PA BOYS - Keith Capecci comes from behind on the best in the Northeast. Josh Hibbs exceeds everyone's expectations, even his own. Liz Costello ignores the hype, predictions, and mud to capture a FL Finalist spot with nation's elite.
Note: story includes top 60 PA finishers, Class Race highlights, and PA team results.
Josh Hibbs is in 7th at 2000 meters,
with Jack Walker, Ellwood City just in front, and (hidden) Brad Miller beside Hibbs.
Pennsylvania qualified two boys for the second year in a row, and almost had three. Keith Capecci, a Council Rock North senior (9th 15:38), was a reluctant recruit as a sophomore, having been talked onto the team from the basketball squad. Senior Liz Costello of Conestoga (6th 18:00) was a convert from soccer in 2004. While she ran cross country as a junior, she missed districts because of a soccer playoff game. And Josh Hibbs, a Hatboro-Horsham senior (10th 15:44) has been an improving runner since joining the top seven his sophomore year at Hatboro-Horsham, one of the stronger programs year after year.
Capecci usually runs from behind in races, and had used that strategy with great success in winning his District 1 meet, and later pushing Craig Miller over the final mile to a course record at the PA state meet. But Council Rock North coach Dave Marrington said before the race that Capecci wouldn't use that strategy with the level of competition at Foot Lockers. Well, Capecci did.
The start didn't go well. He, Josh Hibbs and Cumberland Valley's Curtis Bixler looked to start together and work that way. But when signaled to step up from the back line to the real starting line, a bunch of other runners sprinted in front of them, and on the start, squeezed them from their race plans. Capecci couldn't even find the red-clad Hibbs. He spotted a NJ runner he knew, "but he was too far back, so I had to move." He found himself in the 40's at the mile. Marrington was concerned. Capecci figured he had time. He started to work, and was back to 30th at the bridge. On the back hills, he finally spotted Hibbs (thanks to Hatboro-Horsham for their bright red uniforms), and knew where he had to go. "At two miles, I started thinking 'is it even possible?'" Nearing the 4,000 meter mark he found himself in 10th with just over 1,000 meters to go. Thanks to the two added spots in the finals afforded by the agreement between NTN and Foot Lockers over the NTN/West Region date conflict, Capecci's 9th place finish earns him a trip to San Diego. Capecci had trained through states at 65 miles a week, having aimed for this race since August, and coming off a great 3200 meters (9:15) at states. "It opened his eyes," says Marrington. And the newfound motivation led him to put in the work for the first time. Marrington says the effort paid off. "He ran for the first time over the summer, and that's the reason he didn't get hurt for the first time." Capecci had done some speedwork in the last three weeks, and he needed the kick to hold his place on the final straight. "I knew I was in so I just wanted to not do anything stupid." Both he and his coach think he had a lot left, despite having to come from behind. Capecci thinks both he and Hibbs can run even better at Nationals.
Keith Capecci (#283) has recovered from 40th
to 30th by 2000 meters. North Allegheny's Max Brown is on the left.
Hibbs took the more even approach, staying near the front at 2000 meters, and holding off challengers to take 10th by three seconds. In addition to Capecci, Hibbs had planned to work with Bixler, as he had at the Mid-East Regional meet a week ago. Hibbs was 7th as he crossed the bridge the first time, and in 8th when he neared 4,000 meters on the return trip. But Capecci and a NJ runner passed him, and realizing he was 10th, he summoned what he could to start a drive. "Once I knew I had it, the adrenaline hit. And I saw my brother and dad and really started moving. I usually don't have that strong a finish." Hibbs says he was more relaxed for this race than any big one this year because he looked at it as possibly has last race, simply hoping to finish in the top 20. "I decided to just have fun with it."
Ellwood City senior Jake Walker had been in 3rd-4th for much of the race, and even though he held 6th at 4,000 meters, he faded to 13th in a time of 15:54. "I went out too fast. Even though I was in the qualifiers heading down from the bridge, I had nothing left." Kennard-Dale senior Jon Great was 15th in 15:57, and North Allegheny senior Max Brown rounded out the PA scoring with a 19th place 16:00.
PA took 2nd in the team competition.
Other top 60 PA Boys finishers:
34 Burns, James 12 Lunderberg (Avon Grove) PA 16:11.2
42 Miller, Brad 12 LANCASTER PA 16:16.2
45 Dunkelberger, Isaac 11 TAMAQUA PA 16:20.1
47 Christopher, Joshua 11 IRWIN PA 16:20.9
57 Bixler, Curtis 12 MECHANICSBURG PA 16:25.6
CHAMPIONSHIP BOY'S STATE TEAMS
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1. 39 NY (15:41.2 78:26.0)
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1 3 NOEL BATEMAN ROCHESTER 15:31.5
2 4 GREG KELSEY SARATOGA SPRINGS 15:33.8
3 6 BRIAN RHODES DEVEY SLINGERLANDS 15:35.7
4 12 DAN BUSBY NEW PALTZ 15:48.3
5 14 COLIN HEENAN LIVERPOOL 15:56.7
6 ( 16) JOSHUA EDMONDS COOPERSTOWN 15:57.7
7 ( 18) DAN LEWIS STATEN ISLAND 16:00.4
2. 64 PA (15:50.4 79:11.6)
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1 9 Keith Capecci New Hope 15:38.1
2 10 JOSHUA HIBBS HATBORO 15:43.3
3 13 Jake Walker Ellwood City 15:53.6
4 15 JONATHAN GREY STEWARTSTOWN 15:56.9
5 17 MAX BROWN ALLISON PARK 15:59.7
6 ( 27) James Burns Lunderberg 16:11.2
7 ( 31) BRAD MILLER LANCASTER 16:16.2
Liz Costello ignores the hype, predictions, and mud to capture a FL Finalist spot with nation's elite.
Conestoga senior Liz Costello didn't really switch to cross country full-time until this season. Headed to Princeton, Costello played soccer through her junior year, and didn't even race at the District meet in 2004 because her soccer team was in the playoffs. But Costello, who owns a 2:12 800, wanted to see how fast she could get in the half mile and decided to use cross country as a great training tool. Needless to say, she got pretty serious during the season as she raced to 3rd at Paul Short behind Foot Locker champ Aislinn Ryan of New York and fellow 2005 finalist Briana Jackucewicz of New Jersey. According to one of her coaches, Ryan Comstock, Costello asked him during the season "why not me?" when they talked about Foot Locker. He decided not to tell her how big a deal, nor how difficult it was to qualify for. "I think you can over-coach. I just help her with some little thing. Just watching her, you'd never guess that she hasn't done this before." She won districts easily, and beat the Hersheypark course record of 2003 Foot Locker finalist Frances Koons, and then waited two weeks to race at the Mid-East Regional in Ohio. She wasn't happy with her race there, telling Dyestat's Steve Underwood that she just didn't have it that day. Ryan told her that the three weeks between States and the Foot Locker Northeast Regional was a good thing. "Get the hoopla of states out of the way. Get your off race out of the way in Ohio. And build back up for Regionals. It's a process."
Liz Costello (#375) is in 7th at 2000 meters.
Sounds simple... but in this sport, as in anything, confidence is everything. The group had a great dinner the night before, and Costello appeared relaxed and ready. According to Costello, any nerves went by the wayside during the first mile. "It was really muddy. The legs went numb after two minutes. It was kind of nice, you weren't really concentrating on the distance. it was more 'avoid that, and then that pile.'" When she finished avoiding the mud-mines of the flats, she found herself just off the starting 5:24 pace. Costello was 7th to cross the bridge the first time. She thinks she may have dropped to 14th at one point, but kept her focus, and when she could, counted heads ahead of her. She hung on through the hills and by the time she was approaching 4000 meters, she was in 9th place right in front of homeschooled sophomore Neely Spence of Shippensburg. And there were four girls within 15 meters of these final two qualifying spots. Spence faded after the bridge to finish 19th in 18:31. Chambersburg junior Sarah Morrison was 17th in 18:30, with Neshannock's Kacey Gibson, a sophomore, 20th in the same time as Spence. Council Rock North junior Allison Sikora rounded out the PA scoring five with her 28th place 18:51. PA would finish a strong 3rd as a team with 78 points.
Costello says the Ohio race at least got her used to racing in cold weather. And seeing Van Cortlandt for the first time the day before the big race, she said it didn't look as difficult as she had heard it was. "I heard it was a monster. And then when I saw that it wasn't, it was kind of a mental relief. But I didn't like the course as much today as I did yesterday."
While others were hitting a wall or just unable to find another gear, Costello found something else coming out of the woods – a second wind. "Air just rushed into my lungs and I started to pick it up and found another gear. It was 'get out of my way, this is for San Diego...'" where she says she is looking foward to "getting a tan."
Other top 60 PA Girls finishers:
32 Meholick, Kassandra 11 NEWCUMBERLAND PA 18:56.9
36 Woodruff, Alycia 11 WEST CHESTER PA 19:04.5
48 Shertzer, Lindsey 11 WASHINGTON BORO PA 19:15.7
54 Ward, Katherine 11 Port Matilda PA 19:17.7
56 Kligman, Hannah 11 RADNOR PA 19:18.6
60 Roberts, Erin 12 FOGELSVILLE PA 19:21.0
62 Scheller, Lindsey 12 SUNBURY PA 19:21.6
CHAMPIONSHIP GIRL'S STATE TEAMS
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1. 18 NY (17:51.9 89:19.3)
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1 1 NICOLE BLOOD GANSEVOORT 17:41.8
2 2 AISLINN RYAN BELLVALE 17:50.0
3 3 CAITLIN LANE GANSEVOORT 17:51.8
4 4 LINDSEY FERGUSON GREENFIELD CTR 17:54.7
5 8 Elisabeth Deir Lima 18:01.0
6 ( 9) HANNAH DAVIDSON SARATOGA SPRINGS 18:07.4
7 ( 10) SHELBY GREANY SUFFERN 18:08.9
2. 55 NJ (18:17.3 91:26.5)
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1 5 DANIELLE TAURO MANAHAWKIN 17:54.9
2 7 BRIANA JACKUCEWICZ FARMINGDALE 18:00.6
3 11 AMANDA MARINO JACKSON 18:25.3
4 14 Jenn Ennis Succasunna 18:29.9
5 18 LARA HEIGIS WALPACK 18:35.8
6 ( 21) ASHLEY HIGGINSON MARLBORO 18:47.3
7 ( 27) LAURA GALLO CRANFORD 19:03.9
Liz Costello (right) is in 9th, and Neely Spence in 10th nearing 4000 meters.
3. 73 PA (18:28.2 92:20.9)
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1 6 LIZ COSTELLO WAYNE 18:00.0
2 13 SARAH MORRISON CHAMBERSBURG 18:29.2
3 15 NEELY SPENCE SHIPPENSBURG 18:30.3
4 16 Kacey Gibson New Castle 18:31.0
5 23 ALLISON SIKORA NEWTOWN 18:50.4
6 ( 25) KASSANDRA MEHOLICK NEWCUMBERLAND 18:56.9
7 ( 28) ALYCIA WOODRUFF WEST CHESTER 19:04.5
CLASS RACES, TOP 20 PA FINISHES: PA wins Boys Sophomore race.
Girls Freshman:
11 Cekada, Annie 9 MINERAL POINT PA 20:46.
15 Walker, Beth 9 SAYRE PA 20:55.1
Boys Freshman:
5 Hull, Kevin 9 Lancaster PA 17:16.4
8 Desabato, Patrick 9 Narberth PA 17:27.3
11 Reily, John 9 ORWINGSBURG PA 17:31.5
12 Wood, Phil 9 Yardley PA 17:33.0
13 Lebo, Zackary 9 Nesquehoning PA 17:40.1
Girls Sophomore:
16 Smith, Melissa 10 Mercer PA 20:22.8
19 Meck, Katie 10 DILLSBURG PA 20:30.5
Boys Sophomore:
1 Kaulbach, Maximiliaan 10 PHILADELPHIA PA 16:34.2
3 Dennin, Mark 10 GILBERTSVILE PA 16:46.6
6 Mckenzie, Jake 10 Philadelphia PA 16:53.0
7 Lacolla, John 10 WEST CHESTER PA 17:02.3
Girls Junior:
15 Tatomirovich, Elizabeth 11 MERCER PA 20:19.5
Boys Junior:
9 Fahey, Matt 11 BERUYN PA 16:58.3
19 Dorsey, Steve 11 N. Wales PA 17:10.9
20 Infantino, Rj 11 MEDIA PA 17:11.6
Girls Senior:
12 Newell, Sandy 12 ST MARYS PA 20:47.8
18 Heidecker, Erin 12 WATERFORD PA 20:56.1
Boys Senior:
6 Casey, Sean 12 Hatfield PA 17:09.0
8 Shalla, Hassan 12 GLENSIDE PA 17:13.5
FLASH REPORT, Saturday, November 26: Cross country season is not over for three Pennsylvania athletes. First (full year) runner Liz Costello ran a smart, gutsy race and rode her 800 speed on a burst of adreneline existing the woods to earn a 6th place finish at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals. Within the hour, two other PA harriers used vastly different strategies to earn their trips to San Diego in two weeks. State runnerup Keith Capecci of Council Rock North entered the woods way back (probably in the 30's), and surged through the back hills, before finding himself in the top twelve nearing the 4,000m mark, and finishing 9th. And Hatboro-Horsham senior Josh Hibbs, who never enters a race he doesn't push from the start, pushed his way toward the front at 2,000 meters and never let up to earn the 10th and final ticket to the Foot Locker Finals. Other PA contenders gave it everything they had, but either never challenged, or faded late. We'll have interviews and PA race photos before I leave for the Eagles game Sunday afternoon. (PHOTO: Costello was in 5th at 2,000 meters as the runners cross the bridge for the first time.)