Like I said previously part of the appeal of cross country is the intense team spirit, however, what also makes cross country great is watching gutsy performances. I personally believe it takes much more guts to run 5000m of hills and grassy, rocky stretches rather than pounding out 800m on the track. And this is coming from an 800 guy. So real quick I thought I'd talk about some of the gutsiest runners I have seen in cross country and then you can post up some of your own. I'll take all of the nominees and put them in a poll that we can vote on to determine the "Gutsiest runner" of PA XC. So here's what I got.
Mark Dennin- The 2007 State Champion upset Chris Aldrich and Vince McNally by hammering the pace for all 5000m of the race at Hershey. He ended up winning by one of the largest margins in recent years and carried the wave of momentum into fantastic performances at the Mid States meet, the Northeast Regional (2nd), and the Footlocker Championships (13th I believe). That final race, Footlocker, he mixed it up with the likes of German Fernandez, Luke Puskedra, Mike Fout, Chris Derrick, Rob Finnerty, and Donn Cabral.
Ben Furcht- Ben may not have had the build of a typical distance runner, but he put in the mileage and dropped time like a rock. Around 19 minutes as a freshman and nearly sub 15 as a senior, Furcht dropped serious time moving up from in the 50s at states to 11th. He could have even been higher, but after being boxed for a full mile he spent too much in the second mile surging for the lead and went from 3rd to 11th in the final 400m. Furcht also made the trip to Footlocker's Championships.
Jason Weller- Weller ended up being slammed by Paul Springer at Lehigh just a week before states despite unleashing a 14:54. Although most people were picking against him, Weller ran a brutal pace at the state course and managed to drop Springer and win the state championship. It was the clutchest performance I had seen .... up until he topped it in the 3200m again against Springer.
Dustin Wilson- Hasn't had quite the chance to showcase his stuff the way the other guys might have, but Wilson works very hard to put in enough mileage to reach a high level in the 5000m and it has helped be one of the top independent league runners ever since he first stepped on the scene.
Jim Spisak- Spisak took out the pace through the mile in just about every race he was in, some of them being extremely stacked fields like the Carlisle invite. He ran his race and wasn't afraid to shoot for the moon and merely land amongst the stars.
I've given you some of mine now give me some of yours and hopefully we can put together a cool, fun poll.
Cross Country Season
I have always loved track more than XC. I am the opposite of Ben Furcht's penntrack account bio (xc>track. Like Ricky Bobby, I prefer going fast. If I had things my way my friends will tell you that I would rather run all my works and even some long runs on the track that out on the roads or the fields. I'd rather go head to head in a battle of raw 400 speed than toil away for 5,000m at Belmont Plateau. But I would never give up cross country season to have another season of track. Why? Well, coss country has an element that track can not ever hope to match. Cross country is truly a team sport, bringing runners together to win and lose as a united force. The courses are different from week to week so in most cases, times are out the window. You run for the six other guys going to battle with you every week to try to place as high as possible as a team. In my four years of track I never felt any real bond with my fellow sprinters and jumpers and throwers, but I'd take a bullet for the guys who toed the line with me in the fall.
Perhaps a tad over dramatic, I doubt I would take a bullet for Ian McGrath, but I think you can see my point.
In 2009, I had the privelge of being chosen as a captain for the Upper Dublin cross country team. What made this honor so special was the simple fact that I was elected not by my coach, but by my teammates, whose respect I appreciate beyond words. However, the task that faced myself and fellow captains Ryan Desch and Ian McGrath (he was close enough to a captain to be counted as one) was not easy. Our team had just lost the greatest runner in school history (Mike Palmisano), two of the gutsiest runners I have ever seen (Paul Reilly and Sam Stortz), and two rare talents in Matt Lorenzo and Pat Reilly. We returned only our 7th runner from the 2008 5th place state championship team. Needless to say we were on the sharp decline.
But this didn't mean we didn't set our sights on big goals. We wanted to prove to everyone that Upper Dublin was still a name to be reckoned with. However, we didn't do much in the early races to show it. We got slammed by North Penn, and rocked at Carlisle by pretty much everyone. But we were growing. Newbies Pete Schartel and Francis Ferruzzi were showcasing some talent, and a solid 1-5 pack gave us hope for a league title.
Every day in practice, we warmed up together. We joked around, made fun of everyone's little differences. No one was spared the sharp axe of comic taunting. I was a nerd, Francis was 6 years old, Desch was the dude, Ian was even more of the dude, Charlie was a devil worshipper, Mitch's hips didn't lie, and Todd was a mass murderer with multiple dead hookers in his closet. But in workouts we were all business. Everyone had something to bring to the table to help the cause. Some of us could take the pace in a difficult workout and grind it out up front to help everyone hit the pace. Others had speed to help kick it at the end. And still others just had experience and the wise advice that came with it. Overall, from June to October we toiled in blazing heat, pouring rain, and thunderstorms that scared even the likes of Tanzer. In that time we shared a rare combination of body fluids: blood, sweat, tears (although I think I was probably the only one who cried when none of my favorite runners accepted my friend request), and, in McGrath's case anyway, vomit out on the roads and trails of Upper Dublin.
So when our moment finally came to reach our goals and make a name for ourselves, naturally we had a story book ending? The little engine that could won the league championships and lived happily ever after? Unfortunately, no. With great love also comes great loss. At Lehigh that day Upper Dublin lost to Wissahickon by just 4 little points. In the final 200m straightaway our team lost approximately 10 points between our scoring five. It was heartbreaking, easily the saddest moment of my high school career. To feel like I had let down those other guys with whom I had sacrificed all that time with friends and family. With whom I had woken up at 8 am to go run brutal hill workouts. With whom I had shared so many laughs at the IHOP by the movie theatre after those same workouts. Needless to say it felt good to go back into the cornfields after the race and just break things.
But running has a way of surprising you. Nothing is guarenteed as we knew all too well from our League Championships. The next weekend at the District Championships we went out with one goal: to leave satisfied with our season. We still had a chance to show District One Upper Dublin was no joke. We were still fit and in the best shape of our lives. So we ran hard. During the first 200m I found myself leading a group of my teammates in the lead pack with guys like Brad Miles, Sam Bernitt and Tom Mallon. Nick Scarpello ran by with some type of war cry. It was a new day. We had a chance to do something. But then by the mile marker I heard a 5:15 mile split. Yuck. The muddy mess that was Lehigh had clearly slowed things a little. As I passed two miles I knew my time had to be slow. I could see no one else from the team. But this was it. This was the end of my season. I couldn't let those guys wearing the UD jersey down. So I ran like people were chasing me to the finish. The time wasn't a PR but I felt I had at least given it my all. I walked into a group of teammates with disappointed faces and legs covered in mud and sweat. I thought although our team didn't accomplish our goals, we still never gave in to the pain, and ran the best we could.
But nothing in running is ever guarenteed. It turns out everyone was historically slow that day. So slow in fact that the Upper Dublin team finished 10th at Districts. In my mind a very respectable finish for a team that seemingly returned no one running in the fastest district in the state. What made it even more impressive to me was that we finished that high without a single individual qualifying for states. We ran as a true pack, a true team, and that's what led us to victory.
I have a lot of great running memories like breaking 2 and running at the Penn Relays and indoor state championships, but none of those memories are as special to me as what we accomplished that day at Lehigh. The picture of the seven of us, mud splattered and fatigued standing arms around one another, sits on my dresser now and will sit on my college dresser for the second straight fall. It is a constant reminder of the bond of hard work, determination and friendship I shared with my entire 2009 team. Yes even you Andrew Zeng. That is what cross country has that makes it so special.
It may not seem like a big deal, but to us, it justified everything we had done for 4 years.
Good luck this season gentleman.
etrain
Perhaps a tad over dramatic, I doubt I would take a bullet for Ian McGrath, but I think you can see my point.
In 2009, I had the privelge of being chosen as a captain for the Upper Dublin cross country team. What made this honor so special was the simple fact that I was elected not by my coach, but by my teammates, whose respect I appreciate beyond words. However, the task that faced myself and fellow captains Ryan Desch and Ian McGrath (he was close enough to a captain to be counted as one) was not easy. Our team had just lost the greatest runner in school history (Mike Palmisano), two of the gutsiest runners I have ever seen (Paul Reilly and Sam Stortz), and two rare talents in Matt Lorenzo and Pat Reilly. We returned only our 7th runner from the 2008 5th place state championship team. Needless to say we were on the sharp decline.
But this didn't mean we didn't set our sights on big goals. We wanted to prove to everyone that Upper Dublin was still a name to be reckoned with. However, we didn't do much in the early races to show it. We got slammed by North Penn, and rocked at Carlisle by pretty much everyone. But we were growing. Newbies Pete Schartel and Francis Ferruzzi were showcasing some talent, and a solid 1-5 pack gave us hope for a league title.
Every day in practice, we warmed up together. We joked around, made fun of everyone's little differences. No one was spared the sharp axe of comic taunting. I was a nerd, Francis was 6 years old, Desch was the dude, Ian was even more of the dude, Charlie was a devil worshipper, Mitch's hips didn't lie, and Todd was a mass murderer with multiple dead hookers in his closet. But in workouts we were all business. Everyone had something to bring to the table to help the cause. Some of us could take the pace in a difficult workout and grind it out up front to help everyone hit the pace. Others had speed to help kick it at the end. And still others just had experience and the wise advice that came with it. Overall, from June to October we toiled in blazing heat, pouring rain, and thunderstorms that scared even the likes of Tanzer. In that time we shared a rare combination of body fluids: blood, sweat, tears (although I think I was probably the only one who cried when none of my favorite runners accepted my friend request), and, in McGrath's case anyway, vomit out on the roads and trails of Upper Dublin.
So when our moment finally came to reach our goals and make a name for ourselves, naturally we had a story book ending? The little engine that could won the league championships and lived happily ever after? Unfortunately, no. With great love also comes great loss. At Lehigh that day Upper Dublin lost to Wissahickon by just 4 little points. In the final 200m straightaway our team lost approximately 10 points between our scoring five. It was heartbreaking, easily the saddest moment of my high school career. To feel like I had let down those other guys with whom I had sacrificed all that time with friends and family. With whom I had woken up at 8 am to go run brutal hill workouts. With whom I had shared so many laughs at the IHOP by the movie theatre after those same workouts. Needless to say it felt good to go back into the cornfields after the race and just break things.
But running has a way of surprising you. Nothing is guarenteed as we knew all too well from our League Championships. The next weekend at the District Championships we went out with one goal: to leave satisfied with our season. We still had a chance to show District One Upper Dublin was no joke. We were still fit and in the best shape of our lives. So we ran hard. During the first 200m I found myself leading a group of my teammates in the lead pack with guys like Brad Miles, Sam Bernitt and Tom Mallon. Nick Scarpello ran by with some type of war cry. It was a new day. We had a chance to do something. But then by the mile marker I heard a 5:15 mile split. Yuck. The muddy mess that was Lehigh had clearly slowed things a little. As I passed two miles I knew my time had to be slow. I could see no one else from the team. But this was it. This was the end of my season. I couldn't let those guys wearing the UD jersey down. So I ran like people were chasing me to the finish. The time wasn't a PR but I felt I had at least given it my all. I walked into a group of teammates with disappointed faces and legs covered in mud and sweat. I thought although our team didn't accomplish our goals, we still never gave in to the pain, and ran the best we could.
But nothing in running is ever guarenteed. It turns out everyone was historically slow that day. So slow in fact that the Upper Dublin team finished 10th at Districts. In my mind a very respectable finish for a team that seemingly returned no one running in the fastest district in the state. What made it even more impressive to me was that we finished that high without a single individual qualifying for states. We ran as a true pack, a true team, and that's what led us to victory.
I have a lot of great running memories like breaking 2 and running at the Penn Relays and indoor state championships, but none of those memories are as special to me as what we accomplished that day at Lehigh. The picture of the seven of us, mud splattered and fatigued standing arms around one another, sits on my dresser now and will sit on my college dresser for the second straight fall. It is a constant reminder of the bond of hard work, determination and friendship I shared with my entire 2009 team. Yes even you Andrew Zeng. That is what cross country has that makes it so special.
It may not seem like a big deal, but to us, it justified everything we had done for 4 years.
Good luck this season gentleman.
etrain
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