From humble beginnings …
Following a plan aimed at success that would make any of today's top corporations proud, St. Joseph Catholic Academy walked away from the Parkview Cross Country Course in Hershey with the Class AA team title in just its fifth year as a school and team.
"I think we had two boys and two girls when we started," head coach Jayson Jackson said of the 2011 season. "The plan was a three- or four-year plan, and that was just to get to states.
"The big thing with this year was we just had a better summer. The race was not really won or lost today, it was won in June, July and August. The kids did the best job they have ever done with their summer running, and that just made all the difference."
With a top seven comprised of two seniors, two juniors and three freshmen, Jackson's team upended defending champion Central Cambria in the day's narrowest margin, 90-97.
Freshman Sera Mazza led the Wolves with a 19:37 clocking worth No. 2 in the team standings and fourth overall, while senior Lucia Person crossed the line in 19:55 for five team points and ninth overall. Freshmen Julia Cusatis and Lea Fisher and junior Kate Ott were the other scorers for the champions.
"Through the first 1,000, we were a little bit further behind than I hoped we'd be," said Jackson, who has been the coach of the program from day 1. "One of my runners was at the mile mark, and I called him and told him to get the kids moving and they came back through about 1 ½ (miles) and we were right where I was hoping we'd be."
The timing mats showed the eventual champions in fifth after 1,600 meters but on the move. A 49-point deficit turned into a nine-point margin over Central Cambria with 3,200 competed.
"Coming down through two miles, they looked really good," Jackson said. "I was trying to tell each of the kids if you pass three more kids, we're going to win. That really got them going. Everybody held their spots and definitely moved up."
Christian Dock (123), Holy Cross (125) and Vincentian Academy (139) rounded out the top five in the team standings. However, all had to take a back seat on Saturday to the new kids on the podium.
"We raced (Central Cambria) at Foundation, and they throttled us pretty bad," Jackson said of his team's District 6 rival. "To close down to 28 points at districts, that gave them a little bit of excitement. We had a couple kids have off days there. We felt that if we could really put it all together, it would be close. Not saying we were going to win, but we would at least be in the hunt."