AAA Boys Feature: Ex

Webster’s defines it as the practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of, or participation in, events or in a particular activity. We can be fairly sure Paul Vandegrift never met this Webster cat personally, but rest assured, the Upper Dublin coach is a huge proponent of the value of said experience after his team’s first-ever trip to the state cross country championships a year ago.


There, his wide-eyed Cardinals squad, riding a wave a momentum following their runner-up finish to eventual state champion North Penn at the District One meet, struggled; if you could call a fifth-place finish that.


Among the notable barometers of the Upper Dublin performance was Coatesville, a team it beat handily at districts. A more polished postseason model as defending state champs, Coatesville finished as the state runner-up.


“There wasn’t a whole lot of experience [at the state level], they just didn’t have a great race,” said Vandergrift of his team. “I think we put it all out there at districts and really tried to win. And then they got nervous and a bit overwhelmed at states. It wasn’t horrible. I was disappointed, but I wasn’t crushed.


“That’s going to help them this year. I think they feel like they have something to prove. They want to redeem themselves.”


This year should be different. The tough, hill-speckled Hershey course that caught them off guard a year ago is no longer a surprise. The newness of states and wasted nervous energy that accompanied it is no more. In short, the inexperience that may have haunted them last November in their pursuit of a state title has gone the way of dinosaurs and dinner bells - a thing of the past.


Now, the use of the word veteran is okay around this team; there are no young pups among this squad’s elite. In fact, six, maybe even all seven, varsity runners are entering their final year of high school. In all, the Cardinals return six of eight and only lose two of their top 10 from a team that advanced further than any cross country team in school history.


On paper, they seem to have all the ingredients: the quintessential frontrunner, a solid number two and a very tight pack. Most are entering their fourth season as harriers. And nearly all have dedicated themselves year round to the sport, running track, indoor and outdoor, as well.


During a recent training run on a popular Philadelphia-area trail that commonly attracts several of the area’s best Division One collegiate teams, these guys certainly looked every bit like they belonged.
“[We] better be good when you have that many older kids,” Vandegrift said. “As a team we want to win the state meet. I think if everybody’s healthy and our training goes well, there’s no reason that we can’t. They know that.”


The best of the bunch is Mike Palmisano (above right at PIAA States in 2007), a mid-distance standout, who finished a remarkable track season off with a third place clocking in the state AAA 800 meters last May. And Matt Lorenzo (left, at PIAA District 1 in 2007), who turned in a sub-16 minute clocking at Lehigh last year, should be buoyed by his fine 9-minute, 38-second 3,200-meter performance on the oval last spring. He gives Upper Dublin a solid one-two punch. UD’s third and fourth runners, twin brothers Paul and Patrick Reilly chased one another from the womb and have been forming their own tight little pack ever since. They both ran the Hershey course in 17:20 last November. Sam Stortz, a holdover from the postseason squad last year will battle fellow classmates Andrew Gourlay and Paul Choi for the remaining varsity spots. The one junior that could be in the mix is Jared Felix.


And if there were any concerns as to the sort of character of this team, at least three are current or former wrestlers, so toughness shouldn’t be an issue. The competitiveness mandatory of every successful distance runner seems to be present as well.


“These guys are serious about it,” Vandegrift said. “They goof around afterwards and before, but when they are doing a workout they want to hit the splits as closely as they can. They get angry when someone goes too fast or too slow. There’s a great, great intra-squad rivalry. That’s the kind of stuff that really makes the team better.”


The runners weren’t the only ones that benefited from the trip to Hershey. Even the coach, a Pennsylvania distance running legend from his days at Archbishop Kennedy, who is entering his fourth season working with the boys, picked a thing or two. He vowed a change in the training regimen this year that would be replete with hills, perhaps, a plethora of them. He tweaked their meet schedule as well.


“We’re going to do all the things to get them ready,” Vandergrift said. “They’ll see the courses, run against good competition, so they have an opportunity to really compete, so it’s not overwhelming when they get to the state meet.”


Those looking to get an early peek at Upper Dublin, and what it has to offer, will have to wait. The Cardinals will run a modified invitational schedule beginning with the DeSales Invitational (9/13), followed by a return trip to Hershey for pre-states (9/20), before what should be a much-anticipated showdown with Carlisle in Carlisle on September 27. For its invitational finale, UD will get a glimpse of the District One course at Lehigh during the Paul Short Invitational (Oct. 3).


Whether or not Upper Dublin can win states, we’ll have to wait and see. One thing is for sure: It won’t lack ex·pe·ri·ence.