Part One (summer>9/23) - Part Two (Carlisle>WPIALs - Part 3 (States>NXN)
Tales of the 2008 Cross-Country Season
Will Appman
Pre-Season (Summer 2008)-North Park
As summer training began in early June, our team had very high expectations for the year and lots of excitement. Though we had fallen short of our goals the previous year, placing third at the state meet and had also lost four of our seven varsity runners to graduation, we still felt that we had a lot of potential. People were ready to step up and prove that they would be able to replace those who had run varsity for us the year before. They would definitely be difficult shoes to fill, however. Our top two runners the previous season, Matt and Justin, had been state medalists, and no one really thought that we had anyone of that caliber that would be able to step it up this year.
But through the summer, our guys trained very hard. In July, Ryan and I competed in a road race where we took 4-3, respectively, with pretty solid times. We put in great mileage, kept our strength conditioning up, and generally stayed very close as teammates. Pat, Eric, and I “discovered” a nine-mile trail which took us through the woods and spat us out across the road from the mansion (we appropriately named this the Big House Run). Eric and I also went for a 13-mile run one day, only to find that Matt, Adam, and Quinn did 14 miles the very next day. Still, it was good to know that the team was training hard. The state and regional rankings came out in late August, and we were very happy with them; we were listed as a mere bubble team in Pennsylvania, while were not even listed in the Northeast rankings. This was a relief, as we had been highly ranked last year, which put a huge bull’s eye on our backs. We felt that we would be able to play the underdog role to exceed everyone’s expectations, including our own.
Scrimmage vs Fox Chapel and Baldwin (8/27)-Hartwood Acres
(Left to Right) - The 2007 squad at their Fox Chapel/Baldwin scrimmage: Jake Holdcroft 4, Patrick Morgan 3, Dan O'Brien 4, Justin Taylor 4, Eric Balaban 2, Matt Jacob 4, Will Appman 3, Chase Broussard 3, Doug Healy 3
Our season kicked off the day before school started with a scrimmage against Fox Chapel, Baldwin, and Brentwood at Hartwood Acres. I knew that there would be a few talented runners, such as TJ Hobart and Connor Weis, from the other schools here, as well as a bunch of intra-squad competition. As the gun went off, I just tucked in behind Chase and Hobart for the first 1.5 miles. Around the halfway point on the Hartwood course, there is a massive hill that lasts over half a mile. Going up the hill, the two leaders took off, and I started to fall back. However, as we neared the top, threw in a surge and was able to keep pace with them. As we crested the hill and made our way back down on the way to the finish line, I was able to surge past Hobart and evened myself with Chase. Then with about 600 meters to go I pulled away from Chase and was able to hold him off to the end. I was excited about this race, because it was my very first win in any race in high school. My time (16:47) was my best ever on the Hartwood Course, by over a minute, and it was great to hear that my teammates had also posted solid times. We had beaten both teams pretty handily. Similarly, our times would have beaten last year’s team. We found this highly motivational. But there was no time to look at numbers; it was on to the regular season!
Red White and Blue Classic (9/6)-Schenley Oval
Our first big meet of the season, Red White and Blue is a meet which tends to post some very quick times for western Pennsylvania, so we were very excited to race this meet. All of the major WPIAL teams would be there, and at the time we were ranked a bubble team in the state rankings, behind our school’s biggest rival (and PA #4) North Hills. We knew that we had a pretty good team, but it was time to get out there and prove it to the rest of the district. The gun went off, and Pat, Chase, and I got out to great starts. We cruised down the first hill and were 1-2-3 over the whole field at the mile mark. I knew that we were going fast, and I could feel a few other runners on our tail. Hobart and Gateway’s DJ Krystek were right in the pack, but we knew that this was no time to let them pull ahead. As we ran by the timers, I heard one of them yell ‘4:29’, which was a huge mile pr for me, but we kept the pace hot. On the way back up the hill, other schools’ runners began to pass us up, but we were all able to keep pretty good position. 4000 meters in, we entered the final 1k loop on the course, and I was fourth on the team (Chase, Eric, Ryan, me, and Pat, respectively), losing touch on the leaders, including four North Hills (NH) runners. With about 500 to go, Ryan looked over to me and told me that I had to move. I was able to kick it in hard, passed four other runners, and got third on the team and 10th in the race, including passing a NH runner at the line. I had run a 16:17, which was a 22 second pr. The entire team ran very well, too. We posted a 15-second spread, which would be our smallest of the season. We found out that we had won the meet by 20 points over North Hills (56-76), though they would have beaten us in a dual meet. We had some work to do before the big NA-NH showdown in a couple weeks.
1. North Allegheny
6 Chase Broussard, Sr 16:08 5:12
8 Eric Balaban, Jr 16:09 5:13
10 Will Appman, Sr 16:17 5:15
15 Ryan Gil, So 16:21 5:16
17 Patrick Morgan, Sr 16:23 5:17
32 Jay Cadwalladar, Jr 17:00 5:29
36 Matt Robertson, Sr 17:12 5:33
48 Andy Franze, Sr 17:22 5:36
59 Quinn Conley, Sr 17:34 5:40
70 Adam Jacob, Sr 17:44 5:43Time = 1:21:17 Places = 56
Tri-Meet vs Shaler and Knoch (9/9)-Shaler
We were ready to for our first section meet of the season. We were trying to overcome some freak injuries, such as Adam getting stung by a bee and getting swollen on our warm up. But the race had to go on. We got out well, but a few of our guys were pretty sore and had to fade back. Knoch runner Brian Tackett was hanging with us for the first 2 miles, but Chase and I were able to hold him off and cruise in for the 1-2. Our team beat both teams rather easily, and we were off to a great start in sectional competition.
Slippery Rock Invitational (9/13)-Cooper’s Lake
There was a monsoon at Cooper’s Lake the day of this meet, creating very sloppy conditions on a course for which the boys’ varsity race was the 10th and final race of the day. It was an absolute mud bath. Coach LeDonne supplied us with tape to secure our spikes for the race. However, we still knew that we had to get out there and race hard. Pat was out rehabbing from an injury and Eric was having some knee problems, but he still ran. Pat’s absence, however, opened up the chance for another runner, Andy Franze, to get into our top 7. In the race, I went out with the secondary pack and tried to build over the last 2 miles, but a problem developed when the tape on my shoe came undone. I had to 2-foot long piece of adhesive slapping me in the back every stride for the last 3000 meters, and I fell back a little. I ended up in 6th place overall, 3rd for the team with a 17:15, though I was passed by Phil Yeung in the last 400 meters. Our team won over Mt. Lebanon by a scoreof 44-67. It didn’t seem that other teams had run very hard, but we were still happy with the race. We would be back to this course two more times later in the season, including WPIALs, so it was good to get experience for the district championships.
1. North Allegheny
2 Chase Broussard, Sr 16:50 5:26
4 Ryan Gil, So 17:08 5:31
6 Will Appman, Sr 17:15 5:34
11 Eric Balaban, Jr 17:33 5:40
21 Matt Robertson, Sr 17:56 5:47
32 Jay Cadwalladar, Jr 18:09 5:51
39 Andy Franze, Sr 18:13 5:52Time = 1:26:41 Places = 44
Tri-Meet vs. Hampton and Pine-Richland (9/16)-Hartwood Acres
We were back at Hartwood Acres for our second tri-meet of the year. I was still recovering from Slippery Rock, but we still had to race. We tried to stay together as a pack, but I dropped back on the way up the hill and fell into a rhythm, which I stayed in for the remainder of the race. I finished in 5th place, 4th for the team. Good news came, however, when I heard that Eric had won the race. We now had 3 runners who had been our number one this season, and our section record had improved to 4-0. We now had 1 week until the big section showdown between us and North Hills, who was still ranked highly in the PA rankings.
Dual Meet vs. North Hills (9/23)-Home
This meet was the big one. Our school’s archrival, North Hills, was visiting our home course for out first home meet of the season. We knew that this would be a very difficult meet, as NH had 3 WPIAL superstars, with a great supporting cast. But we were ready. The coaches talked to us for a long time, planning out our racing strategy, and we all knew exactly where to throw in surges, so we felt confident we could pull off the upset, but it wouldn’t be easy. Right before the race, I was excited to see the number of spectators we had. And then we lined up for the start. I got out to a pretty good start, keeping my own pace going for the first mile. I found myself in 7th place, with North Hills 1-2-4, controlling the race. But then I saw Ryan and Chase take charge of the pack and begin to break away with the lead around the 1.5 mile mark. I threw in a surge to catch up and tucked in behind Juris Silenieks, North Hills’ frontrunner in that race. The tables were now turned, as we had the 1-2-4 position. I stayed right behind Silenieks all the way to the 3000 mark, atop the biggest hill on our course. Coach Neff was standing here cheering, and he yelled to me “Get in the race Will, you know what to do!” At this point I crested the hill with a surge and pulled away from Juris. Knowing we had the 1-2-3, I focused on kicking hard all the way to the finish. As I rounded a turn onto the homestretch, I was met with a huge cheer by our fans; teammates, alumni, parents, coaches, and even classmates, hundreds of people had come to see this section showdown. I kicked it all the way to the finish line in 3rd place, knowing that I had just secured the victory for our team. I found Ryan and Chase in the dugout by the finish line, and we hugged each other in joy. The three of us cheered as countless black and gold jerseys streaked down the straightaway, as we went on to win the meet by a score of 17-38. I also later found that Ryan, Chase, and I had just run the 1st, 2nd, and 4th fastest NA times ever run on our home course, mine being 15:54. To make it even more incredible, Ryan’s victory had made him the fourth one of us to be our number 1 performer in a meet, which was an amazing feat. As we left the meet to celebrate our victory, North Hills’ coach told us that we could certainly run with any team in the state. This meet gave us huge momentum heading into the upcoming Carlisle Invitational next weekend.
1. North Allegheny
1 Ryan Gil, So 15:40
2 Chase Broussard 15:42
3 Will Appman, Sr 15:54
5 Pat Morgan, Sr 16:13
6 Eric Balaban, Jr 16:17
9 Matt Robertson, Sr 16:34
13 Adam Jacob, Sr 17:25
14 Jay Cadwallader, Jr 17:32
15 Mike Smolinski, Jr 17:34
16 Mark Silvester, Jr 17:40
Places = 17
Carlisle Invitational through WPIALs
Carlisle Invitational (9/27)-Carlisle
Fresh off our victory to take a commanding sectional lead, we prepared for our biggest invitational of the season. We have gone to Carlisle every year, our best finish being 2nd place to Coatesville in 2006 (the eventual Nike Team Nationals champions that year). Last year, 2007, we came to Carlisle as the favorites and fell to North Penn and Upper Dublin, so we felt pressure to make up for last year’s falter. The PennTrack Top 10 had us seeded 5th, with all four teams ahead of us attending the meet, as well as several other ranked teams. We knew that we had been under the radar all season long and were ready to pop off a great race. As the gun went off, all of our guys got into great position. We kept moving up through the first mile, focusing on sightlines and making up distance on the lead pack. About a mile into the race, there was an option; run through a slight valley that had a large puddle at the bottom or take an alternative route over a bridge. We had discussed it before the race, and we all took the bridge, unlike the majority of the runners in the race. Eric and I worked together for the entire second mile, and we were able to cut down the distance between us and Pat, who was our 3rd man at that point. I threw a surge in with 1000 to go and timed my kick just right, passing about 8-10 runners while going up and down the final hill. I brought it in strong and earned my first-ever individual Carlisle medal. As we walked through the finish chute, Coach Neff approached me and told me that we had an extremely good race. When we got back to our tent, reporters were there to interview our team, so I knew that we had won the race. We finished with 56 points, 53 in front of second place North Penn. I had taken 14th place with a 16:31 for my first-ever Carlisle medal. One person who deserves a lot of credit for this win was Coach Robertson. Not only was it his advice to take the bridge instead of running through the river, but he also found a way to cheer at about 20 spots on the course. It was really motivation to hear his cheering practically every 200 meters, and I’m sure it helped us secure the victory. Adam also deserves credit for this victory. As our 8th man, he was unable to compete in either the varsity or the JV race, so he only came to keep us company, but we were all glad to have him there; he really did a great job of keeping us loose for the whole trip. Emotions were running high as we rode home. But with all of this success, there would now be a huge bull’s-eye on our backs for the remainder of the season.
1. North Allegheny
3 Ryan Gil, So 16:14
5 Chase Broussard, Sr 16:18
14 Will Appman, Sr 16:31
18 Pat Morgan, Sr 16:36
23 Eric Balaban, Jr 16:39
51 Matt Robertson, Sr 17:01
79 Jay Cadwallader, Jr 17:25
Places = 56
Tri-Meet vs Seneca Valley and Butler (10/1)-Home
With intentions of closing out section competition with a perfect record, we prepared for our final tri-meet of the year. As a seemingly common theme for us, there was another rainstorm before this meet at our home course. Nonetheless, we had to be ready to go; Seneca and Butler had some studs running, and we didn’t want to let this meet get away from us. I took it out hard, running with Seneca’s Cam Stauffer and Butler’s Eric Gomez, with Ryan and Chase ahead from the start. At the top of our biggest hill, Cam took off, and I began to fall back. With about 1600 to go, I had lost sight of Ryan and Chase, with Cam about 30 seconds ahead, and Gomez 20 in front of me as well. However, not knowing what the situation was behind us, I tried to catch the pack. I kicked all the way down the hill, until I was even with Gomez for the final 200 meters. We both kicked as hard as we could, and our finish was epic, but his sprint put him a head length in front of me at the line. I was slightly disappointed, because I had run slower than our North Hills meet, but we left the meet as undefeated Section Champions.
Tri-State Coaches’ Association Championships (10/16)-Cooper’s Lake
With over 2 weeks off since our last meet, we came to Tri-States well rested, and I consider this to be my best race of the season. After our warm-up, I approached an unlocked porta-john, only to find that someone was already inside. This event spawned our cheer for the rest of the season: “LOCK THE DOOR”, which seemed fitting, as we were trying to shut the door on the rest of our competition. The race went out in a very manageable pace, but I found myself boxed out of the lead pack heading up the first hill, putting myself in rather undesirable position, in about 30th place. I stayed at a comfortable pace and waited until the 1000 meter mark to make my move, surging outside of the main pack and making my way up to Ryan, who was leading the race. I ran stride for stride next to Ryan through the mile mark, keeping the pace up and focusing on my sightlines, as the pair of us began to create a gap between us and the rest of the field. About 2000 meters in, I broke away from Ryan. I stayed strong through the 2-mile mark, coming through in a season best 10:12. I couldn’t believe it; I was 1800 meters away from winning the race! However, my previous surges hit me, and I slowed my pace with 800 to go, allowing Ryan to catch up to and pass me en route to the win. Mt. Lebo’s Rad 
Gunzenhauser also passed me, but I was able to hold off the wheels of Hobart, as well as final surges from the North Hills tandem and Pat and Chase, and bring it in for 3rd place in 16:08, a pr for me! (our home course is actually only 2.9 miles, so my time from there didn’t count). I was amazed at how much we had dominated this race. We placed 4 runners in the top 10, with 5 in the top 15. Only 33 seconds separated our top 5, with 40 separating our top 6. Our 36 points put us 68 points in front of 2nd place Mount Lebanon (104). With such momentum behind us, we were ready to defend our 3 straight WPIAL titles next week.
1. North Allegheny
1 Ryan Gil, So 16:03 5:10
3 Will Appman, Sr 16:08 5:12
8 Patrick Morgan, Sr 16:20 5:16
9 Chase Broussard, Sr 16:21 5:16
15 Eric Balaban, Jr 16:35 5:21
21 Matt Robertson, Sr 16:43 5:23
43 Jay Cadwalladar, Jr 17:09 5:32
46 Adam Jacob, Sr 17:13 5:33
59 Andy Franze, Sr 17:22 5:36
62 Luke Badaczewski, Jr 17:23 5:36
Time = 1:21:25 Places = 36
WPIAL Championships (10/23)-Cooper’s Lake
We approached the district championship meet with high hopes, for both the team and individuals. Team wise, we had been unchallenged by any WPIAL team in the latter half of the season and expected to cruise through the meet and clinch a fourth straight WPIAL title, which we felt would make a dynasty for our team. Individually, we had several runners expecting to place highly. Ryan, Chase, Pat, and I all had our eyes on the individual title, feeling any of us could put ourselves in a position to win the title. I particularly was looking for an improvement on my Tri-States performance, hoping for another pr. Before the race, our team just chilled out in the tent. We knew that if we went out there and ran our race, there was no way that any team was going to stop us. With the anxiety low, we just kept joking around until it was time to warm up. Then, it was time to put our gamefaces on, and we departed for the warm-up. As the gun went off, I stayed in the same position I had held at the start, planning on passing competitors through the first mile. I made my move to catch up to Ryan around the 1200 mark, and Chase, he, and I were 1-2-3 at the mile mark, with Pat battling Krystek for 4th place. We all held position for the next 800, but coming up the last major hill on the course, multiple competitors, including eventual champion and runner-up Matt Gregory and Cam Stauffer, passed Chase and me. As we moved on, Chase began to pull away from me as well, and I tried to stay with him, but it was to no avail. I began to focus on simply bringing it in strong, and held on to a top 10 spot. Coming through the castle (the legendary Cooper’s Lake castle) I realized that this would be my last time ever finishing on this straightaway and kicked as hard as I can ever remember coming in. I was able to pass a few individuals and finished the race in 8th place with a time of 16:18; 10 seconds slower than my time of the previous week, though I was still pleased with the result. We medaled 5 runners in that meet and scored 46 points, a whopping 84 points ahead of second-place North Hills. We were very proud to represent our school on the medal stand. Our three captains (Chase, Pat, and I) along with fellow senior Matt Robertson had run our last WPIAL race, and we were excited to know we had left it all out there. For the fourth straight year (and my third as a varsity runner), we had won the district title, solidifying our dynasty. Now eyes fell on the state championships next weekend.
1. North Allegheny
3 Ryan Gil, So 15:58 5:09
7 Chase Broussard, Sr 16:16 5:15
8 Will Appman, Sr 16:18 5:15
11 Patrick Morgan, Sr 16:24 5:17
17 Eric Balaban, Jr 16:28 5:19
34 Matt Robertson, Sr 16:53 5:26
54 Jay Cadwallader, Jr 17:21 5:36
Time = 1:21:22 Places = 46
PIAA State Championships (11/1)-Parkview Golf Course, Hershey
At long last, our journey had brought us back to Hershey. A disappointing 3rd place finish last season to champs North Penn and surprise runner-up Coatesville (a loss by 3 points) had left our team dejected. We were ready to redeem last year’s performance and clinch our school’s first state title since 1997. We knew that we had great targets on our backs, as we were now ranked #1 in PA. We felt that this race would be a great duel between North Penn and us, feeling that one of us would win the race. What’s more, we had several guys shooting for top individual performances. We felt that if we ran our best race, we would return to Pittsburgh as state champions. But it didn’t happen. I don’t know what happened in that race, but I didn’t do very well. Due to a mixture of over-pacing myself at the start and slightly sore legs, I continued to lose position throughout the duration of the race. Apart from being passed by Eric at a point around the 2000 meter mark, I never saw a teammate for the entire race. Falling back farther and farther, I had no idea what my individual position was, nor did I know how our team was doing. I did manage to pass a few runners running up poop-out hill to the finish, but immediately after my finish, I knew that I had not had a good race. I knew that I had been our 5th runner, despite maintaining a top-3 position all season long. All that our team knew was that it was no guarantee on how we did. Through our cool-down, we discussed what had happened. We promised each other that no matter what the result, 1st or 2nd, it had been a team effort. We had tried our best, and even if we didn’t go home champions, we felt that a team medal would be around our necks, and I was content with that. I can still barely believe what happened when I heard the team scores. All that I remember is that Coach announced that we had taken 3rd, 1 point out of second place to dark horse LaSalle. I couldn’t believe it. After everything our team had come through, we were going to leave (again) with nothing. I have never felt worse in my entire life. We all had to sit at the award ceremony as Ryan was presented with his individual medal, but it is all a blur to me. Our team just sat there, dejected and miserable about the race. As North Penn was being crowned repeat state champions, I broke down. Adam took me behind a tree, and I lost all control. It only added to my anguish when I discovered that I had run a 17:29, 23 seconds and 15 places worse than last year. I thought that my prep cross country career was over. It wasn’t until the bus ride home that Pat approached me about an option on extending our season- the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional.
3. North Allegheny (7)
1145 11 Ryan Gil, So 16:47 5:25
1148 15 Patrick Morgan, Sr 16:52 5:26
1146 16 Chase Broussard, Sr 16:57 5:28
1149 38 Eric Balaban, Jr 17:17 5:34
1147 46 Will Appman, Sr 17:29 5:38
1150 48 Matt Robertson, Sr 17:32 5:39
1151 84 Jay Cadwallader, Jr 17:58 5:48
Time = 1:25:20 Places = 126
Training for Regionals (11/2-11/28)-North Park
We knew that our race at states wasn’t the same team we had been all season. Through a series of unfortunate events, we had let a state title slip through our fingers yet again. Forum posters and state/regional rankers all seemed to agree; North Penn was truly the better team and they had merely stumbled at Carlisle. That may have been true, but we didn’t think so. This season had been too special to let it slip away after one heartbreaking meet. We had to go on to prove ourselves, not only to the entire state, but also to ourselves. Coach LeDonne, with the other coaches, offered to continue coaching us, but only if we planned to rededicate ourselves. We couldn’t run this race simply to extend our season; we were attending to compete at a very high level in hopes of qualifying for Nationals. I don’t know if any of my teammates truly believed we could do it, but I knew that we had to keep going. We amped up the mileage and intensity and continued to focus.
NXN NE Regional (11/29)-Bowdoin Park, Wappingers Falls
We packed ourselves into 2 vans that day after Thanksgiving and began the 7.5 hour drive to Wappingers Falls. As in the beginning of the season, we had fallen out of discussion on online forums; we now sat at 3rd in PA and 9th in the region, so no one really expected us to do well. We were still highly motivated, though. North Penn would be at the meet, and we were excited for our third (and tiebreaking) meeting of the season. We were racing as the Wexford Flats Running Club, because we were no longer allowed to compete as North Allegheny. As the race approached, we weren’t sure what to expect. This would be our team’s first out-of-state meet EVER, and we had never raced against regional powerhouses such as Don Bosco, West Windsor Plainsboro, and Danbury. What more, it would take a top-2 finish to claim a spot at NXN. We had no at-large points, so our only option was to finish in the top 2. As the gun went off, we got out to great position, and Matt was actually leading the whole race at the end of the first 300. Our team had so many top positions at the end of the opening straightaway that Chase heard an ignorant spectator ask “Wexford who?” to a fellow spectator. No one expected us to make any noise at all. But we stayed strong. After falling back slightly until the mile mark, I refocused and caught up to Eric, telling him that we had to start moving. The two of us, our current 4-5 runners, surged past several competitors on our way up the hill. As I crested, I heard a meet official reading our scores; “In first, it’s West Windsor, followed by Don Bosco.” Great. We weren’t in good enough position yet. I had to pass more people. I surged down the hill, improving my position. As I approached the final 1000, I noticed that Pat appeared to be losing position in front of me. After an extended surge, I was able to catch him and try to pull him along. He found some inner strength himself and was able to surge it in to the finish. Not knowing if this would be my final finish, I kicked and brought it in a couple seconds behind him. As we walked around the finish tent, I tried to gather how we had done. A lot of people said we had done very well, but we didn’t know for sure. There was nothing to do now but wait for the results. At the awards ceremony, our team sat huddled on a tarp, anxiously waiting. The fourth-place team was announced-Danbury. Our team grew very excited as Ian (the commentator) announced that the top 3 teams were separated by only 12 points. Then, it happened: “In third place, Wexford Flats!” We went wild. I knew that Danbury had four at-large points, so it was likely that they would be accepted to NXN, which would push us in as well. My suspicions were confirmed as we spoke with them on the medal stand. WWPN and Don Bosco had taken 1-2, and we hoped to have a chance to race them again. What’s more, we were excited to find we had beaten North Penn, running as North Wales, making us the top Pennsylvania team at the meet. There was now nothing to do but wait until Nike released their at-large decisions the following day.
3. North Allegheny Final 1st 2.5K 2nd 2.5K
9 Ryan Gil, So 16:32 8:12 8:21
13 Chase Broussard, Sr 16:44 8:24 8:21
16 Pat Morgan, Sr 16:51 8:11 8:41
18 Will Appman, Sr 16:54 8:29 8:29
27 Eric Balaban, Jr 17:04 8:28 8:37
66 Matt Robertson, Sr 17:52 8:51 9:02
67 Jay Cadwallader, Jr 17:53 8:51 9:03
107 Adam Jacob, Sr 18:28 8:56 9:33
Places = 83
The Wait (11/30)-Madison’s Pizzeria
As we rode home from Regionals, we could barely stand the wait. In less than 24 hours, Coach LeDonne would be called by a Nike official and informed of our destiny. My car had Pat, Eric, Adam, and me, and it was all we could talk about on the ride home. We decided to meet at Madison’s Pizzeria, a local hangout of ours, the following day at noon until Coach was notified. I was really surprised at how many people showed up; not only was our top 8 there (Ryan, Chase, Pat, Eric, Matt, Jay, Adam, and me) but countless members of the guys’ team, several members of the girls’ team, NAXC alumni, and parents all showed up to support us. The time ticked by. Every minute we waited for a call seemed like an eternity. We got into a group and told each other that no matter what the decision was, we would hold our heads high, because it had been an amazing season. Then, finally, we saw Coach LeDonne pull into the parking lot. From my seat near the window, I could tell that he didn’t look happy. As he walked into the restaurant, he said in a serious voice “Could I see the top 8 boys for a moment?” It didn’t look good, and I was expecting him to tell us that we hadn’t been selected. But then, without as much a the slightest twinge of a smile, he continued, “Gentlemen, you’re going to Portland.” EUPHORIA. All I remember from this is running around, hugging everyone, and shouting ‘we were going to Nationals!’ The following week practically flew by. Coach LeDonne brought in some bales of hay for us to practice with, and we made sure to pick up our pace every time we hurdled them, to try and get a feel for how they would be in the race. We also made sure to keep the intensity of our training up to keep us crisp. We were so excited for the trip, and after everything that had happened this season, from the North Hills victory to the states debacle, our season would officially be coming to an end after one more race. But we had overcome all odds and qualified for Nike Cross Nationals!
Nike Cross Nationals (12/4-6)-Portland
This trip was the greatest weekend of my life. It all started on Thursday, December 4, when our flight left Pittsburgh International Airport at 6 a.m. We took a layover to Atlanta, where we changed flights and met up with several other teams en route to Portland. 6 hours later, we had arrived. The first thing I noticed as we walked into the hotel was the banners hanging from the walls. Every team and individual there had a banner hanging somewhere and it was really cool to see ours among the best teams in the country. Everyone else at the hotel seemed to be seasoned veterans on the national scene, while we were definitely the rookies of the group. Everyone seemed to know us, though. Countless times we were introduced as the Cinderella story of the country. It seemed like everyone knew our story, and it was exciting to get credit for what we had done. After a few interviews, we went to the “shoe room” (I actually had thought it was only a myth, but it really does exist) and we went for our run on the Nike campus, which was pretty cool. We got to see the wooded track, as well as several other key interest points. Opening ceremonies were that night, where every team showed its intro video. Ours was pretty short, and kind of boring, but it was still cool to see all of the other videos (the California teams’ were crazy!). The next morning we finally found out our jersey colors: black and green. They looked pretty awesome, and we were pumped to wear them the following day. We departed for Portland Meadows to jog the course. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Sure, I’d seen the videos of previous NTN’s online, but they really don’t show the whole thing. The course consists of 2.5 loops around the inside of a horse track. We got a chance to try out the official hay bales and run on the famous “woop-dee-doos” which were really cool. The course was in pretty good condition in comparison to previous years, as it hadn’t really rained too much, so we were looking for some fast times. We went back to the hotel, and after a quick dip in the pool, we went back to Nike for chill time. We got to see an elite athlete forum, which included Alan Webb and Dathan Ritzenheim, and it really enlightening to hear their opinions and their stories of favorite races. After that we were able to get autographs of all the elite athletes, including the Northeast’s captain Shalane Flanagan. We got a chance to hang out with all of the teams and the Kenyans, and then it was time to head back to the hotel. Back at Embassy Suites, our team had a traditional pre-race pep talk, although this one was with guest speaker Shalane Flanagan. Her speech got us really motivated for the race, and finally, it was time for bed. Tomorrow was the big day!
The NXN Race (12/6)-Portland Meadows
We arrived at the course just in time to watch Adam run in the open race. While he wasn’t exactly able to beat any of the Kenyans, he still ran really well and was able to provide useful insight into the course. He advised us to get out quickly and really focus on the last couple sets of hay bales. Finally, it was time for us to be introduced. We lined up behind Danbury, and when it was our turn, we stepped up to the line. I heard many parents cheering for us from the sideline and the commentator announced “Wexford Flats Running Club” and stated our season’s accomplishments, as well as our “Miracle Qualification”. With the cameras flashing, we jogged the straightaway together and made our way to the line. I can’t even explain how I felt at this point. For four of the seven of us, this would be out last race, and we were determined to go out with our best possible race. We huddled up and encouraged everyone to leave it all on the course. We had to prove to all of the skeptics out there that we deserved to be at this meet. Most online predictions had us seeded either 21st or 22nd, and we knew that this was not the case. It was time to run. The gun went off, and we got out fast. I was the first of our team to make it to the first turn, and all of the runners converged, but I maintained my position well. Knowing that I probably wouldn’t be able to keep this pace up, I eventually did drop back to Ryan as we approached the 1000 mark. It was at this point that I saw someone go down in front of me. A huge pileup ensued, but I was able to swerve out of the way. I later heard that Jay went down in the pileup, but our other six remained intact. Here came the first set of woop-dee-doos. I can remember that it felt like a roller coaster as I went up and down over the hills. With Ryan finding his pace and leaving me behind, I began to fall back. But then Pat caught up to me and pulled me through the mile mark in a very fast 4:50. We approached the first set of hale bales, and we cleared them with ease. We heard the commentators announce the scores, and I was amazed to hear that Wexford was in 5th place. Apparently we had gotten out quickly enough, though we were beginning to lose position. Pat was also able to pull away from me as we came through the 2000 mark, and I was once again alone. I noticed a Danbury runner who had been at Northeast and focused on staying with him. I made it over the 2nd set of hay bales without incident, and continued along the course. This was where I think I fell into a little slump, because Chase caught up to me and encouraged me to stay with him. Though I was initially unable to stay right with him, I managed to keep him within my near sights for the next 1000. Here came the final woop-dee-doos. This time they were tough. I made it over the first couple fine, but I was getting tired. I crested what I thought to be the last one, only to find that there was one more hill waiting for me. This was where I heard Adam cheering for me, and he shouted to Eric immediately after me. Upon hearing this, I realized that we had 5 guys in pretty good position, and I was able to keep going hard. I came over the 3rd set of hay bales and can remember this being the most difficult set, and I actually had to step off of one of them to make it over. We came through the 4000 mark and I realized that this was it. I had to give everything I had from here in. I bolted up a small hill and found myself behind a couple of Woodlands runners. While behind them, I heard a coach yell ‘You’re our 4-5 guys, you can do this!’ I couldn’t believe it; as our 4-5 runners, here Eric and I were, next to one of the country’s top 4-5 runners. With new life, I knew that I had to go and surged past them. The last set of hay bales was very easy at this pace. I was able to clear them and surge past the Texas duo as we rounded the corner which revealed the final 200 meters of my career. I kicked it in as hard as I could, trying to catch and pass as many competitors as I could. I also found myself behind a pair of Naperville runners, and was able to catch one of them, as well as 2 or 3 other runners en route to the finish. I pounded through the dirt and gave everything I had, and as I passed the finish line, I noticed the race time. It was about 16:30. The actual time was 16:33, and I finished in 112th place, 70th for team scoring. I was our fourth man. As runners met in the finish area, I was able to find Pat and congratulate him on our race. We weren’t sure how we had done, but Coach LeDonne later found us and said that there was no way we had been 22nd. In the end, we finished up as 12th in the country and 3rd in the Northeast. Our spread, a mere 20 seconds, was the smallest at the meet by far. We were excited because we had proven all of the critics that said we didn’t deserve to be there wrong. And as we cooled down past the awards ceremony and watched North Central being crowned National Champs, we couldn’t help but feel that we were Champions ourselves. After 6 months of training, what seemed like a lifetime, our season, was over. And we couldn’t be happier with the way it ended.
12 Wexford XC Club--301
Total Time: 1:22:18.00
Average: 16:27.60 Spread: :20.6
43- HYPERLINK "http://runnerspace.com/find.php?do=search_site&title_desc=Ryan%20Gil" t "_blank" Ryan Gil 16:16.10
53-Chase Broussard 16:25.00
57-Patrick Morgan 16:26.90
70-Will Appman 16:33.30
78-Eric Balaban 16:36.70
122-Matt Robertson 17:15.10
141-Jay Cadwallader 17:34.00
*Open Race-43-Adam Jacob 17:25.10
In Recollection (12/26)-My house
To leave out all the clichés, this season sits atop my list of best experiences. Words can’t explain how great of a time I’ve had with these guys-my best friends-and when I think about what we accomplished together, everything just seems surreal. Every race, I knew that we were out there running for each other, and that is what pulled me through the toughest times. From the invigorating wins to the devastating loss at states to the euphoric feeling of disbelief we got after receiving the at-large bid, we felt everything as a team. And we couldn’t have done it without our coaches, but it was truly because of Coach LeDonne. He kept working with us every day to keep climbing toward our dream. Even when he didn’t have to come to practice, from the early summer mornings in North Park to the freezing November afternoons when he no longer had to be our coach *sponsor* he was there. We couldn’t have made it as far as we did without the support of our coaches, teammates, family, and friends, and so I sincerely thank everyone for helping to make this the experience of a lifetime.
Will Appman
p.s. I (not Pat) am Apollo