Race Stories: Aaron Benka

The Grove City boys were in for a dog fight at this year's state meet and every point would matter: the team could finish anywhere from 1st to 5th in the field. Most knew that Dan Jaskowak would be a big gun out front, but what they may not have known was that another future stud had been running well as Grove City's #2 man all season and would be critical in the team title conversation.

After his phenomenal state race, Grove City's Aaron Benka is now inline to follow in the footsteps of a pair of great Grove City sophomores: Jacob Kildoo and Dan Jaskowak. Kildoo was 17th at states as a sophomore and Jaskowak was 50th. After their sophomore campaigns they went on to finish with a combined 3 top 5 XC state finishes and have run 9:09 and 9:14 for 3200m. Benka began his quest to match or better these marks with an 18th place finish this past Saturday at the state championships.

Aaron stressed how blessed he was to achieve what he has so far and claims he would be "nothing without God and Jaskowak". Having a big time front runner out front helps in more ways than just purely a low stick. Benka has made great strides under Jaskowak, just as Dan did under Kildoo before him. The Grove City trio of boys has started something of a tradition of excellence.

 But Benka didn't come into the race thinking about where he ranked among his Grove City peers or what kind of big times and performances he was destine for. Benka stressed the importance of getting out smart at the beginning of the race and running an intelligent, controlled start in order to finish strong and best help the team finish. He was also battling a stress fracture in his leg. But Benka put individual pain aside for team glory and his strategy paid off. On the second hill he passed Pottsgrove's top runner Ian Yanusko, a key move for the Grove City squad as they tried to pass Pottsgrove in the team title race.

Although the team came up just short of their goals, Aaron is extremely proud of what his team has accomplished despite numerous injuries and other set backs. Looking ahead, he hopes to qualify for states in the 3200m and help the 4x800m squad perform well in the AA class state meet.