Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Do or Die

Ever since North Allegheny’s incredible sophomore class emerged in 2012, they had been declared favorites for gold in 2014. Even with the loss of Seamus Love, North Allegheny came into the 2014 season as most likely to win the AAA state title. However, the confidence that fans had predicted with in 2012 was waning. Malvern Prep, an independent league squad led by rising junior Jaxson Hoey, was seen as the best team in the state. O’Hara, Council Rock North, Conestoga and Carlisle were all pre-season picks to try and knock the Tigers from their #1 spot.

 

Early in the season, NA did little to shake the doubters. At the first major invitational, the Red White and Blue Invitational, they packed a serious punch out front, taking the top two spots in the meet behind Matt McGoey and Hunter Wharrey, but Seel seemed a bit off and the team had a glaring weakness at the 4-5 positions. Although it was encouraging that Wharrey was emerging as a top 10 threat, the gaping hole left by Seamus Love’s departure could not be ignored.

 

Meanwhile, Conestoga displayed excellent depth in their early season meets and had potential through not just five, but seven guys in the early going. Andrew Marston, the team’s #1 runner, was making a name for himself in the state title conversation. The youngsters from Downingtown West also showed potential for a strong top five at the Abington Invitational, hanging tough with Malvern Prep. Soon after, Cardinal O’Hara gave Malvern Prep another test at the Briarwood Invitational, behind a potent top three featuring Kevin and Ryan James.

 

O’Hara and North Allegheny met at the Pre State meet towards the end of September to decide an early season favorite for the state championship. The Tigers, who had thrown down huge performances at this meet the previous two years, were the favorites, but O’Hara was eager to prove otherwise.

 

On race day, the pace was very quick through the first half of the race with Kevin James for O’Hara up front, leading the way. Although James did not end up winning, he did finish 2nd overall, an important low stick for his team. McGoey and Wharrey finished 4th and 5th while Ryan James, as only a sophomore, ran down a slew of runners in the second half of the race to grab 6th. Rob Morro, O’Hara’s #3, edged out Scott Seel, continuing the slight O’Hara advantage and Drew Pastore and Billy Donovan brought it home in the 4-5 spots, beating out Jacob Stupak and Peter Savchick in aggregate.

 

North Allegheny’s lack of depth through five runners had cost them an early season win and would have to improve if they were going to get revenge against O’Hara at the state meet. This issue was compounded when the top five for Conestoga had a fantastic showing up in New York at the McQuaid Invitational. Andrew Marston led five under 16 for three miles and nearly set a course record when he won the race.

 

To make matters worse, an old rival in Mount Lebanon had nearly beaten North Allegheny at the Pre State meet, finishing just five points back. Lebo’s pack was significantly stronger and if their front running improved behind Ian Baun, they could steal back the WPIAL title, getting revenge for the upset in 2011.

 

Many wondered if Scott Seel was struggling without his old training partner Seamus Love, not to mention the fact that Love himself would have likely accounted for at least a 25-point swing, more than enough to beat O’Hara and distance themselves from Mount Lebanon. In 2010, Logan Steiner transferred to North Allegheny from Meadville and provided the missing piece to a state title time. After a transfer helped win the Tiger’s a title in 2010, it seemed an ironic twist that a transfer would cost them a title in 2014.

 

But North Allegheny transitioned. They had been a fantastic pack team the previous two seasons, but that hadn’t been enough to distance themselves in the past. It was time for a new strategy, one that had given North Allegheny so much trouble in the past.

 

North Allegheny continued to win races behind their top three, but as the season progressed more young runners developed into strong 4-5 runners. Jacob Stupak showed consistent improvement, beginning at the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Invite, where Stupak was asked to step up when Hunter Wharrey sat out. The team delivered and showed that they were not a one or two man team. The momentum continued to carry behind Zach Dieble, Marc Miggliozzi and freshman TJ Robinson.

 

When North Allegheny saw their rivals Mount Lebanon again at Tri-States, both teams were likely thinking back to Pre States where Lebo had come so close to dethroning the WPIAL empire. However, things were not as close at Tri-States. On the difficult hills of Cal U, North Allegheny showcased their new and improved top five and took the title back. Matt McGoey won individual gold and Scott Seel had one of his best races of the season.

 

By the time the Tigers hit Districts, they were a well-oiled machine. McGoey and Wharrey finished 1-2, Seel finished an impressive 6th and Stupak had another killer showing, finishing 13th. Dieble rounded out the group with a 25th place finish to give the team a total of 47 points.

 

Although this was actually one of North Allegheny’s less dominating wins, they looked more than ever like a team ready to win the state championship. Unlike in year’s past, they had a dangerous front-runner. Matt McGoey entered states a legitimate top five contender. The team closely resembled the CRN and O’Hara teams that had given them big challenges the previous two seasons: a killer top three with two consistently improving underclassmen at 4-5.

 

While North Allegheny was finding its identity, other top contenders were struggling. O’Hara and Conestoga had both lost to a LaSalle team that had a killer pack but no clear front-runner. Downingtown West, after winning the Chesmont League, had barely edged out Central Bucks East for a spot at states. At the District 3 Championships, Hempfield upset the Mid Penn champs Cumberland Valley.

 

However, States would be no cakewalk for the Tigers. Cardinal O’Hara, similarly to North Allegheny, also was coming to the end of an era. Kevin James, their Senior leader, was approaching his final chance for individual and team gold in Cross Country. Ironically, parallels were drawn between the 2014 O’Hara squad and the 2010 North Allegheny squad that won a state title in its final try with Ryan Gil. In addition, the 2014 North Allegheny team had been compared to the 2012 O’Hara team. Like O’Hara, the North Allegheny team had been coming together for years, building towards a shot at a state championship. But in 2012, despite a strong top three, O’Hara had been edged out by West Chester Henderson and their Seniors never got that team title. Was that the fate North Allegheny would suffer as well?

 

Adding to the drama, was the emergence of an old nemesis: West Chester Henderson. Henderson had what was arguably the best top four in the state at their disposal and had a ton of momentum after they nearly stole the district title from heavily favored Conestoga. NA and Henderson had a history of finishing 1-2 at the state meet and maybe this year would add to the tradition.

 

Ultimately, all the talk would be settled on the Hershey course and the North Allegheny boys lined up with their now traditional buzzed haircuts, looking forward to competing for gold. It was perfect weather conditions for a title match and the quick early pace reflected this. McGoey and Wharrey got out hard, putting themselves near the front of the race, while the 4-5-6-7 runners packed it in and ran conservatively. Scott Seel straddled the groups.

 

It was a tight race through the opening third as CB West, the young squad from District One, was out to a surprising lead. In second was Conestoga, third was O’Hara and then fourth was North Allegheny. They were in a good spot, but only 33 points separated the Tigers from 7th, indicating just how close this race would be. Miggliozzi and Dieble were both around 110th and Stupak was in 137th. If they couldn’t move up, their top three alone would not be enough to get them on the medal stand, let alone with gold around their neck.

 

But the second mile, things began to turn. CB West’s early attack on the pace had slowed them up and they had fallen back to third in the standings. Meanwhile, the North Allegheny pack was moving up. Dieble was now in the 80s, Miggliozzi in the 90s and Stupak at 102. All three seniors were in medal position to lead the way with McGoey and Wharrey both in the top 10 overall. They had taken a commanding lead in the team standings, leading by almost 30 points over Conestoga. The state championship was within reach.

 

However, the race was not over. A year ago, Cardinal O’Hara’s 4th and 5th runners had stormed through the field over the final mile and nearly picked off enough finishers to steal the silver medals away from North Allegheny. They sat perched with their top three in position, hoping for another big finishing stretch by Pastore and Nolen or Donovan. In addition, Conestoga had four runners that were all comfortably ahead of North Allegheny’s 4th with 3 runners all right on Seel’s heels. Their 5-6-7 runners sat in a tight pack and a breakthrough last mile for any of them could easily provide the 20 to 30 point swing that was required for gold.

 

Yet over the final mile, the team that made a final surge to claim victory was North Allegheny. Matt McGoey set the tone, sprinting all the way through the line and out leaning Colin Abert, the pre-race favorite, to grab 4th place overall in an unbelievable15:47. Behind him, Hunter Wharrey took 8th overall, running 15:52, a time equal to the mark run by Ryan Gil in 2010 when he won the state title.

 

Unfortunately, Scott Seel was barely outgunned by Drew Wilkinson for the final medal spot, but his 26th place finish was still easily his best run at the state championship and his time would have earned him a medal at any of the previous six state championships. Jacob Stupak picked off nearly 60 runners over the final mile, including Conestoga’s 2 through 4 runners. His close all but sealed the victory. But for an exclamation point, Dieble moved up to 58th overall, giving the team 5 runners in the top 60.

 

The Achilles heel of North Allegheny, their #4 and #5 runners, turned into their greatest gift by seasons end. Stupak was the best 4th man in the race and Dieble was the best 5th. As an added bonus Miggliozzi end up the best 6th man in the field as well.

 

North Allegheny scored an impressive 72 points and averaged 16:21, the fastest team average in course history. After all the struggled and heartbreak, the class of 2015 came through when it mattered most. With their backs against the wall, they not only won the state title, but they dominated in a historically strong performance.

 

The legendary Ryan Gil graduated in the Spring of 2011 after bringing the long coveted state championship trophy back to North Allegheny High School and the WPIAL. When he left, no one knew how long it would be before there was another Ryan Gil. In the fall of 2011, Scott Seel, Matt McGoey, Hunter Wharrey and Seamus Love became freshman at North Allegheny High School ready to make their own title run and leave their own mark on the school’s history books. When they graduate with the Class of 2015, there will be four Ryan Gils accepting diplomas.

 

And then another freshman class will join in 2016 …

 

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: David and Goliath

West Chester Henderson came into the 2013 Cross Country season with National level expectations. The 2012 edition of their team was likely PA’s best squad since the 2006 Coatesville squad that won a national championship. Then they returned their top two runners and six of their top seven men overall for 2013 including state course record holder Tony Russell and All-American Reiny Barchet.

 

In other words, North Allegheny had their work cut out for them.

 

After a disappointing state meet, North Allegheny had made solid improvements on the track. They produced a talented 4x800m squad and had a few sub 9:30 3200m runners. However, they were outshined by a variety of teams including Bensalem, Pennsbury and Cumberland Valley. Even Fox Chapel, following a state championship performance by Ethan Martin, was looking like a powerful team in the WPIAL.

 

But when the fall of 2013 finally rolled around, the Tigers got back to doing what they do best: winning cross country races. With just a 20 second spread the boys from North Allegheny opened their season with a win at the Red, White and Blue Invitational, averaging sub 16 minutes on the course. The team took spots 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 and scored just 30 points. Their top four runners, Matt McGoey, Cordon Luoco, Seamus Love and Scott Seel, all broke the 16-minute barrier in the race. They were also the top four returners from the previous year’s WPIAL championship squad. Added into the mix at the 5 spot, was another Junior, Hunter Wharrey, who delivered with a 16:05.

 

The team followed their dominant performance at RWB with another near record setting run at the challenging Hershey Parkview course. Against many of the other top teams in the state, the Tigers scored an unthinkable 31 points and averaged 16:33 on the very difficult course. At the time, only the national qualifying squads of O’Hara and Henderson had averaged a faster mark. NA’s spread fit with it’s usual brilliance, just 16 seconds, and the team’s top 5 runners were all in the top 10 overall finishers. Their entire top five placed in front of the third place team’s #1 runner (State College’s Will Cather).

 

NA’s class of 2015, their defining characteristic in 2012, was improving rapidly. With the addition of Wharrey, they now had Juniors who were legitimate medal threats. Their top 4 at pre-states were all Juniors as well. Matt McGoey, who finished 3rd at Pre States, seemed to be getting comfortable on the difficult Hershey course he had struggled on the year before.

 

Meanwhile, questions were swirling about Tony Russell’s health for Henderson. Their reigning state champion had suffered an injury during track season and after the team held him out of the Carlisle Invitational, some were worried about how vulnerable he would be at season’s end. O’Hara had seemed like the team with all the experience and talent in 2012, but had been upset by a rising group of juniors. Was Henderson headed for the same fate in 2013? North Allegheny was hoping history would repeat itself.

 

Henderson, behind an impressive performance by Tony Russell, had a strong showing at the Manhattan Invitational, while North Allegheny decided to rest their varsity runners at the Tri-State Championships. However, that didn’t mean the Tigers were outshined. With their “B” team, North Allegheny still finished second at Tri States and Senior Mike Becich finished 14th overall.

 

When the full varsity returned at the WPIAL championships, the extra rest appeared to have paid off. North Allegheny put four in the top 7 overall and scored 38 points. All this came despite an off day from Hunter Wharrey he finished 19th. The top seven runners all placed in the top 25, while no opposing squad had more than two in that range.

 

On the Martin brothers, two of the top five two milers in the state the previous year, had given the Tigers serious trouble as McGoey, Love and Luoco packed in right behind them. Then it was Jeff Van Kooten , with Scott Seel closely behind. If Wharrey was able to duplicate his Pre States performance when the team returned to Hershey, they had a legitimate chance at the upset. This was a true pack and, up until this point, Henderson had failed to show they were as complete of a team as they were in 2012.

 

Until the next day.

 

At the always-competitive District One Championships at Lehigh, Henderson scored just 60 points and averaged a jaw dropping15:34. Tony Russell became the first runner since 2006 to break 15 minutes on the course and his team followed his lead: all seven Henderson runners broke 16 minutes. It was the first time in course history that an entire team had broken this difficult time barrier. In 2011, there had been just eleven runners total that cracked 16 at Districts. Now seven runners from the same team had achieved it.

 

The pressure on the Tigers was ramped up immediately. Henderson had made a statement at Districts. The rest of the state was put on notice. A performance like that has to shake the confidence of their rivals and bring doubts to mind that may not have been there before.

 

Meanwhile, McGoey was beginning to draw comparisons to Ryan Gil, the legendary state champion and Footlocker finalist. Love, Seel, Luoco and Wharrey were still all medal threats on the right day. Those who enjoyed rooting for the upset seemed to be putting their eggs in the North Allegheny basket.

 

After a week of waiting, the teams gathered at Hershey, hoping to see the third NA-Henderson podium in five years. Looking to erase any painful memories from 2012, the NA boys got out near the front of a very fast opening mile. Their entire top six was out under five minutes, unprecedented for a team that had shown true patience the previous few state championships. But it was clear they had to push the boundaries: Henderson had sent all seven guys out in under seven minutes. Henderson’s top three were out well, but McGoey and Luoco had sat in behind. Love, who was happy to have both shoes at this point in the race, was the team’s #3.

 

At the mile, Henderson sat atop the standings with North Allegheny about 30 points back in third. Splitting them was Cardinal O’Hara.

 

O’Hara had returned Kevin James and Jim Belfatto from their 5th place team at Nationals and transfer Nick Smart had adjusted well to the program. Together, those top three made O’Hara very dangerous. The key would be their 4th and 5th runners, who many doubted had a chance to keep pace with NA’s excellent pack. At the mile, Rob Morro had provided a big lift at the 4 spot, but there was a fairly sizeable gap back to the #5 man, Drew Pastore.

 

From 1 to 2 miles, North Allegheny fought hard to make up ground, but Henderson did not budge. By the 2 mile mark, Henderson had six runners in the top 38 overall. NA’s 6 in the top 60 would be fantastic in a typical year; however, against the Henderson machine, the team found themselves trailing 56 to 104. To make matters worse, the Tigers were having difficulty breaking O’Hara, who was right on their tail with 107 points. Morro and Pastore had stayed consistent, while Kevin James and Nick Smart both looked like potential top 10 finishers. If Jim Belfatto and Smart, excellent 800m runners, put on a late kick, North Allegheny could find themselves off the medal stand for the third straight year.

 

Over the final mile, Luoco, Seel, Wharrey and Love all made up some key places. Luoco and McGoey both claimed their first state medals while Wharrey, Love and Seel all finished in the top 50 overall. They couldn’t catch Henderson, who had held their decisive edge over the final mile, but at least, with such a tight spread at the top of the field, they would be back on the medal stand.

 

But it was not so easy. Cardinal O’Hara had not only placed two runners in the top 11 overall, but Drew Pastore and freshman Ryan James had put on huge moves over the last mile. They dropped the hammer on the way to the finish and gave their team a huge lift. For the second straight year, it appeared that North Allegheny’s tremendous pack may be beaten out by a team with a fantastic top three.

 

When the points were tallied, North Allegheny had beaten O’Hara by just 4 points and were fortunate to be on the medal stand and receive the second place trophy. After dominating the Pre State meet, they had felt they had exercised their demons on the course, but when November hit, they still left Hershey feeling disappointed.

 

North Allegheny had run faster at the Pre State meet then they had the actual state meet and rumors were swirling that this team wasn’t clutch, was training improperly and, overall, was not state title material. To make matters worse, Seamus Love, one of the key members of their top five, was transferring schools.

 

At the end of the school year, the class of 2015 suddenly found themselves with their backs against the wall. After having such a talented young team for the previous three seasons, the 2014 season was their last chance at state gold.

Track Time

Another year, another track season. With the first meets of the year now just around the corner, I'll throw down some of my very early thoughts about the first season of 2015.

Maybe it's because we just finished a season of cross, but it seems like the 3k is absolutely loaded while the other distance events are pretty lack luster. 

The 800 is incredibly wide open. Sure that sentence looks very stupid a couple months from now if Jon Lewis decides he wants to chase a new gold (I'm betting he won't) or Zach Brehm decides he wants to actually have a serious indoor campaign (again I'm thinking no).

(the kid is looking to peak at outdoor states and outdoor nats and he has shown the past 2 years he's all about proper peaking, I'll start judging how good his final season will be after he's done winning 3 or 4 events at districts)

So you fill in the gaps with top returners Connor Holm, Alek Sauer and Andy Stewart (the only 3 returners from last indoor states). None of these guys had particularly notable XC seasons and at least one (Stewart) was noticeably MIA. Sauer ran like a champ by the end of last outdoors, splitting about 1:52 and doubling back at 1:54 in the open to grab a medal. Last indoors he was one of the last guys into the hot heat (you know, the one where Kyle Francis took off like a bottle rocket and blew the lid off the place with his 1:50?) and probably ended up in over his head. This year I'd bet he's much more prepared.

Holm became more of a miler last outdoors and I think that might be his best event. However, with the 8 being this open, he might as well throw his hat in the ring and see what he can do. 

Elias Graca is a wildcard here. He broke through for a 1:53 last season before slipping through the cracks in a loaded state prelim. He backed up his breakout track season with an impressive display of endurance, placing in the top 30 at states and just outside the medals. I'm not sure how serious he will approach indoors as a WPIAL runner, but Fox Chapel just had a state champ indoors in the 3k, so if Graca wants it, it's possible. I'd give him favorite status at this very early point in time.

If things stay as they are now, without anybody clearly running away with the race, it's probably time to start considering Hoey or Ritz and even maybe Kevin James for the mile-8 double. All of those guys have run at least 1:55 and 4:12 equivalents and all three are coming off fantastic XC seasons. However, Hoey is coming off an injury and in the process of switching schools and James will have a relay to think about in addition to the 3k and the mile. So really that just leaves Ritz, who is still looking for his first indoor medal, let alone his second gold. 

Bottom line: these first few weeks I'll be on high alert for the next big thing in the 800m (besides Jon Lewis who will run plenty fast this year I'm sure, just not at states).

The mile is a bit more interesting. Although Hoey is the only returning medalist, lots of on the rise names are coming back from this event including Abert, Kolor, Sponaugle, Weidner, Ritz and VanKooten among others.

I seriously doubt we will see Perretta make an appearance indoors (he barely made an appearance during cross country) and I'm guessing Molino (if healthy) will be focusing on the 3k (although a mile-3k double out of him is within reason). 

It's reasonable to think one of the national qualifier guys decides the mile makes more sense during their shortened season. Brophy has worked on speed before and proven himself well. Plus if a relay is in the picture, the mile makes more sense. And Brophy hasn't been afraid to make sacrifices for the team in the past. Same can be said for KJ who should seriously consider taking a run at the mile considering his achievements, the relay potential and the high probability the 3k will be loaded.

Comber is interesting. He has nice flexibility, a mile or a 3k could fit him depending on training and he's no slouch in the speed department based on his running last year. 

Webb or McGoey may also choose to come down in distance to the mile if they think it makes more sense with possibly relays. Same goes for Marston. Marston and McGoey aren't quite the proven speedsters that James and Brophy are, but they are still capable of sub 4:20. Webb is tricky because he has solid wheels on relays, but he has terrific 9:08 strength that make the 3k difficult to pass on. But if a relay is in the picture you never know.

With Hoey's health still a bit of a concern, I'd give the edge to Ritz as of now, but Hoey has the better overall resume to back it up. I'll be very interested to see how the guys I mentioned outside of district one: Kravitz, Sponaugle, Kolor, VanKooten, Abert, take this season and if they can contend for a mile title.

Indoors has been dominated by d1 and independent league teams (I count the PCL schools in that mix). Altoona and State College have also had success. A few particularly talented distance guys have dropped impressive 3k times and solid miles, but the titles rarely fall outside the TFCAofGP. So these guys will have their hands full.

I'm a big fan of Kolor, partially because he helped my fantasy squad, partially because he's an improving runner with a strong resume. VanKooten has something to prove and was fantastic last outdoors. Kravitz ran really solid at Paul Short where he showcased impressive speed. Weidner was a state medalist, Sponaugle was awfully close. 

Throw in Alex Milligan, who was 16th at states and is at a very solid middle distance program with proximity to a nice indoor track for meets, and add in one of the only sub 15 guys in state history in Abert and this field is brimming with talented speedsters who have yet to break through for the flashy indoor PRs. And you could also throw McDevitt and Wills from Malvern Prep on the list and Diestelow plus Ben Wilson from Central Dauphin.

And who knows which XC breakout stars will showcase surprising speed on the track. And maybe even Brehm will throw his hat in the ring just for fun? This will be an intriguing field.

Finally we have the 3k which is straight loaded on paper. Not even counting guys who probably don't seriously do indoors (Hockenbury, Gebhart, etc) you have likely candidates Jake Brophy (3rd last year, state course record holder, 1:55-9:20s), Kevin James (1:55-9:03, 4th last year, hungry for a title), Andrew Marston (8th last year, 15:18 and 9:17 ability), Matt McGoey (medalist last year indoors and out, 9:12 PR), Casey Comber (Footlocker finalist, 15:12, sub 9:20 and 4:20 and 7th last indoors), Sam Webb (9:08 following injury plagued year, 1:57ish relay speed). 

You could possibly see Jaxson Hoey involved (sub 9:10 last year) although I'd be surprised. Nick Dahl and Sam Ritz just ran 9:11 and 9:12 on the track and I'm also an idiot for not bringing up Dahl earlier than right now. Ritz is almost definitely staying clear of the 3k (though he could run fast and compete with these guys if he wanted to) but Dahl could easily end up here (depending on relay stuff). He ran around 1:58-4:22-9:15 last year as just a freshman. He's already made massive improvements at 5k and dropped his 3200 PR a couple more seconds. What's to stop him from running low 8:40s indoors? His teammate Grayson Hepp (9:20s at Henderson meet) could also play a role. GFS usually likes to load up a DMR so if they feel they have the pieces, we may not see those two in any open events.

Griffin Molino was 9th last year and that was with a late start from Nats. He's a 4:12-9:19 guy who could easily hop in here. Hockenbury ran 9:17 last outdoors and won the AA state title. Deluca had a successful indoor campaign last year so Hock may try for something of the same. Billy McDevitt from Malvern Prep is coming off a very good XC season that followed a very impressive indoors last year where he ran multiple sub 9s. If Malvern Prep is willing to take a chance on risking him in the 3k-DMR double (which they may have done last year? Not sure their order choice but I know Jaxson led off), McDevitt will be in the medal hunt.

Paul Power was right in the mix at 3k as well last indoors and although he didn't come away with hardware, he did drop his PR under 9 minutes. He had a killer XC season that included a 15:24, 15:50 at Hershey and a 14th place finish at regionals. He could be a factor in this race. 

You also have Jon Perlman returning from last year and, if healthy, he will be very competitive. Will Loevner was a surprise qualifier in 2014, but he won't surprise anyone this time around. He was 4th at A states for the state champion Winchester Thurston. Maybe he will bring along Mackey or Littman or another small school WPIAL guy to the big dance this year, including his talent teammate, Landin Delaney, who joined Loevner at states in the 3200 last outdoors. 

Hunter Wharrey could join McGoey on the starting line or Ryan James could do the same with his brother Kevin. Nathan Henderson, Henry Sappey, Zach Seiger and Alex Knapp all proved this last XC season that they could run with the top pack, but will they showcase enough speed to break into the medalist or title talks? Can DiCintio or Shinn make an impact out of AA? Maybe Lapsansky can get here after his medalist campaign in XC.

I personally am hoping Abert finally gives the 3k/32 his full attention this year, I think that is his best event and he can do some serious damage there. The other sub 15 guys have run 8:48, 9:02, 9:07 and 8:57 for 3200m. That's a beast group.

Lastly, I'll be very interested to see who tries to use their XC fitness to sneak a qual time in December. I think this is a brilliant strategy and lots of top guys have used it (Furcht, Norris, Shearn to name a few success stories) and then backed of and rested. It paid huge dividends for Furcht (he was able to focus on the mile and improve his speed), Norris (same idea) and Shearn (he ended up fighting through injuries and was able to be smart and recover and still have his spot on the line at states safe and sound in his back pocket).

You still have plenty of time to take off and recover (it's only December) and if you are racing all the way Til nationals anyway, what's the one extra weekend? You barely even have to train, just stay fresh, break 9 and punch your ticket. (Yes, I'm aware I'm making that sound way easier than it is. The 3k time is fast as anything. I've watched 5 different teammates who were all very talented chase it and all of them missed. It's brutal).

This years flat/banked times:

9:00.23/8:59.43

4:32.43/4:31.73

2:00.73/2:00.13

Happy hunting!

Grab a Pillow and Blanket

It's still very early, but looking over results it appears that district one may be more wide open than usual. Besides DT West and CB West, the top teams graduate a lot of key seniors: Stoga loses 6 of 7, Henderson and CRN lose 3 of their best 4 and CB East and Pennsbury will lose members of their district top 5 who played key roles in the teams success.

Of course then you remember that Henderson and CRN seem to make states regardless of whatever is on their roster and CB East has the best runner in the state and you realize maybe it's not as wide open as it appears ....

I really think CRN and Henderson are more vulnerable than ever in 2015, but it's still early and track hasn't shown us some stars on the brink of a breakout. 2015 will also be a huge year for Stoga. A lot of teams take time to rebound once their wave of seniors move on. It's the mark of a top tier program when you can consistently overcome the strain of graduation and still be competitive. Great Valley is still trying to find an identity after losing Willig, Wolffe, Willig and Zatlin. North Penn hasn't made it back to states since losing Davis and Trimble, the last real ties to the state title teams. Horsham hasn't been able to get back to states since Hibbs and Quinn were at their peak together. These are really good programs, but to be considered the best of the best you need to overcome these lags. Stoga will look to earn some respect in 2015 by doing just that.

Henderson loses the three guys who were their top 3 runners in 2014. Yes, Smucker was their #2 at states when it counted, but up until that point Knapp, Barchet and Swart were the guys. The strength of the team was it's top 3 before the Smucker breakout and then it briefly became a top 4. Passed Spence, they didn't have a guy sub 17 and to make it out of the difficult D1 meet, you need a complete squad of 5 guys.

Yes, they rebuilt this past year after losing 6 of 7 from the back to back state champs, but I'd argue that the hardest time to do well is normally 2 years removed from your state titles. Swart, Barchet and Knapp learned a lot from being around the guys on those state title teams and their training improved in their key sophomore and junior years as a result. Losing the last true ties to state gold will hurt more than it appears on paper. Read Chapter 3 of my NA story for confirmation.

But that doesn't mean Henderson is done. They will still be a good team with a strong coach and an excellent front runner. In 2011, two years removed from their state title, the Henderson boys reloaded with young sophomores and juniors and grabbed another district title when few expected they would be able to do it. Tony Russell took a leap, Charlie Grab helped bring the young guys along and Sam Haugh ended up sub 16 and top 50 at states as a #2. This Henderson group has a lot of young talent that Coach Kelly should develop well. It's way too early to judge how good this team will be until we see how the young guys develop on the track.

The other good news is they return a freshman medalist, a rare occurrence indeed. The top frosh performances in recent years include Craig Miller (top 5), Vince McNally (13th), and Jake Brophy (30ish). As sophomores Craig Miller won a state title, McNally was 3rd and Brophy was 8th. Not too shabby. 

I'm definitely a little nervous for CRN as well, more so than Henderson because they don't have the clear front runner advantage. I'll be interested to see what they do on the track. They've recovered from the loss of Campbell and Wilson in the past as well as medalists like Wallace and Zingarini but this year you could argue they don't have the logical waiting in the wings group they had in the past (although this group looks comparable to what they returned in 2010-2011 and they were nearly top 5 at states that season and better than the year before). Like I said, it's early, so we will see how things develop on the track. But the smart thing to do is pencil these guys in because they always find a way to get there.

The bottom line is it's really hard to make states, especially when you love in District One and CB East found that out the hard way. Keep in mind they were just a few points away from DT West, who finished 4th at states, and had run quite well at Pre States so maybe they could have challenged the top 5-10 teams or so. They would have, at the very least, had the #1 team scorer and another in the top 25 or so. So this team is stronger than many will remember and they return 3 of their top 5 and 5 of their top 7. Most importantly, they return Jake Brophy, the reigning state champ, who will be able to show everyone on a daily basis what it takes to be a state champ. 

Most years, a team usually rises from the 20s or so to challenge for a state spot. This year it was CB West and their up and coming group of youngsters, before that it was Conestoga and in previous years it was teams like Unionville or Great Valley or Pennsbury. Next year there are a few young teams like Souderton and Owen J Roberts who are led by some young up and coming studs who may surprise teams and turn heads. Only time will tell who can make the difficult climb to the top.

Outside of District One, there are plenty of sleeper teams of which to take note. One of my favorite teams to watch is Ephrata in District 3. They return all 7 of their varsity members from 2014, including top 50 finisher at states Nate Becker and individual state qualifier Zach Lefever. In a loaded D3 year, they were a top 6 team in the district and nearly were surprise state qualifiers a year early. Their top 4 returners had an impressive 32 second spread at districts and if they continue to develop as a more complete team, they could be a Twin Valley 2.0 type of squad.

Also in D3 is a deep sleeper team in Mechanicsburg. They return their entire top 5 from this past year including top frosh Morgan Cupp and a very good sophomore in Alex Tomasko. Those two make for a young, talented 1-2 punch. Thomas Nicewicz will be a strong senior leader to join the trio out front. To be truly competitive, they need develop the final pieces of the pack, but often times when you have a great top 3, the rest of your pack has a way of working itself out (or at least that's what happened for NA, North Penn in 2009 and 2011, Altoona in the past and countless other examples).

Plus, I like this squad because you can tell those guys really want to be good. Their top crew signed up for an extra month for Footlocker, a really tough task at such a young age.

Parkland out in D11 returns 6 of their 7 varsity members from this past state meet, including stud soph Michael Geiger. The Parkland boys were overshadowed by the dominate Easton squad, but next year is their turn to try and take back over as Easton loses their key piece out front, Colin Abert.

In D7, Pittsburgh Central Catholic is poised to make a run at a state birth. After Jeff VanKooten, the rest of their varsity squad from districts is all due back in 2015, including state qualifier Dan Young and the Gatti boys. This program has produced three different medalists over the last 9 years and one district runner up in Mike Runco. Now they will chase another team qualifying birth and maybe even a top 2 finish at districts. 

Tell me your sleepers and thoughts if you'd like and get ready ... One the first indoor meets start rolling in ill start talking track.

I figure cross country may not be over, but track is starting. So if they are both going on at the same time, I can talk about both too. 

Plus I mean ... It's track. Who doesn't love to talk about track?!

Chapter 3: A New Era Begins

In 2012 the WPIAL was preparing to enter a state of flux. North Allegheny was losing a slew of their top tier guys to graduation for the second straight year. Mount Lebanon lost their top three runners from the previous season and their emotional leader in Alex Moran. Baldwin lost district champion in the 3200m Andrew Kuchta and seemed to be losing some of their old spark. The teams that had dominated the district in the past had serious question marks next to their names and young, up and coming teams saw this as their chance to make a name for themselves.

 

One of those teams was Kiski Area who had been fourth the previous year at Districts, a spot that was no longer state qualifying with the addition of Class “A”. They had an up and coming state title contender in Brent Kennedy (7th as a sophomore in 2011) and had impressed at the NXN Regional meet the previous November, where they defeated the state champions North Penn. Another team on the rise was Fox Chapel, who was led by a pair of twin Juniors Ethan and Colin Martin.

 

Despite the hype and discussion surrounding the new up and coming powers, when the boys out West battled at their first big invitational the results were oddly familiar. Although Kennedy and Ethan Martin took 1-2 in the meet, North Allegheny reclaimed the Red, White and Blue title, defeating Mount Lebanon and showcasing a new skill: pack running. The team had an absurd 17 second spread between their #1 and #5 runners, a remarkably small figure.

 

In 2009, 2010 and 2011, North Allegheny had massive spreads at the state championship because they used an effective low stick (Ryan Gil or Logan Steiner) to carry them. They had been incredibly successful using this strategy, finishing 2nd, 1st and 3rd, but now it was time to show they weren’t just a one trick pony.

 

The other thing that stood out about the 2012 Tigers was their incredible youth. At RWB they had three sophomores in their top 5: Scott Seel, Seamus Love and Matt McGoey. The only senior in their top seven was their number one runner, Josh Zemet.

 

Despite their impressive first meet, the discussion around the state featured very little of North Allegheny. The big debate was between Cardinal O’Hara and West Chester Henderson, two fantastic teams that had not just state title potential, but national qualifying potential. Henderson’s Tony Russell had made a big first statement in his first meet of the season, running stride for stride through the line with reigning AA state champion Brendan Shearn. O’Hara, meanwhile, showcased a fantastic top three of Dan Savage, Kevin James and Ernie Pitone and ended up with the win in their first regular season match up at Briarwood.

 

After Henderson had taken it’s shot, it was North Allegheny’s turn to battle with PA’s #1 ranked team at the Pre State meet. At the invite, O’Hara was convincing, putting six in the top fifteen. They defeated North Allegheny 40 to 75 for another commanding win. North Allegheny was good, but the state title talk had to be put on hold.

 

The good news was NA had taken second without one of their top guys in Scott Seel. In addition, the Tigers got Mike Meehan back in the line-up, the only remaining member of their state title team in 2010. He delivered with a top 10 performance and was the Tiger’s first finisher at the meet. This inexperienced North Allegheny squad likely benefited much more than O’Hara did from an extra run on the Hershey hills. There was work to be done, but the potential was there for something extraordinary.

 

However, misfortune struck the team midseason when Meehan suffered an injury that would keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the year. With arguably their best and most experienced runner down for the count, many thought North Allegheny may begin to show signs of vulnerability. But at Tri-States any doubts were quickly extinguished.

 

North Allegheny dominated the meet, scoring just 49 points behind a 16 second spread. Their three stud sophomores took 8th, 11th and 12th overall behind Josh Zemet’s 5th place finish. They rolled through districts as well scoring 50 points and boasting an 18 second spread from Zemet (7th) to Scott Seel (14th). Now all that remained was a state championship fight against O’Hara and Henderson.

 

Riding a 2-5 finish from the Martin twins, Fox Chapel took 2nd and locked up a place in the state championships. Meanwhile Mount Lebanon barely fought off Hampton for the final spot. The two teams tied and a 6th man tiebreaker swung things in favor of Lebo. Sam Hughes of Lebo beat Jack Reidy of Hampton by less than a second to keep the score tied and then Brad Pollock delivered as the 6th man.

 

The three WPIAL teams as well as their 15 other individuals gathered at the state championship meet in 2012 to perfect conditions. North Allegheny was a long shot for the title as all the drama was centered around O’Hara and Henderson. Henderson had taken the 1st and 3rd spots at the district championships and had won the meet handily over Council Rock North, despite resting some of their top five. O’Hara won the District 12 meet handily, only LaSalle was able to break up their scoring five.

 

The pressure would be on North Allegheny’s inexperienced youngsters, Seamus Love and Matt McGoey, who had never run a state meet before and were only sophomores. How would they handle the pressure?

 

The first mile was vintage North Allegheny as they packed it up around 5 flat and ran conservatively, letting teams like O’Hara, Henderson and CRN put distance on them. That was certainly what O’Hara had intended to do. Their top three runners were all out under 4:50 for the first mile with their top fiveat 4:56 or faster.  The problem as, North Allegheny’s Seamus Love had lost his shoe at the beginning of the race, a killer issue from a mental and physical point of view. If the Tigers were going to compete for a podium finish, they couldn’t afford to have bad luck.

 

During the second mile, Henderson and O’Hara continued to prove they were the teams to beat and North Allegheny found themselves in a dog fight with Council Rock North. NA’s pack that had won them so many races was struggling to keep pace with the killer front three of CRN. At 2 miles, CRN at three guys in the top 28 overall while North Allegheny had just two in the top 60.

 

Over the last mile, North Allegheny fought hard to stay competitive. Josh Zemet moved up to 15th while Scott Seel joined Luoco in the top 50. But Love’s shoe problems combined with McGoey’s inexperience cost the team valuable points. Their spread, which had been under 20 seconds each of the previous two weeks, scored to over a minute and as a result, Council Rock North slipped by them for third,137 to 149.

 

At the front, O’Hara and Henderson had a race for the ages. For the second straight year, O’Hara tied for the state title and, for the second straight year, they lost on the 6th man tie breaker. The boys from West Chester Henderson, led by a double gold from Tony Russell, put 6 in the top 50 and 7 in the top 52 to beat out O’Hara in a 69-69 tie.

 

The Tigers had to settle for fourth, left as a distance memory behind two of the best teams in PA history. To make matters worse, essentially the same Henderson team would return in 2013 and North Allegheny would lose their top runner and only state medalist. Despite all the hype and excitement about North Allegheny, their youth, their potential and their magnificent spread, they had fallen short, were not favored to win the next year’s title and lost their defining identity. At the end of the season, they graduated their final tie to state gold in Mike Meehan.

 

And thus the last memories of the Ryan Gil era were gone. It was time for a new era to begin.

The Lurking Contenders

The last 5 years, O'Hara has been 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd. Their 5 straight top 3 finishes is best active streak in the state. Some would argue 2015 will be their first real test as they graduate Kevin James, a two time national qualifier and top finisher at the state meet. However, O'Hara returns a pair of state medalists in Ryan James and Rob Morro for next year's team as well as Varsity members Billy Donovan and Patrick James. Three of those men will be just Juniors in 2015 so there is potential for a sophomore to junior jump here. The key will be developing a complete pack as O'Hara looks to return to the form it showed in 2011 and 2012 rather than the near misses of the medal stand in 2013 and 2014, where their top 3 weren't enough to carry them to the podium. It remains to be seen who will step up to fill these roles, but this is a strong program that should continue to churn out talent.

However, O'Hara will have it's hands full in it's own district against a LaSalle squad that returns some key members of a varsity team that beat both Conestoga and O'Hara in 2014. Patrick Grant, Eddie Goebel, Brendan Price and Stephen Paul are all back from the tight LaSalle pack that placed 10th at states and they hope to stay competitive in the district and state. The team will miss the senior leadership of Princivalle and Mitchell, both of whom were consistent and solid, and will need a star to emerge if they are going to be legitimate title contenders. This is another fine program that may be on the verge of returning to their 2008-2009 fame.

Cumberland Valley is the top returning D3 team from states, coming off a respectable 7th place finish. They lose their consistent #1 presence in Quinn Wasko, but return the rest of their varsity in entirety. Higgins and Soliman were both impressive as sophomores last year. Soliman broke 16 while Higgins had a terrific district race that the team relied on to make it through the difficult D3 championships. Cahill was a strong piece and Owen Seeber was the team's #2 behind Wasko on multiple occasions before the back to back battles at Hershey. Throw in a quickly developing frosh in Caleb Schultz and a historic program and this team could really make some noise. Their biggest issue, the fact that they compete in district 3 and have to run back to back Hershey races, may be evaporated before 2015. Rumor is that the D3 championships is moving to Big Spring.

You know who would love that news? Hempfield. Hempfield has now won a pair of district titles in recent years but had disappointing finishes the following weekend at states. The team graduates their own consistent senior leader in Duncan Brady, but they also return their next 6 runners. Last year frosh Christian Groff had a solid race at states and shows real potential. They also return Justin Yurchak who had some impressive results in 2014. Throw in Norton, Mattes and White and Hempfield is an excellent position to defend their title.

While NA is the class of district seven, one of the most consistently dangerous squads in the WPIAL is Mt Lebanon. Although Lebo had a tough stretch run in 2014 thanks to some bad luck at states, they return a variety of key contributors including Todd Gunzenhauser, Ian Harris and strong frosh Bryce Brandenstein. Down the stretch they got a nice lift from Josh Kalapos who will be back next year and prepared to help the team as a strong senior piece to their top 5 puzzle. Losing Ian Baun, the teams top runner for most of the season, will be a difficult obstacle, but they return plenty of talent and should enjoy the switch at WPIALs from Coopers to Cal. 

State College was another top contender in 2014 that will return multiple varsity members. They return #1 runner Alex Milligan, who's performance at states was one of the best in recent program history. He will be the #6 returner next season and should give SC a strong low stick. Behind him, Nick Feffer returns after solid races back to back years at states. Feffer was just outside the top 50 in 2014 and could be a medal threat in 2015 as he makes the sophomore to junior jump. The team also returns varsity members Owen Wing and Matt Balogh who should benefit from an extra year's experience on varsity, running the state course and dealing with the pressure surrounding running for a top team.

Coming tomorrow: The Official 2015 Sleeper Teams

Chapter 2: The Slop and the Upset

Despite losing the reigning state champ in Ryan Gil, North Allegheny was still among the contenders to compete for the 2011 State Title. They returned their next five runners from states behind Gil including state medalist and new title contender Logan Steiner. However, competition was coming from all over. O’Hara, who had been third at states the previous season, returned a slew of up and coming young talent. Mount Lebanon, another WPIAL rival for the Tigers, returned their top three and five of their top six, including state medalist and 4:12 miler Alex Moran.

 

At the team’s opening meet of the season, Lebo bested North Allegheny by 16 points and Alex Moran beat Logan Steiner by 20 seconds to set the tone for the meet out front. Lebo’s top three all finished in the top 16 overall, cementing the victory and securing them PA #1 status in the next round of coach’s polls. Lawtin Tellin and Kevin Tramaglini, the team’s 2-3 punch, were making a name for themselves as the best 2-3 in the state. The bright spot for North Allegheny was they felt they had the depth to stay competitive: their fifth man was a freshman named Matt McGoey who placed 29th overall in the deep field.

 

As the season progressed, the gap between Lebo and North Allegheny only seemed to grow in the media. Lebo dominated the Slippery Rock Invitational, scoring 29 points without any of their top three. At Pre States, Lebo was edged out by Cardinal O’Hara 79 to 85, but placed three in the top 15 and 6 in the top 30. The state title race had become a two team conversation between the defending PCL champs and the upstart team from the WPIAL. Meanwhile, North Allegheny continued to stay low key and continued to be ignored.

 

The long awaited Tri State meet on October 20th would essentially be a WPIAL preview. Fans were intrigued to see how realistic it was that the increasingly historic North Allegheny streak would be stopped at six in a week’s time. The early signs were good.

 

Lebo took down NA by a score of 76-90, continuing their successful season and cementing their status as favorite for the district title. The top three delivered again with three in the top 17, but Lebo also had impressive showings by their 4-5 runners who each placed in the top 25. The depth advantage that North Allegheny had shown earlier in the season had been erased, and it appeared the front running advantage Lebo had boasted all season would continue to hold true.

 

A week later the teams traveled back to Cooper’s Lake with all eyes on Mount Lebanon. This was it, the moment the dynasty would finally begin to crumble. However, when the teams arrived at Cooper’s Lake they were greeted by the sloppiest conditions of the decade. In the AA race, Quaker Valley’s LJ Westwood, who had opened the season running 15:50 at RWB, managed only an18:08. It was clear that times were out the window, the only meaningful numbers to each team would be the final standings.

 

When the race began, Logan Steiner repeated his front running style from a year ago and charged to the lead. However, after leading through in 4:54 a year ago, conditions were so sloppy he managed only a 5:13 to begin. Even at that pace, he opened up about a two-second gap on the field back to Baldwin’s Andrew Kuchta and Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Mike Runco. Steiner also held a four-second lead over Lebo front-runner Alex Moran, crucial points in the team battle.

 

But more importantly, Tyler Nictora, Tim Appman and Mike Meehan had all blasted off into the top 15 off the start while Tellin and Tramaglini were out in 16th and 29th respectively. In conditions like these, it seemed likely that NA’s front runner strategy would be a recipe for disaster and after the brutal front stretch of the course, they would crash and burn the final mile.

 

The second mile NA continued to hold on, but there were signs of weakness. Steiner had dropped back to third after running his second mile in just 5:37, while Mike Runco and Andrew Kuchta had moved into the two spots ahead of him. Mike Meehan had slipped from 15th to 22nd and Nictora had slipped from 9th to 14th. But whatever loss this caused was more than made up for as Sophomore Cordon Luoco and Freshman Scott Seel began to climb the leader board. North Allegheny now found themselves with five in the top 16 overall. Meanwhile, Lebo was not moving forward, but instead slipping backwards. Pittsburgh Central Catholic had made up substantial ground on Lebo. Tramaglini, who had been so consistent all year, was falling victim to the elements and was the teams #5 man back in 34th place. With a mile to go, NA led 56 to 112 and, barring a massive disaster, would retain their WPIAL championship for at least one more year.

 

When the final points were tallied it was a jaw dropping 50 to 115 win for the Tigers, while Lebo was almost caught from behind by Pittsburgh CC (122 points) and Kiski (149 points). That was particularly surprising because just a week earlier Lebo had beat the two teams by a combined 409 points. The conditions were horrid enough to cause one Lebo runner to drop out (Scott Westover) and plenty of other top tier runners suffered uncharacteristically poor performances.

 

But somehow North Allegheny fought all that off. Steiner kicked his way through the slop to beat out Runco and Kuchta while Cordon Luoco and Scott Seel, the youngsters of the group, finished 9th and 10th respectively in the field, the two places directly behind Lebo’s Alex Moran. North Allegheny’s six runners in the top 20 overall was unlike any performance they had produced since 2008 (when they placed five in the top 17). In 2008, North Allegheny took a trip out to Portland for the Nike Cross Nationals Championships.

 

With a week to go until the state championship, everything seemed to be opening up for O’Hara to grab the first state title for the PCL. After winning Pre States, they had impressive wins over LaSalle at PCLs and Districts and their top five runners were all potential top fifty runners at the state meet. In 2010, they had peaked perfectly and surprised a few teams at states, working their way up to third overall. With an even better team this year, a title seemed very possible.

 

The top two teams from the previous two state championships, North Allegheny and West Chester Henderson, both won their district meets in impressive fashion and were rapidly gaining momentum and credibility heading into the state meet. And Mount Lebanon, despite the heart break of Districts, had the desire to prove districts was just a fluke of the conditions and that they were still in the title hunt.

 

O’Hara was the favorite, but with question marks at 6 and 7, one off day suddenly made the state title competition incredibly wide open and North Allegheny, Henderson and Lebo would all be hanging around, chomping at their heels.

 

North Allegheny felt good about their chances for an upset. They had one of the top runners in the field, Logan Steiner, and an experienced group of returners from last season’s state championships. In addition, they had two of the best young runners in the state in Cordon Luoco and Scott Seel. With momentum and confidence overflowing in the NA locker room, if any team was going to pull off the upset, it appeared as if it would be the Tigers.

 

Funny thing about the state championships, things are rarely as they appear. The first mile went out pretty quick as usual, with almost 75 runners going out under five minutes. O’Hara’s boys were at the front: their entire top six had cracked five on the opening mile. But there were teams that had been bold enough to match the blistering early pace. North Penn, who was third at the district one championships, was in second at the mile, only three points back. Holy Ghost Prep, another district one qualifying team, was in third place with four runners at five flat or better.

 

For the second straight year, North Allegheny opted to hang back. At the mile, they were in 6th place, over 100 points off the lead. Logan Steiner was all the way back in 37th place, well back of the leaders. In addition to the top three teams, they also sat behind their two biggest rivals: West Chester Henderson and Mount Lebanon. Running in the 6 and 7 spots for North Allegheny were Luco and Seel, the two youngsters that had been so clutch at Districts. Could they pick off runners the same way they had done the previous week?

 

After the difficult back hills, the first surprise came when the top runners began to approach the finish. Hatboro Horsham Junior Conner Quinn, teammate to preseason title favorite Sam Hibbs, had taken the lead and it appeared he was on his way to gold. It was the first time a junior had won the AAA state title since 2004. Drew Magaha, the dominant district one champion and 4:07 miler, finished in 6th and Logan Steiner finished one spot ahead of him in 5th. O’Hara’s first man came across the line in 4th, one spot ahead of Steiner. O’Hara next had Senior Mike Bilotta cross in 11th place. It was an impressive 1-2 punch. Alex Moran from Lebo, Tim Appman from NA, Tony Russell from Henderson and Lawtin Tellin from Lebo crossed next for the Pre Meet contenders. After two runners, North Allegheny was still right in the title hunt.

 

However, Ernie Pitone and Chris Pastore both passed for O’Hara in the top 50 overall runners, before any of the other top teams #3 runners had come by. North Allegheny’s runners finished 5th, 20th, 59th, 93rd and 102nd. Scott Seel finished outside the top five for the Tigers. As just a freshman, he still needed extra maturation and experience. Although it seemed obvious they hadn’t beaten O’Hara, they had matched up well against Mount Lebanon and Henderson. So even if there would not be a gold medal to wear this year, it appeared that a silver was headed in their direction.

 

When the scores were produced, a wave of shock hit the fans of Hershey and jubilation came from the North Penn tent. The Knights of North Penn, who had been state champions in 2007 and 2008, had won the AAA state title on a sixth man tiebreaker over Cardinal O’Hara. In third, 13 points away from a title, was North Allegheny. 

 

North Penn had qualified for states in both 2009 and 2010 after second place finishes at Districts, but both times underachieved at states. They had a habit of going out a bit over their heads and struggling to hold on in the back hills. The strength of the team seemed to be on the speedy surface of Lehigh rather than the true rugged cross country terrain of Hershey. So when North Penn finished third at Districts, most people completely wrote them out of the state title conversation.

 

Even watching the race, it didn’t appear that North Penn was in a position to win. Jack Macauley, their #1 runner, finished 17th, behind the top two O’Hara runners. Ernie Pitone finished ahead of Chris Trimble in a battle of third men and then Chris Pastore for O’Hara finished ahead of Ryan Grace by a decent margin. Yet Cross Country is scored to five men (and apparently sometimes six) and a big day from sophomore Matt Molloy was enough to swing the title race to the Knights. Hunter Hill, the 6th man for North Penn, finished 13 seconds ahead of Christian Ostrowski, the 6th man for O’Hara, award the tiebreaker and the state golds to North Penn.

 

The difference might have been experience. North Penn had essentially brought their same team the year before and finished a disappointing 12th. But when all the runners returned the next year, they were a year wiser and a year more experienced. In the end, it made all the difference. In one of the most wide-open state championships in state history, North Penn hoisted the trophy.

 

North Allegheny had to be frustrated after the race. Their best day likely would have made them state champions, but instead they had to settle for third. That frustration motivated the team to continue to training and go to the Nike Regional championships, hoping for a repeat of their magical 2008 run. Although they didn’t punch a ticket to Oregon, North Allegheny was handily the top PA team, beating out the reigning state champs by 282 points.

 

It was a positive note to end on for the North Allegheny XC team, but it was also a moment to realize that four of their top five runners from states, including their top three, were graduating that June. Meanwhile, North Penn was coming off it’s third title in five years, returning five of their top seven guys. West Chester Henderson, who had won three District One Championships in a row, was returning a significant portion of their varsity as well. And lastly, Cardinal O’Hara, the most motivated team in the state, was returning four of their top five runners from the 2011 heartbreak.

 

For most the question wasn’t can North Allegheny compete for the 2012 state title, the question was, can the Tigers even stay relevant on the PA scene?

2015: Never too Early?

Alright, alright you dragged me into it. I was going to try to wait but sometimes you have to know when to give in to the crowd. Since our cross country season is still not over, it’s not time for me to talk about track just yet, but I suppose I can give a little thought to the 2015 State Title race ….

(It’s been that kind of year for Casey Comber huh? Once again his impressive achievements end up overshadowed by other big news. Kid can’t catch a break)

I had sort of gotten used to PA sending squads to nationals, considering we sent three teams over the last three years and I had high hopes for Malvern Prep in the early season and North Allegheny in the late going, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite meant to be. Injuries and two really good NE squads left us on the sidelines when all was said and done and, although I know NA would have represented us fantastically at Nationals, there are no teams left competing this cross country season, so I figure I am allowed to consider the possibility of how good our teams could be next year.

(For the record, I think Severna Park or whatever their name is that kept winning races here in PA made it to nationals out of a Southern region which is cool for them, but I wonder how NA would handle them nowadays considering they are way better than they were at PreStates. Would NA have made it to Nats if they were in another region? I’m not really sure if I know the answer to that, but it’s an interesting question at least).

I took a close look at all the teams from states and the non-state teams from the districts that use runhigh for results to analyze who returns what. If class years are wrong on these sites I apologize in advance.

(What I’m going to miss the most about the WPIAL moving their district championships out of Coopers? They are probably ditching runhigh! I love runhigh results, it took me about 2 seconds to figure out what teams should be on my radar for next year thanks to those guys. And seriously I’m not sponsored by them).

To begin, I would be naive to not mention the fact that state champs North Allegheny may lose their top three runners, but they return their next four and have a ton of depth. This team has placed in the top five at states every year since 2006 (the only team to boast this resume over that span) and have placed in the top three every year since 2007 with the exception of 2012 (4th). No matter what they lose they are contenders. And for the record they return a nice pack already. Jacob Stupak killed the final mile of the state championship and ended up in the top 50. Dieble came on strong at season’s end and TJ Robinson was just a freshman. This team was secretly deep this past year and if they can get a breakout star (like Gil in 2008 or Zemet in 2012) they will be very dangerous.

That being said, the favorites will likely come from District One. District One, who has won all the non-North Allegheny state titles since 2004, consistently produces state title threats. In 2015, the likely leader of the pack in D1 is Downingtown West. Recently, news broke that the Hoey brothers (all three) are going to be attending DT West by next cross country season (and possibly sooner), meaning that the 4th place team in the state just picked up one of the best runners in the region, possibly the best freshman in the state, and possibly the best incoming freshman for 2015.

Not that they needed the help of course. DTWest was already returning breakout star Henry Sappey, who delivered consistently at Carlisle, Leagues, Districts and States (leading the team with his 10th place finish). Sappey is the #2 returner from the state championships in Hershey behind newly crowned course record holder Jake Brophy. Ryan Barton, as just a sophomore, placed 36th at the state championship, a huge #2 performance. Ryherd, O’Neill and Bullock each played pivotal roles at various meets during the season. They were one of the best teams through 7 runners all season, had an excellent crop of JV talent and their best runner from districts last year, Drew Alansky, was out all season.

I’m not a fortune teller by any means, but the potential here is mind blowing. In an ideal scenario, you have Jaxson Hoey competing for a state title with Sappey alongside. Alansky comes back and is able to duplicate the jump made by Barton. Josh Hoey continues to improve and makes a solid leap from freshman to sophomore. The pack of 7-10 guys competing just to make it on to varsity propels one of the pack to a huge season. Something along the lines of 2-5-15-24-25 for their scoring five seems possible (and that’s overall, I’m not talking team scoring), which would make West the best PA team since Coatesville (who somehow went 3-6-8-12-18 in a real good year for PA … that’s how you win a national championship).

But let’s slow the hype train down here a bit. There are a few questions for DT West as they struggled last at Districts and barely made it through to states (where they had a fantastic bounce back race). This team appears to be a true XC squad, perfect for states running but possibly making things difficult at Lehigh. Behind Sappey, the team struggled a bit with consistency. They need a big day from the 2 spot to help set the tone for the pack. There is also no guarantee that Alansky will come back and be 100%. Injuries are a part of the game and Jaxson and Alansky among others have already felt that pain. A badly timed injury or fall can ruin anyone’s season.

However, it does seem they will have a fix for many of these issues next year. They add speed with Jaxson and they get a lot older next year as their sophomores become juniors. Think WC Henderson in 2012 kind of development. They have a ton of depth and could probably rest guys at districts if everything goes well (again like Henderson 2012). The comparisons to some of PA’s ever teams will be floating around over the summer and, hopefully for DT West, in December as well.

Perhaps the biggest threat to the beginnings of a DT West dynasty lies within the district. Many may not realize this, but CB West was winning the state championship at the mile marker and right in the hunt at 2 miles. I don’t think anyone was beating NA that day, but a more conservative race from an inexperienced West team could have landed them in a surprise 2nd place. It was the first time CB West qualified for states in my memory, and quite possibly the first time in school history so nerves were bound to be high.

What’s encouraging is, despite their late fade, they were still a hard fought 6th, very close to finishing 5th and they return five guys for next year including their top three of Fortna, Iatarola and McDonald. Iatarola and McDonald had a big days at states, impressive considering they were just sophomores. Fortna has the potential to be a front runner. He seems to be a bit more of a speed runner considering his excellent mile time last spring and his strong race at districts, but with an additional year of experience as a top tier runner, he may grow into a top 10 threat by 2015. The team also should get Brian Mass back to full strength next year, another sophomore making the soph to junior jump that tends to produce serious improvements in the right runner.

They had a loaded JV last year, including McClenethan who I believe was the JV champ. If you take away the Hoeys, CB West and DT West appear very evenly matched on paper (in my opinion anyway). Both teams have solid depth, potential at the front, a piece waiting in the wings, and some very talented sophomores who could make a jump.

However, if you drop 2-3 guys with potential to be top 50 in the state next year including a potential state champion onto one of those two teams, it changes the game a bit.

Coming tomorrow: O’Hara, Cumberland Valley, LaSalle and more! The teams looking to crash the party in 2015.   

Chapter 1: The Legacy

This is the first post in a 5 part series I'm writing on North Allegheny's road to the state championship this year. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Legacy

Flash back to 2010. North Allegheny, a team with three straight near misses, was heading into what looked like their final chance to win the title before their window closed. Senior Ryan Gil, a Footlocker Finalist in 2009 and 9:03 3200m runner, had been the team’s top runner for the previous two seasons, but in the final and most crucial season, injury struck.

 

A foot injury to Gil left him on the sidelines for a few critical midseason meets, including the Tri State championships, a mere two weeks before the state championships. Without their front runner, the preseason state title favorites, not only lost to district rivals Baldwin by 32 points, but also were nearly edged out by Altoona, who finished just one point back.

 

“Baldwin had a really strong team that season. They had lost Cecala and Logan who were both in the 30s at States the year before, but they returned a state medalist in Bobby Bishop and they also had Paul DeGregorio and Andrew Kuchta who both ended up graduating with district titles in the 3200m. Even if Gil had been in the race and taken first, things would have been within a few points.”

 

After weeks of cross training, Gil braced himself for a return at the WPIAL championships, a meet his school had won each season since 2005. Anything but a peak shape Gil was going to have his hands full against the top WPIAL contenders. The North Hills monster (Juris Silenieks, Zach Hebda and Joe Kush) had just swept Wade Endress, who many considered one of the contenders for a state title, the previous week. Despite the obstacles, the hope was that the mere appearance of the team captain would provide the necessary lift to topple Baldwin and help the team build momentum towards a state title run.

 

It may have provided too much of a lift. Logan Steiner, the team’s #1 man in Gil’s absence, charged to the front of the race and his team followed. Only Gil appeared to have held something back off the start. NA was leading at the mile by 9 points over Mt Lebanon and by 27 points over Baldwin. At 2 miles, the gap was beginning to shrink. Baldwin was making up ground on the overzealous Tigers and their front-runner Bobby Bishop had moved in front of both Gil and Steiner. Baldwin had their top 4 ahead of NA’s third. Baldwin’s freshman 5th man George Kelly was back a ways in 58th, but he had already made up 20 spots since the mile. NA still held a lead at 2 miles, but it was just 11 points.

 

Over the course of the final mile, things continued to shrink. Gil, who had given up on chasing the impressive 1-2-3 sweep of North Hills, fended off Bishop and brought his teammate Steiner with him. Tim Appman and Mike Meehan had big final miles and the NA pack mixed it with Baldwin’s, giving them enough to barely hold off their rivals late charge 80-86.

 

But there was still the rematch looming at states, not to mention the defending state champions: West Chester Henderson. The state course can really hit you hard if you go out over your head, so NA would have to ride a different strategy if they were going to continue their success on the Hershey hills. For the most part, the team held back compared to their district race. Steiner chose to sit back in 71st instead of 1st. In the team standings, North Allegheny was in 4th place overall and 61 points behind first, behind West Chester Henderson, Altoona and another district rival, Mount Lebanon. 

 

Despite his teammates’ slow start, Ryan Gil had not held back. After a cautious qualifying meet at WPIALs, Gil went out in 4:52 at the state meet, placing him 2 seconds off the lead in 17th place. Zach Hebda and Juris Silenieks from North Hills were leading, hoping to continue their monstrous dominance over the rest of the state.

Over the course of the second mile Gil continued to chase the leaders. At the two mile mark, he was in 7th place, three seconds off a new leader, Reece Ayers. The three-headed hydra of North Hills was beginning to look shaky, Juris and Hebda were now in 4th and 5th while Kush was in 14th. Gil, who only two weeks previously had been held out of his league championship, was running in the top 10 of the state championship. The pacing,10:01 for the leaders, was not anything too dramatic so maybe Gil would be able to sneak into the top five or maybe even the top three. Winning seemed improbable: as talented as he was, he had lost a substantial amount of training and racing time. Yet he had to try, ever point was critical for his team success. He knew Wade Endress, a 1:52 half miler, was lurking in third, ready to strike so his move would have to come soon.

 

Meanwhile, the Tigers were rapidly picking up spots behind Ryan. Logan Steiner had moved from 71st to 19th over the course of the second mile and the team had lowered their score by 40 points overall. Tyler Nictora and Will Appman were running in the 3-4 spots with the teams 3-6 separated by just 5 seconds. Defending champions Henderson still held a slim 14-point advantage, but the gap back to third had grown. It was now just a two-team race. Baldwin, the team that had given North Allegheny such a scare at districts, was all the way back in 6th place.

 

To get the state title, every spot would matter over the course of the last mile. Nictora was in 87th  overall, Appman 93rd and Tonzo 99th. Meehan was outside the top 100 as the 6th. The front running excellence of Gil and Steiner would only be able to carry the team so far. Eventually, it would take a complete team effort. That was the task for the final mile.

 

At the front a group of six seniors all thought they had a chance at gold. But Ryan Gil was the top returner from a year ago and the most experienced. He had been in all types of races, running at both the NXN National Championships and the Footlocker National Championships in back to back years. He made a hard move earlier than expected and the others were not prepared to follow. He found himself with daylight as he approached the finish, an important fact. Endress, Hebda and Campbell were all kicking furiously, but Gil was clear enough to hang on and grab the victory. It was an incredibly gutsy performance and a testament that heart and desire are more important than fitness and numbers.

 

It also was critical for North Allegheny as a team: they now had the ultimate low stick. Behind him Logan Steiner continued to sprinting hard to the finish and outlasting Henderson’s #1 man Bryan Andrews. Meanwhile, Junior Tim Appman had made up nearly 50 spots over the course of the last mile moving from 93rd to 54th. He passed Henderson’s #4 and nearly caught their #3 in the process. A solid finish from Nictora and Meehan clinched it for North Allegheny. They beat Henderson by 22 point for that elusive state title.

 

After all the struggling and close calls, after all the injuries and obstacles and heart breaking, Ryan Gil and the North Allegheny Tigers had won their long deserved state championship. It had been four years of historic success for the North Allegheny program, thanks mainly to their fearless leader Ryan Gil. When he graduated at the end of that season, it was hard to say what would happen to the program he left behind.

 

Little did they know they know that after four more years of fighting, the trophy was waiting for them once again. 

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!