States- Nat Fox

A Tale of Two Races

For me, States was a tale of two races: the team race, and the individual race. Both races were separate entities, but they were inherently connected. They cannot be separated. To be honest, the team race was more important to me, however. My teammates–LJ, Roy, Matt, Rob, Josh, Xavier and Alex– had worked incredibly hard all season. Because of their commitment I was going to do everything in my power to ensure that my teammates had gold medals around their necks by the end of the day on November 5. Not only was I running for my teammates, I was running for my coach. Mr. Noyes has been an excellent mentor for the 4 years I've been in high school, and I have had the fortunate opportunity to run for one of the most dedicated coaches in the state. He wanted the gold as much as I did. We had been so close to winning for 3 years, and we wanted to get the job done this time. With both of these motivating factors, I knew I had to run a solid race.

The team race was out of my hands, however, as soon as the gun went off. I tried to do what I felt was best for my teammates all year long, but after we started, I had to trust my teammates. The most I could do for them was to run my race well. This is where the individual race comes in

I got out extremely fast. Four years of Hershey Parkview has taught me that the energy spent establishing a solid position early on is well worth it. I had a goal of crossing the mile mark at 4:58, and I definitely smiled a little bit when I saw that exact time at 1600 meters. I was in good position, but I knew all the guys in front of me, and I knew what they were capable of, so I had a tough, tough battle for every place. After 2000 meters, the pack had strung out, and I found myself around 15th place. At 2500 meters, I knew that I had very little shot at the top spots, but I still had a nice position to make top ten. On the aloha hills, my strategy was to take the hill normally, but to crush the flats at the top and try to break people at their weakest. I gained a couple of spots this way by the end of the worst hills, and I hovered around 12th place.

I gave up two places between the bottom of the aloha hills and the sewage plant, but I was within striking distance. At the bottom of poop out hill, I started to kick. I always kick at the bottom of the last hill because it catches people by surprise, and I can pick off a couple more spots that way. I managed to get 3 places and end up in 11th place, just out of the top ten.

I'm not disappointed with my race, even though I missed my goal of top ten. First, my time of 16:49 was the fastest ever by a QV runner. Considering the legacy of Quaker Valley runners that have come before me–John Yankello, Omar Hyjek, Chad Kosanovich, Andy Gregor, Andy Kifer, Zach Thomas, the list goes on– I was ecstatic to be able to say that I could be included in that list. Second (and this came after I got to cruise penntrack a little), my time would've been top ten all three previous years, so I knew that this year was especially strong, and being top 15 this year was special.

The most important reason I wasn't disappointed with my race, however, wasn't any of these. It was because I had done my job to help the team win a state championship. I scored just 5 points in the team standings, which was incredibly helpful for the team score. That was my true goal, and I knew I achieved that when they announced us as team champions.

Congratualtions to all of the winners on saturday, team and individual! It is a wonderful feeling to be a state champion, and I want to thank everyone who helped me get here, especially my friends, mentors, and my family.

As a closing statement, I would like to commend every runner I personally raced against on saturday. The guys from D7 (Josef, Alex Archer, Ryan Archer, Ryan Mcguire, and Roy) ran a great race and represented well. To be honest, everyone ran a great race, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to run with and against such outstanding runners. Boys AA definitely was a close group of runners, and you could tell that from the medal stand. Everyone shook everyone else's hand, and the feeling was of mutual respect. This group of runners exemplifies the essence of running: hard work, respect, and fun. I hope to see everyone in track!

-Nat