Five Goals. One Dream. The Cedar Cliff boys season in their own words.
The Summer Training
Our summer training begins immediatley after the last day of school. Everyone meets at 8 a.m. and we just go over the routine and get ready for the long months
ahead. As a team we all agreed that States was our #1 goal, with Great American and NTN after that.
On a personal level, after States last year I went through a terrible winter of injures (I ended up missing three months total) and was not really able to train again untill a week before our first track meet. So after being able to run 16:35 and 16:33 on a very hard District and wet/muddy Steel City course, I was now strugglign to go under 10:40 for the two mile on a good day. I had a lot more work to do than most. I set my goals for the season (get back into the shape I used to be in and better, Top 6 in the district, and Top 15 in the state) Our summer training was very intense, and for the last two months of it I don't think there was one week where we ran less than 75 miles, or a two-week stretch where we did not increase in volume. All in all, all of us ran just over 1,000 miles for the summer, (We were jsut under 2,000 for the entire season), with multiple 80-90-and 100 mile weeks. After that training we felt very confident about the goals we had set and started to realize that they were not dreams, but real possibilities.
Early Season Thoughts - Gettysburg
Fulton finishing at the 2004 PIAA District 3 champs. 
A week before Gettysburg we did a terribly brutal 16x400 on the grass, with the last six of them all being under 70. This workout kind of set the tone for the rest of the season I belevie due to what kind of stuff we would do in the coming weeks and months. The Gettysburg invite the past couple of years has been a race where we have just taken home so many awards and trophies. Back in 2001 when we were all JV runners, our JV team went 1-8 in that race and BIll Frailey, Tim Johnson, and I recived fastest freshmen awards, in that order. The 2001 varsity team also destroyed everyone in their race. BIll Frailey won the JV race. In 2002, I took home the individual title in the JV race as BIll and Tim, and the newly joined Pat Caulfield were varsity. Justin Keller was top five I believe at that race in his first JV invite of his career. The next year, Corey Creek carried on the JV tradition of winning that race, and won taking it easy. In the varsity race, we put two guys in the top ten, and four in the top 15, and Bill Frailey rounded us out in the High 20s I think. So coming into the 2004 Gettysburg Invite, with a very good performance record, we were pretty confident. For the most part, we knew the competition, we DEFINITELY knew the course since it would be our 8th time racing on it, and we had no real worries. The only real thing on our mind was just to make sure that Manheim Township, and no other teams, for that matter, got the idea that we were beatable. The race started off with no problems at all. We were all togehter at the mile, and by the time we were at the two mile, Tim and I were only about five seconds away from Justin. Pat ended up finishing 3rd, Justin 7th, Tim 8th, and me 9th, and Cory Creek was 18th. He broke 17 for the first time that day. Tyler was so close, but ran only a 17:06. Unfortunatley Bill was not having much luck that day and couldn't really breathe or move.
Knowing Everone is Chasing You - Carlisle
Going into this meet, we were focused on the upcoming Great American. We had realzied that we had a very real shot at winning that race, and were really getting anxious to go there. When the gun went off, none of us felt good at all. For some reason, we ended up starting 5-10 yards from a power pole which happened to be directly in front of us. This was probaly our second worst performance as a team in the 2004 season, but we managed to survive and mutilate the comption, particularly Coatesville and Manheim Township.
The Big One - Great American
The day before the 2003 state meet, Coach Roseberry gave me a letter that said "We could win States and then train on a new level to win in North Carolina" Well, as you know, we did not win States that year, but that's OK. Everyone ran their hearts out and that will always stick with me, knowing that even though we were dead tired, and that everyithing that could go wrong did go wrong (Justin falling over and Tyler tearing some ligaments in his foot during the first mile of the race, and Pat being off a little) we all gave our best and Tim ended up coming home with a well-earned Individual State Medal. Dukring the 2004 summer, Coach Roseberry and Wags (Coach Matt Waggoner) wanted to make sure we realized that at Great American, we were going to go out extremely hard. When we went there in 2003, we saw how fast the races went out (it's a downhill start) and they wanted to make sure we were ready for it. So we practiced a lot on making sure the body was ready for the shock of going out so hard. Problably the main staple of that phase of training was when we ended up running 13 miles with 7 of them being nothing but extremely fast 300s (everything was with active recovery). So when we were at the starting line of Great American, we were definitlely ready. This race was our main focus for the first half of the season.
When the gun went off, we got off to probably the best start a Cedar Cliff team has ever had in its history. In a huge race like that against such great teams like the ones there, we were 1-7 for 400m before finally getting into pace. Our strategy was not ot push on the uphills, but to hammer on the downhill (this strategy was diffrent than usual. I felt since our strength is normally running up hills) The strategy worked out pretty well. The finish was a 200meter uphill climb. This is probably what helped us win. That kind of finish showed that we are extremely good at running up hills, as every single Cedar Cliff runner passed at least 15 people going up that hill. I ended up beating three to four people by less than a second, largely in part because they fell apart in the last 200 on that hill. Winning that race was such a great feeling and we felt that we had big things ahead of us. Coach Roseberry even gave us the next day off (RARE).
Not Letting Down - Mid-Penns
Mid-Penns was easily the one race we cared very little about and were probably better off not even doing it. It was back at the Carlisle course, this time soaked and very muddy. The conditions were great though, and they reminded me a lot of when I popped a race at Steel City the previous year. After running a 16:56 at the Carlisle Invite, I knew I was much better than that and I was also really upset about my 16:41 at Great American. I felt that I was a sub 16 5k runner and was just putting all my hard work to waste. So I wanted to turn around and start running good again. The gun went off and it was a very slow start, none of us went out hard like we usually do, and we actually got swallowed by the pack (it was wierd having that happen, since all season I was so used to being out in front at the start of a race, near the leaders. No one took the lead or pushed the pace at all until about 1200 meters in when Cumberland Valley's Curtis Bixler took off after that little wooden bridge in front of a hill. Pat, Tim, Justin, and I all went with him and hung onto him through the mile. At the mile, Tim started to fade back a little (he was very, very sick that day) and Pat and Bixler took off and started duking it out. Justin and I followed, but were a good six to ten seconds behind Pat. Pat spent the rest of that race just trying to keep Bixler away from him, and Justin and I raced with each other. I ended up running a 16:33, which I was very happy about considering how I had been running before that race. When all was said and done we put five in the top ten and had a shockingly similar performance to our 2001 team. They went 1,3,4,6,11. We went 1,3,4,7,10. We actually scored it up and the 2001 won it on a tie braker. We destroyed the conference though, and if you scored it as US vs the whole confrence, we win 25-26.
Staying Focused - Districts
Last year at Distrcits we exploded and ran AMAZING. This year, we did not want that to happen and wanted it to happen at States. So to avoid it, Coach Roseberry decided the workout four days before would be 3xmile at 4:50 pace with only 3:30 to recover in between each repeat. On the first one, all of our top 7 hit 4:49. On the second one, Wags, Pat, Tim, Justin, and me ran 4:50. On the third one, Wags, Pat, Tim, Justin, and me ran 4:49. This was an amazing workout, and even more amazing that we had four guys hit the pace with such little recovery. Two days later, Coach Roseberry had us do 12x400 which featured downhills and a challenging short but steep uphill. So, we were really tired before starting the District race. For some reason, we did not hear the starting instructions for Districts. We were in the box, and heard a whistle, and we thought that was the "Runners Set" and then we heard a second whistle, we all jumped out of the box but quickly discovered that was not the start and as we were walking back into the box and re-arranging ourselves, the gun went off and we were not ready. So we were behind everyone as the gun went off and had to fight our way up to the front. We succeeded, but I feel we paid the price. On a good note though, we had beaten Manheim for the third time in a row, and by our highest margin yet.
The Prize - States
States was all we could think about every waking moment for a year. We wanted that title. We were definitely ready, or so we thought. Coach Roseberry wanted us to go extremely hard at the start. Well, we did just that, but we suffered dearly because of that. Before the race started, something I must have eaten must not have sat well and it was attacking me from the moment I woke up to when I got to the starting line at States. Tim was also still sick from Mid-Penns. We knew it was going to be a tough race and we had heard about Coatesville's rapid improvements. We also still had Council Rock North as a team we had to watch out for, because even though they ended up going through some rough injuries, they are always good and might have been just as good, if not better than us before their injuries happened. Tim and I were duking it out with Coastvilles number three guy, and at some point, their number two guy, throughout the whole race. Justin was also fighting them off as well, and Pat had his hands full up in front with the two Council Rock North runners, and Amin (Coatesville's #1) and Brad Miller (Manheim's #2). So we were all doing everything we could. We ended up winning by five points with a great effort by each member of the team and another amazing finish for Corey Creek. No matter how impossible it may seem for him to pass somebody in the last 500-600 meters of race, he somehow pulls it off. He actually beat me by three seconds at North Carolina, and I was glad he did. He is a very hard person to beat at the end of a race. Very, very hard. After the race, we were convinced we lost, throughout the last mile all we heard was "you guys are losing" and "the titles running away right in front of your eyes." We just sat in a circle and waited in terrible, terrible agony for the results. There were so many people
around us that just added to the effect of how emotional it was. And then we finally heard the news that we won and were probably the happiest people in Hersheypark that day. I personally feel that this was our worst performance as a team the entire season, and it was on the one day that we just couldn't have that happen. Tim, Tyler, Bill, and me were all off and missed reaching out goals by A LOT.
Between States and NTN
We all took the day off after States and just hung out together. The next day we played some football. After that, I continued my training. I was not happy with my season as an individual and felt that I let myself down. I ran by myself until one terrible, terrible day a week and a half later. Two weeks after States, Coach Roseberry and Wags surpised us with the news that we were doing a workout on the track. Well, this did not go down well with some members of the team, and we just completely fell apart. Everyone was yelling at everybody, the coaches were yelling at everybody, people were yelling at the coaches. It was an ugly scene. No one was hitting the times. Eventually, I was tired of hearing all this whining and decided to just stray away from the group and do the workout by myself or with whoever wanted to do it how it was supposed to be done. So we all started going on our next 400 (the workout was 800m intervals with the first 400 at 74 then easing up a little, then going all out on the last 100 of the 800) And everyone was angry at me for running "fast" and yelling at me. Sadly, I ended up running that 74 all by myself and did the total 800 in around 2:30. My teammates came in much later, very mad. On the next one, we ended up doing a 65. No one was talking to anybody. We eventually started hitting the pace, but that was just the beginning of it. Lines were drawn and the team had formed sides, and it seemed like everyone was against me, except for Corey Creek, who never said a word about anything involving it. For the next five days, everything was still very bad and people were still angry at each other. The next Monday though, everyone finally cooled off and the team turned into what it used to be. Everyone is now friends again, there are no sides, and we all are now workign together as a cohesive, determined group.
Drop in Rankings
The drop in rankings was a huge shock. It wasn't as much of a shock that we had dropped, but that CBA, who had sat out races, deliberately sought out no good teams on the other side of the country, and struggled to beat teams that we annihilated, like Toms River. They had lost to Lockport and were moved into second place. I felt bad for Lockport, who had to race against the best team in the nation almost every weekend, and had actually beaten CBA, was now 4th in the region and was most likely not going to get to go to NTN. Other than the regional ranking, we were still very happy with the National ranking of 7th (show me one person who can be upset about being ranked as 7th best team in the nation, other than possibly York, Fayetteville-Manlius or the Woodlands.)
Getting an At-Large
After waiting forever and ever for the NorthEast invitations to come out and finding out that we didn't get the automatic, we were pretty upset. We knew though that we would get the at large bid, becuase we felt there was no way they could invite teams we man handled, and not invite us. So when we finally received it, it felt pretty good knowing that we are going to have a chance at being in this type of race. It's every athlete's dream, being in a National Championship.
NTN itself
The pre-race days were pretty good, just like any others, except for one really bad workout in which Pat was the only one to hit the times (the Monday before
the race) so that might have been a sign that we were not gonna race very welll that weekend. When we arrived at NIke, they treated us as if we were National Icons. Nice bus, free warmups, huge bags, shoes, spikes, a hat, wristbands, key chains, another shirt, another logo sleeve warmup type shirt. You name it, we pretty much received it. When we arrived at NIke we were able to meet our good friends from Mountain View, Utah. They were just as glad to see us as we were them. It was good to go there and know some other people that would be in the race. (We met Mountain View at Great American.)
The Course Walkthrough
When we arrived at the course, there was one thing I was expecting to see. That was how well the course took on the rain, since the course description said it was "Water proof". Well, that was a complete and utter lie, as the entire thing was nothing but one huge plop of mud. So we jogged the course and had some fun on it. The camelback hills (BMX hills) were a little slippy the day before, I fell on them twice.
The RACE
When we arrived at the course on race day, it had become even more muddy, and it was chilly. We arrived there just in time to watch our 8th man Mark Wild race. His race was a precursor of things to come. The only good that came out of probably the whole day was when the announcer for the 8th man race said William Frailey (Bill) was in second place. But it turned out only Mark and one other person actually wore their chips.
NTN Boys Right before the Race
After we finsihed our warmups, we were running a bit behind and needed to get our numbers and chips on and our spikes as well. Unfourtanley, the meet officials neglected to inform us about Team Introductions. So, we eventually found out through a lot of people yelling at us that we were the only team not at the introductions and that we needed to get there asap. So we all had to sprint through a ton of mud in untied shoes and spikes with our clothes hanging everywhere (my spike was a casulty in the crossing of the mud to the introductions).
The Race itself
After our introduction finished, we immediatley went back to our tent to get everything on, only to find out we had four minutes!!. That was very little time. We were able to fit in one bad strider. No one knew where they were supposed to stand at the start, so everyone just assumed where they should be since the blocks were epretty much non-existent anymore due to the immense mud.
When the gun went off, I immediatly started slipping everywhere and probaly fell into last place right away.
About 600 meters in I started to gain back positions from that fall and felt pretty good. For about the first mile everything was going pretty good, but something just happeend and we all just fell apart. On the third loop of the hills, the mud took my spike and I had to stop to put it back on, since I had it tied to tight to just pull off. That was the end of the race right there for me. If not for that, I think I would have been top 70 instead of 101, but oh well. One thing I learned about that race is just how amazingly good everyone there was. Everyone was so packed together, everyone fought for each and every single place physically, due to how tight the amazingly huge pack was. It was nothing like States at all. This made States seem like a dual meet. Once you thoguht you had a person, all of a sudden six people blow by you with amazing speed. Every single team had two to three of their runners around everybody. Everybody could pack it up. It trully showed that in a race of that caliber, DEPTH is extremly important. Although we finsihed dead last by a lot, I could not have been happier. We just raced against some of the best and most historic cross country programs in the nation, and we rightfuflly earned our chance at being there.
Season Overview
Looking back on the season, it was a HUGE success that I think will be very hard for any team in PA to equal. In one year we went from 4th place nobodys to a pre-season ranked 20th team nobody, to probably the most hated, biggest underdog team of the year across the nation that was 7th in the nation for two whole months, and had beaten at the time 6th ranked Mountian View, who got 5th at NTN. The DyeStat NTN forums really helped show that people really, really did not like us very much. We achieved some amazing workouts, such as 16x400 with active recovery on each one with the last 6 being under 70, all on the grass. We did a 13 mile run with 7 of them being nothing but basiclly all out 300s on a rocky, leafy trail that had rolling hills. Pat, Tim, Justin, and I did 3xmile @4:49, 4:50, 4:49 with only 3:30 to recover a couple of days before Districts. We won our school's second state title on by far probably the worst race we had as a team the whole season against an amazingly good and surprising Coatesville squad. Corey Creek breaking out as a distance runner was the surprise of the century for us. He ran a pr of 16:38 at Great American.
I learned many things this season about myself. Before, I never trully believed that I was someone who really made that much of a diffrence on our team. I just wanted to win a state title. In fact, before Great American we were so confident in our training that Roseberry proclaimed that even if we took me out of the race for States, we would still win.
I also learned what can happen if you push the envelope for too long. Your body will start breaking down. Which becomes very evident when you go all-out for a mile on the track and you can only do a 5:01 when you're supposed to do 4:50.
This season also reinforced that once you hit your peak, it is hard to stay in good shape. I feel I peaked at Gettysburg with my 16:19, and then somehow managed to do it again at Mid-Penns by getting third place, and when Curtis only beat me by 13 seconds, compared to the usuall 30-40 seconds he beat me by all year.
Oh, and one other thing that I think needs to be said...
As a person who lives and breathes the philiosphy of High Mileage, it is perfectly safe for a high school runner to do multiple 100 mile weeks, and two to three months at a time never going under 80. You just have to do that the right way. In our top seven, we only had one instance of a shin splint or stress fracture, and that was with Tyler Longnecker, and it was only there for a week. One injury in four years of high mileage with a group of seven people is evidence enough for me.