6/6-How a creative, stubborn coach and talented, coachable athletes won a 4-year battle in the 4x800

How a creative, stubborn coach and talented, coachable athletes won a 4-year battle in the 4x800 in 9:09.06. The story of Haverford (PA) high school's 4x800 that beat the competition, four years of getting close, a last minute strategy shift, and self-doubt to finally win a state championship.

(Editor's note: In the interest of disclosure, Haverford Township is my home district. But read on, anyway. This team and this coach have earned everything they've won.)

To meet expectations is an exceptional achievement.

Before the York twins, Fiana and Alica, ever entered the 9th grade at Haverford High School (PA), word filtered through the running community that these two were special. But everyone knows that winning races in 8th grade and then excelling four years later isn't a given.

Fiana and Alica York as grade-school soccer
players (a great way for runners to get started).

They don't know the York twins. And they don't know their distance coach.

We'll start with the race that will define their high school careers. Haverford Township won the PIAA AAA 4x800 state championship on May 29th in the 5th fastest time in the US this season, 9:09.06. Remarkably, it is the 2nd fastest time in PA this season, to none other than Gwynedd-Mercy, a AA school which ran a 9:04.57 to finish as the top American team at this year's Penn Relays. (PA has no Meet of Champs.)

But it's not just a PR or two and gutsy performances all around that won the race for Haverford, it was strategy. To understand both the performances and the strategy, you first have to understand the losses and close calls this group has endured for four years.

Alicia, Adriana and Fiana have been together
four years, finally getting the elusive AAA
4x800 state championship in 2004.
Here they're training during the last summer for XC.

Three of the four team members are seniors, twins Fiana and Alica York, both headed to George Mason; and Adriana Boyle, who will attend LaSalle. The sole underclassmen is junior Julia Somers.

Running as freshmen in 2001, the three oldest teamed with then-sophomore Rachel Giannascoli (now at James Madison). Adriana was lead-off, Alicia 2nd, Rachel 3rd, and Fiana anchor. They would finish 2nd to a talented Spring-Ford team, going 9:19.19. Not bad for freshmen, but not what the York twins were accustomed to. Spring-Ford was less than four seconds ahead.

Fast-forward to sophomore year, and other factors come into play. Adriana is injured and not available for States. The team is helped by then-junior Gen Story. The foursome of Gen, Alicia, Rachel and Fiana finish 7th in 9:23.23, a definite disappointment.

Their junior year, they get close. Not once, but twice. First in the Indoor championships, now-senior Rachel leads off, followed by Alicia, sophomore Julia Somers, and Fiana. They race to a 9:21.73. But again, it's for 2nd place. This time the loss comes to Gwynedd-Mercy, which runs to the win in 9:20.93. (There are no AA and AAA designations at the PA Indoor Championships). But there's hope for outdoor, as Adriana Boyle returns to the lineup in leadoff, followed by Alicia, Rachel and Fiana. They split 2:16.7, 2:20.5. 2:19.2 and 2:17.6, less than a second off their school record 9:13.90 run earlier that spring in the Penn Relays. But Hatboro-Horsham has other ideas, and a talented sophomore named Caitlin Klaas, who splits 2:10, eats up Haverford's lead, and wins in 9:10.52.

Getting close is starting to get old for the girls, and they resolve to make their senior year a memorable (and winning) one.

Unfortunately, it's more of the same during 2004 Indoor. And to add salt to the wounds, they get third to champ Hatboro (9:11.48) and Gwynedd-Mercy (9:13.26). Their 9:26.77 isn't close, but it's the place that bothers them.

There would be one last chance. No pressure. Just reality. And the four girls put in the work to try to make their dream come true.

They run a respectable Penn Relays, getting to the Championship of America for the 2nd consecutive year, but finishing behind Gwynedd-Mercy and Allentown Central Catholic. But late April is not what this team has their eyes on. It's late May, and Shippensburg.

Training is going well. No one is sick. There are no serious injuries.

And then one of their coaches changes everything.

"It had been in the back of my mind for almost a year," relates Haverford distance coach Jay Williams. (Williams ran on some of the legendary Villanova teams in the early 1970's with Marty Liquori, Eammon Coughlin, John Hartnett, and more, and had PRs of 29:19 for six miles and 14:03 for three miles). The event that sparked his idea was the 2003 finals, the race in which Klaas passed Fiana York on the final lap to win the race. Williams' concern wasn't so much that Fiana wasn't a strong runner, it was that she wasn't necessarily a great racer, "and you need your best racer when everything is on the line."

Williams continued thinking about making a change. And the championship part of the season was approaching. Change can either succeed, or lead to failure. But with Hatboro heading to States with Klaas, and Allentown Central Catholic heading to states with a strong team anchored by Frances Koons, he knew that without making a change, the results would most likely be the same as previous years. Second place.

He pulled the switch.

"Fiana (York) is my best runner. You want your best runner where she can do the most for your team. Adriana (Boyle) is my best racer. She would fight and challenge anyone who tried to pass her. You want your best racer on the track when the race is on the line, and that's the anchor." One problem with the change was that it meant his four-year leadoff runner, Boyle, would have to be replaced. His choice was Alicia. And Alicia was not happy. "I was really upset. You need a good start, and I was afraid. I usually don't run the opening leg, and I'm usually protected in the relay. And then all that pressure of starting really got to me. I didn't want to do it. I even tried to get out of it a couple of times." Williams was unmoved. He had a feeling she could adjust to the leadoff because she knows how to run the 800. "She's run a ton of 800's for four years, and she knows the race. The leadoff is basically positioning, and I just knew that Alicia could do it. Most importantly, she knew how not to get into trouble."

But that didn't help Alicia. At least not at first.

The girls won the Delaware County Girls' Championship on May 8th, running a 9:28.09 for a comfortable win. The girls continued to protest. But Williams' response was the same. " I heard a lot of complaints, but I wasn't changing."

Alicia York keeps out of trouble in the leadoff at States.

There would be a two-week wait to see if the plan was working. The girls continued to try to get Williams to go back to the old order, the order they had run since freshmen. They finally realized that he wasn't budging. His decision was final.

They only had one choice. Adapt.

As the famous saying goes, "don't you love it when a plan comes together?"

The girls talked to each other. Alica, still worried about the leadoff, decided Adriana probably knew a thing or two. And Adriana wanted to know about Fiana's experiences on the anchor. Julia knew her job.

Julia Somers keeps Haverford in the hunt.

At Districts, they ran an easy qualifier, saving their best for the finals. But once again, it was a Klaas-anchored Hatboro-Horsham team that showed they would defend their state championship well, taking the District 1 title with a 9:12.32. Haverford was 2nd in 9:15.63, their best time of the season. The new lineup had delivered their best time since the 2003 Penn Relays.

At States, Alicia got over her fears in Friday's prelims."They said I had to, and when I went out there in the prelims, I was fine. And I was right there with a good Henderson runner, and realized, 'hey, I can actually do this'. Once I got the team off to a good start, I knew it would work. I just really wanted to come through for the team. I realized I could do this, and I thought 'you need me.' It was a great feeling." (Split: 2:20:0)

A clean handoff and next up is Julia. "It's really hard for me, because I can't run a really fast quarter. But I did feel comfortable, and I did feel stronger, especially my last 200 meters, where I usually don't do that well.

My last lap was better than it usually is. I was glad I didn't lose that much for our team, because that's what I was there for. If I had run a bad time, it would have cost us." (Split: 2:23.4)

Fiana York uses the unusual tactic of going wide,
but it works, especially when you split 2:11.1.

Mission accomplished to the halfway point, but disaster almost struck. Anyone who has ever tried passing a baton in traffic knows the feeling. Officials are moving you around, you're trying to concentrate on your teammate, other athletes are moving around. Well, Fiana moved a bit, tangling briefly with another runner, and as Julia approached and reached to complete the handoff, the baton hit Fiana in the mouth. "The first lap, I had this really big lip, and I was just trying to get out. When I got the baton, I just started running, and I said, 'just go'. And I remember thinking I was going out a little fast, and I wondered why I was so far out in the lanes, but I thought, 'I'll just pass these people.' And when I was coming in I heard all these people, and they were clapping, and I thought they were clapping for me."

Fiana cuts in and heads off to a 30-meter lead.

Why did Fiana run much of the race in lane three? "I don't know why I run so far outside, but I just don't like to get trapped. And it can get rough in there. I know, I got hit. (Split: 2:11.2)

The anchor leg is set. Fiana gives Adriana a 30-meter lead. Unfortunately, their Hatboro challengers are not in the mix. Anchor Caitlin Klaas is out of the meet after becoming ill after Friday's races. But that didn't mean the race was over. Far from it.

Standing beside Boyle was Foot Locker finalist and 4:48 miler Frances Koons of Allentown Central Catholic. "I was freaking out, even though I may have looked calm. I knew exactly who was anchoring, but the way I figured it, 'this is my senior year, and we have worked so hard in this relay since freshman year, and there is nothing I wanted more than to come in first.' And I saw the lead Fiana had, and I figured I would just go for it.

Adriana gets the lead she needs
from Fiana, knowing she'll be chased
by one of the country's best runners.

I figured whatever happens, happens. If she comes right up next to me, I'm going to fight as hard as I possibly can." (Split: 2:13.9)

Boyle split 63-point on the first lap, and held about the same lead. But Koons began closing over the final 200, and gave the Haverford girls some concern. "It was like slow-motion" noted Alicia.

But Boyle held on. The elusive championship was theirs. 9:09.06.

And starts with a 63 quarter enroute to a 2:13.9,
enough to hold off the 2:09 split by Frances Koons.

The reaction was immediate. Obviously the girls congratulated each other. But something else unexpected happened. So did others. From Radnor, Perkiomen Valley, and other schools. One athlete said to the girls, "If it had to be someone, we're glad it's you. You have worked so hard."

Nothing unusual from the Central League.
Nothing unexpected from District One.
Nothing out-of-the-ordinary for Track & Field athletes.

Just your typical day at the office. Talented athletes. Talented coach. And a willingness to take a risk, reach for a dream, and meet all those expectations.

The three seniors, Alicia, Adriana, and Fiana, celebrate
within seconds of the win.