them. So without further ado, here’s a transcript of my interview with the boys of Wyomissing …

Etrain: Last XC season, you guys had a strong season, placing a convincing second at districts and then 11^th at states. Talk about some of the highs and lows from that season and how they shaped this one.

Ben Kuhn, Sophomore: Last cross country season was a rollercoaster of ups and downs as it unfolded. We lost one of our leaders and captains in Matthew Driben to injury in the late summer, which threw a wrench in our team goals.  As the season continued, however, we found a rising talent in senior Chip Schroder, who gradually fought his way up the team’s rankings until he became our #2 guy.  We succeeded at invitationals of PTXC and Foundation before having excellent showings as at team at Berks County Championships and the District III Championship, thanks to our rising star in Chip, who took Driben’s role.  However, by fluke or by burn-out, members of our team consistently had terrible races at states.  Determined to come back in 2017 as a state powerhouse and redeem our state performance from 2016, we were very focused and disciplined in our summer training, as encouraged by our fantastic captains in Joe Cullen and Matthew Driben.

Etrain: You guys have always been a strong track program, especially in the 4x8. What elements from the track season did you carry through to XC? Any aspects of your mind set or training?

Joe Cullen, Senior: Knowing that we are perennial contenders in track gave us a lot of confidence that we could step up to be a state-caliber cross-country program. In trying to take our program to the next level, we sought to emulate the consistency with which we’ve achieved our success in the 4x800 and 4x400.

Etrain: You had 6 of your top 7 from last year returning (including some young pieces) plus you had a healthy Matt Driben in the mix as well. When do you guys first start to think a state championship was possible?

Ben: We knew we had a special group of guys going into the season, but it was hard to gauge going into the season how we would stack up to other state powerhouses in Dallas and York Suburban, especially as we had a Matt Driben who hadn’t run a cross country race since his sophomore year. We wanted to minimize burn-out that we experienced in 2016, so we decided on Paul Short as our first and only all-out performance at an invitation in the regular season.  After most on the team exceeded expectations and with our top six guys under 17:00 at Lehigh, we knew we had a shot at the state title.  With an excellent Paul Short race in which we surprisingly defeated Dallas, we revisited our team goals to refocus on how we wanted our season to conclude.

Etrain: Your team stayed relatively under the radar in the early part of the season with your first memorable invite appearance not coming until Paul Short. Was this part of the strategy or just the way things worked out? What was it like finally getting to race at Paul Short and match up with two time defending champions Dallas?

Ryan Vargo, Junior: We intended to keep a low profile and not go hard until Paul Short and post season. My teammates and I were looking to be noticed by the state, but we did not want them to know what we were capable of, yet. Paul Short was awesome for us because we finally got to run hard, as well as show the state that we were still a team this year. With the incredible races that my teammates had, we realized we had a chance to win states, and that meet was one of the most important moments in the season.

Etrain: Joe, after being the #1 guy on the team and carrying the weight of being a low stick, what was it like having breakthrough training partners around you in practice and in races? How did this change the dynamic of the team and the expectations for the post season?

Joe: Having my teammates step up was huge. As an underclassman, I remember being a part of top-heavy teams with Kyle Shinn and Jack DiCintio. But having a deeper and more talented team gave us more of a pack mentality and provided a greater sense of team purpose and unity. Furthermore, having fast teammates allowed us to succeed even though I had a disappointing season personally.

Etrain: Matt, after missing a couple years due to injury, how did you stay in shape and, perhaps more importantly, how did you stay mentally engaged and confident? When do you feel like you got your groove back racing and how did it feel to be back racing XC and dropping fast times?

Matthew Driben, Senior: My sophomore year, I had two high hamstring injuries that damaged my performances during XC postseason and kept me out of winter track and a month of spring track. Then, I suffered a knee injury in August going into my junior year that prevented me from running the entire cross country season as well as the beginning of winter track.

Although I couldn’t run, I spent a significant amount of time training on an elliptical and stationary bike, even trying to replicate the threshold, interval, and repeat workouts my team was doing. For easy workouts, I would keep my heart rate at 160 beats per minute and I would do two higher heart rate workouts per week. My volume peaked at 100 minutes for my longest bike workout and 75 minutes per day for my daily cross training average the fall of my junior year during my knee injury. When I was able to run again, I still built up to only 30 miles per week maintaining a heavy regimen of cross training in order to stay healthy. I plan to gradually increase my running volume to drop my times and to prepare for running at the collegiate level (hopefully).

Because track is more focused on individual performances than cross country, during my sophomore year my personal goals of improving from my freshman times and winning a district medal were what kept me mentally engaged. While I still had the same goals of improving during my junior year, coming back for my team was the focus my junior year during cross country. Although ultimately not being able to return in time to help my team in cross country was frustrating for everyone involved, I came back this year with a greater sense of purpose because I didn’t want to let my team down again. I have to thank my teammates and coaches for never giving up on me and helping me stay positive during the toughest moments.

I finally started racing again January 2017 and competed in three races that indoor season. My cross training made me mentally tougher in races and my indoor races made me more confident in my race strategy. I took that momentum into spring track and was ecstatic to improve my times and stay mostly healthy. However, I knew I would have to finally stay healthy in cross country in order to help my team because teams like Twin Valley in the county and York Suburban in the district and state would be tough to beat. Our first and only invitational of the season, Paul Short, had fantastic conditions and it was awesome to roll on the long, flat straightaways at Lehigh. It’s not often that a high school senior gets a 50-second PR, and I was in disbelief with not only how I had performed, but also that we had our top 6 guys under 17 minutes. On the hillier courses like Kutztown, Big Spring, and Hershey, being able to grind on the hills and pick off people as the race went on was rewarding because I was able to contribute when my team needed me the most.

Etrain: Talk about your rivalry with York Suburban. What was it like having to take on one of the top programs in the state just to win districts? How did that prepare you for states?

Thomas Foster, Sophomore: It's been great to compete with a team like York Suburban, they run a great program for which we have immense respect. We were not at all certain we would win districts going in, and didn't want to totally destroy ourselves, so we could fully compete at the state meet, but the race just worked out in our favor. That definitely solidified our belief that we could go head to head with programs of their caliber the next weekend.

Etrain: At districts, the score was tight with just 9 points separating the top teams. Josh and Thomas both stopped up and finished just ahead of York Suburban’s #4 to pick up the victory. When racing, are you aware of your positioning in the race relative to your team and the other? Do you race jerseys or just run blind and push yourself?

Josh Diehl, Junior: When I’m racing, I just go with the flow. I try to stay aware of my surroundings, listening to what other coaches are telling their runners and watching for which schools are around me. In most races our coach tries to keep us updated on our position and that of our team mates, but at Districts limited access kept us from being aware of our winning score until the last 400 meters. Coach Hetrich was there, telling us that if we kept our position we would win. I’m proud to say that my teammates and I decided not to settle for our place and took some heads in that last stretch to solidify the win.

Etrain: What was the game plan heading into states? Were they any specific goals or places you felt you as an individual had to meet to win as a team? What did you think it would take to beat the great teams against you like Harbor Creek, York Suburban, Grove City and Dallas? How did the Race stack up relative to your goals and expectations?

Matthew: Because there tends to be a lot of traffic in the first mile, we wanted to get off the line hard and find openings where we could, even if it meant taking some turns on the outside. Our coaches took us up to Hershey the day before the race to preview the course, which proved vital because the first mile was packed as we had expected. For the Aloha hills, we weren’t as focused on attacking the hills as much as attacking right after the hills so we would have more momentum on the downhills and flats. The last mile our plan was just to give everything we had left as the course transitioned to mostly flat before Poop-Out Hill.

Although our top 3 were aiming for state medals, we knew our strength was our back end. We figured if our #4 and #5 were close to our top 3 we would have a decent shot at winning. And they delivered—our #4 and #5, Josh Diehl and Thomas Foster, beat all other AA teams’ #4 runners. In fact, the only team in any classification that had a better #5 than Thomas was La Salle, which won in AAA.

Based on past performances, we were confident we could win: We had beaten Dallas at Paul Short, Twin Valley had beaten York Suburban and Grove City at Carlisle (and we beat Twin Valley), and we had beaten York Suburban head-to-head at districts. However, we knew that Dallas had a couple extra days’ rest after districts and always peaks well for states, York Suburban would be gunning to beat us after districts, Harbor Creek and Grove City had looked fantastic at the District 10 meet, and Etrain had ranked us third going into states, so we could take nothing for granted. At the end of the day, we couldn’t control how the other teams were going to perform so we knew we needed to give our best efforts no matter what.

The race proved even closer than we thought it would be, as we beat York Suburban by just two points and Harbor Creek by only six. Both teams exceeded our expectations and either of them could have taken the state title that day. Of course, the race was grueling as we had expected, but our fabulous coaching staff had prepared us well. The last two Sundays before the state championship our head coach held meetings in his classroom where we talked about how to face the other teams and the Hershey course. Paul Short helped us get out hard in a huge crowd, the steep hills in our own park system made usready for the Aloha hills, and a greater emphasis on speed this season made us better equipped for the flat last mile of the course.

Etrain: When the race finished, did you think you guys had won? When did you realize you pulled off that upset?

Joe: About 15 minutes after I crossed the finish line, I remember laying collapsed on the ground queasily as I watched another team start celebrating. My teammates and I were hoping for a second place finish at that point; winning seemed out of the question. So upon hearing we won, we were in a state of disbelief – all of our hard work culminating in a state title gave us an overwhelming sense of euphoria and shock!

Etrain: Talk about the pack mentality. Harbor Creek had 3 before your 1, Dallas and York Suburban had 2, but you had the clear best top 5. What did it mean to know each member of the varsity squad contributed so much? How did you drop from a 56 second spread at Paul Short to a 29 second spread at states?

Thomas: Our team is a very tight knit group, and we spend a lot of the time throughout the year training together, so it seems fitting that any major victory like a state title should be won through the contribution of each member of that group. At Paul Short we had almost 2 packs running, one of our top three up front and then a good distance behind them our 4 through 6 guys. We knew that we would need to close the gap between those two packs to compete at a high level, and the three of us worked hard to close it up. It all came together at states.

Etrain: What is your favorite memory from the season? What parts of your training do you think helped you achieve success? What moments do you think will define the season?

Josh: The greatest part of this past season will always be winning states. I can still remember the bitter taste of disappointment and then the explosion of excitement when we saw the results and realized the Wyo Boys Cross Country team had just taken their first state title ever in the history of the program. All the time and effort our coaches and team had put into finding results of our competitors, comparing time spreads, and making sure our bodies had enough time and care to recover had paid off. This season would not have been possible without the effort of our  coaches. They put in countless hours of work to find the data and create the practices that would prepare us for our races. Even during the summer they held practices, which I think had the greatest effect on our great season. The base we built in the summer prepared us for the intense workouts that would have us leaving sore and exhausted but prepared for the hard races that led us to our success.

Etrain: What goals do you have for the upcoming track season? How about next XC season? 5 guys from the varsity will back to defend the title.

Ryan: Next XC season, we believe we will still have a great team. We do lose Matt and Joe, but we are working to close the gap between our 4-5 runner. Our new 5 runner was number 7 on the team this year with a personal best under 18, with our number 6 runner just under 17. So if we could close that gap I think we could do some damage. We will not have as strong of a 6-7 as we did this year, but we hope to place top 5 in the state next year. With a district win and state runner up last year for track, we are looking to repeat the district title and go for the state win. The team only lost a few seniors last year, and the rest of the team is stepping up to make that goal realistic.

The Commit: Matt D'Aquila

By: Garrett Zatlin

The next runner in "The Commit" series is Lower Merion senior Matt D'Aquila! Matt is one of the top long-distance runners in the state who has made great improvements over the past few seasons.  We can't thank Matt enough for his time and we hope you guys enjoy!

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Garrett: Before we begin talking about college, I would like to take a step back and look at your past cross country season. You had an outstanding fall where you placed 5^th individually in District 1 and then medaled at States by placing 20^th. What did you do in your training to get yourself to that next level of fitness?

Matt D'Aquila: Starting summer practices with the team in late June, I knew I needed to start off slowly if I were to run my best in October and November. To peak at the right time, I focused on building a base in the summer and worrying about workouts when training camp came around. Moreover, getting into the pool was essential, and I thank my coach for facilitating this. Without the extra pounding, I was able to amass an extra 90 to 120 minutes of supplemental cardio a week. It was also very important that my co-captains and I held 4 voluntary practices a week throughout June and July to make sure guys were keeping up with their miles. These practices were great for building team unity and camaraderie, which defines what LMXC is all about.

G: Staying with cross country, there was a lot of debate surrounding which teams would make it out of District 1 (and Lower Merion was in that discussion). What was the mindset for you and your teammates as you toed the line at districts? What was the reaction from you and your teammates when you found out that you guys had made it to states as a team?

MD: Making States as a team had been on our minds since the 2015 XC District meet where we tied for 12^th as a team. So naturally we had established this as a top goal going into the season; and let’s just say it was a goal we were all dead set on accomplishing. At Districts this past year, the V-squad was all ready to have the races of our lives and finish with “no regrets.” We were to stick with the race plan we had been following all season. This was to go out smart and get into the passing lane in the 2^nd and 3^rd miles of the race. At the finish, we knew we had left it all out on the course. In the dreadful minutes that came between the finish and hearing about our placement, Ethan Boyer, one of our more spirited Varsity guys eagerly checked Penntrack non-stop for the results. When he announced that we got 4^th in the District it was surreal; all of our hard work had finally paid off at the most pivotal meet of our careers.

G: Let’s move away from cross country and talk about last year’s indoor track season. Last winter you put together a string of solid 3k’s and eventually ended up with a PR of 9:00.00. Unfortunately, that was a few spots off from indoor state qualifying. In the end, only 13 runners ran the 3k at states*. Do you think the PTFCA should consider expanding the number of state entries for the 3k field? If so, by how many?

*The entry cutoff for the 3000 metes is 12 runners. However, both Henry Sappey and Seth Slavin tied for the 12^th spot with the same exact time.

MD: Yes. The 3k is a race that can accommodate more runners than other, shorter races. Since every year PA sees a large number of State qualifiers in this event, it’s doesn’t really make sense that there’d be a qualifying time that keeps out top runners unless they rank in the top 12 in PA. We could definitely see an expansion to allow for up to 20 3k qualifiers, the same number as the mile, all the while doing away with the time standard altogether.

G: Later that spring, you were able to run 9:21 at the District 1 championships and earn the final spot to Shippensburg. Did missing out on the 3k during indoors provide any extra motivation in the spring?

MD: While it was definitely disappointing missing out on the Indoor State Meet last year, I took some down time in my training so that I could refocus my attention immediately to spring track. The end of my indoor season certainly motivated me to do even better in the spring. Even though the spring track season would be sort of touch- and- go due to nagging shin pain, I stuck it out and made sure I’d get to Shippensburg. By the time the District meet rolled along, I knew that I had done the training and would be able to finally drop below the 9:30 mark in the 3200m race. Little did I know; I’d be the last qualifier in a time 10 seconds faster than the SQS. I think it’s pretty crazy that 12 guys hit the standard very convincingly and yet District 1 is only allowed 8 total qualifiers. Perhaps this fact peeves me more than the state qualification set up for the indoor 3k!

G: What can we expect from you and your teammates for the rest of the current winter season?

MD: The LM squad is really using its XC momentum to accomplish some pretty big relay goals this winter. Our top priority right now is to qualify a DMR and 4x8 relay to States. I plan running in both of those relays as we try to dip under the SQS in these two, always competitive events. Our individual events have currently taken a back seat. I think the team’s depth is our most pivotal asset right now. We have a lot of good mid distance guys, who were not top 7 XC guys, being trained by LM alum Neal Berman. This should help us with the faster legs of our relays. The ultimate goal is to secure as many medals as possible at States, so we will focus on the events that will be the most likely to get us to that goal.

G: Now that we have that covered, let’s move to your college decision. Where will you be continuing your academic and athletic career? Have you declared your major?

MD: I will be attending Middlebury College in Vermont this fall and running XC, indoor and outdoor track. While I have not yet declared a major I plan on studying International Relations and French. 

G: What were some of the other schools that you were considering? What made Middlebury stand out from the rest?

MD: This past Fall I took overnight visits to Wesleyan, Tufts, Brown, Dartmouth and Middlebury. What stood out most to me at Middlebury was the strong team culture and the academic balance. All of the schools I visited were terrific, but I just knew deep down that Middlebury was special. The fact that I will have the ability to craft an interesting double major and be encouraged to take rigorous courses in the humanities all really appealed to me. There is a lot of opportunity to go far both academically and athletically. At Middlebury, on the athletic side of things, there’s an awesome team environment, great coaches, phenomenal running trails and a state of the art indoor track facility (all of which made a difference as I was making my college decision). Furthermore, I was really leaning towards the NESCAC (The New England Small College Athletic Conference) schools from the get-go since the member institutions (Middlebury included) all have stellar academic and athletic programs. NESCAC is always competitive in track and XC nationally in D3 and I would really feel comfortable competing against similar schools to Middlebury.

G: What was the hardest part about going through the college selection process?

MD: There are so many great academic institutions that also have fantastic track/XC programs, let alone in the liberal arts realm, so culling a list was challenging. For any runners out there starting to look at colleges, I recommend filling out “recruiting forms” on schools’ XC webpages. I probably did this for over 10 schools to start out, which was very helpful with getting in contact with coaches and learning more about the running programs. While this sometimes prompts correspondence from coaches, there are instances where it’s necessary to keep updating the recruiting forms with new PRs and standardized test scores. Admittedly, these forms were a little time consuming although they were definitely helpful in getting noticed by coaches.

G: I noticed that Lower Merion alum Jon Perlman is on the Middlebury roster. Did the Lower Merion connection with Perlman influence your decision at all?

MD: The NESCAC schools were already on my radar, and I have known for a long time about Middlebury’s stellar French program. Although Jon represents well what it means to be a Middlebury student-athlete, this fact didn’t influence my final college decision. He did however host me on my recruiting visit and gave me good insight into the track/XC program. I could easily relate to how Jon has transitioned to the college level having been part of the same high school program. I definitely look forward for us to be teammates again.

G: Have you talked to the coach at all about what your future training might look like? What kind of changes can you expect in terms of mileage?

MD: One thing that I really liked about the Middlebury program was the individualized training plan that would help me transition into my freshman year. Since the men’s XC and distance squad is capped at just 25, coaches Wilkerson and Schilit have time to focus on each of their runners individually, based on where they’ve come from in high school training. My high school program’s mileage is in the 40 to 50-mile a week range. Since I am not yet accustomed to a high-mileage program, I anticipate getting a summer training plan that will steadily allow me to increase my mileage. I wouldn’t be surprised if, by my senior year in college, my weekly mileage is doubled.

G: Despite an undergraduate enrollment of just 2500 students, the Middlebury program has displayed some respectable depth and has even made appearances in the Division 3 NCAA championships. Did this mix of strong athletics at a smaller school appeal to you?

MD: Absolutely! I found that a small school with fantastic athletic facilities like Middlebury’s were two very key components in my decision. I was blown away on my visit by the quality of the indoor track facility, along with the pool, weight room, and team locker room. Additionally, the fact that Middlebury is in a rural environment with an abundance of trails and mountains in every direction, means that I will have plenty of places to train. Contrasting this with my current running environment at Lower Merion High (which is in a dense area, with few soft surface running routes), being in a rural area should lend itself well to higher mileage and better, more consistent training.

G: What goals do you have for your collegiate career? What is the legacy you would like to establish while at Middlebury?

MD: Middlebury has been consistent lately in making the NCAA XC National Championship, and I want to do whatever I can to continue this momentum and further improve the team. My dream goal is to be on a national champion XC team by my senior year. On the track, I hope to run the 3k, 5k and 10k. Individually I would love to see how far I can get within the NESCAC and maybe even becoming a D3 All-American. My main focus, by the end of my career, is to do whatever I can to contribute to the success of the Middlebury men’s program.

G: Any shoutouts?

MD: I’d like to give a huge shoutout to my coaches at Lower Merion! Coaches David Van Houten (DVH) and Meg Capewell have encouraged my growth from an out-of-shape freshman to a senior team captain. Both have influenced me as a runner and as a person in different yet profound ways. I appreciate that they saw potential in me, and have displayed a commitment to the LM running program and the sport of running that can only be described as inspirational. Also, a quick shoutout to Neal Berman (LM ’09) who has been an awesome role-model and coach since he came onboard in 2016. We did a lot of summer running together and I’m extremely grateful for all of his encouragement along the way. Finally, shoutout to the senior varsity runners: fellow co-captains Teddy Neckowicz and Evan Hassman, along with David Vonderheide and Ethan Boyer. The team wouldn’t be what it is today without these guys’ leadership and hard work.