For Council Rock North to surprise North Allegheny and take down a top 3 finish at states, the team needed a clutch performance from their third man at Districts, James Zingarini. At states, he did not disappoint.
Zingarini started off his race with a conservative opening mile, rolling through the mark at 4:55, exactly the pace he was aiming for. After that point came the difficult Hershey hills, the true make it or break point of the course. Here, his training on the Tyler State Park kicked in. It was here that all the hard work he and his teammates had put in over the summer helped him push from 38th at mile 1 up to 28th at mile 2, just on the outside of the medal stand.
The last mile was all about one thing, as James said, "Coach always says to run the last mile with our hearts, and I think I did that". He had picked out a couple of guys from the week before at Districts who he wanted to beat and coming up the final straightaway he used his 4:18 speed to begin to pick off those guys. It was his last XC race in a CRN uniform and he didn't want to let the opportunity go to waste. The result was an 18th place finish, his highest ever at the state meet.
His finishing kick paid off big time as the CRN boys upset NA in what James called the "exclamation point" on a great state meet performance. "I am really luck to have amazing teammates to train with. Not only are they sick athletes, but they're also my best friends ... I couldn't be more proud of my teammates."
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