When the Philadelphia Public League became PIAA District 12 in 2004, no one knew exactly what impact the teams would have at the state level, but Simon Gratz head coach Robert Massie had an idea they'd do very well. His team had run US#1 ranked relays most of the indoor and outdoor campaigns. They rolled over national competition. And Massie says, there was little reason to expect anything different when they arrived at the 2005 PIAA T&F State Championships, their first.
Simon Gratz Bulldogs sweep the PIAA AAA Championships relays and claim their first state crown
But after full indoor and outdoor seasons, Gratz was worn down when they arrived. They entered anything and everything. Relays, individual events. And with the trials-semis-finals format, even though it's over two days, that is a lot of racing. You could see it on the faces and in the running form of the athletes as the 2005 meet progressed. Two of the more obvious examples were in the open 400 and 4x100, when then-freshman Khaliff Featherstone had to double back almost immediately. He finished 4th in the 400 and their PA #1 ranked 4x100 finished 4th as well. "We didn't respect the layout of the meet. We brought our sprinters up here and thought we could go through the rounds and score points, and run the relays and do it all, but you just couldn't. We got spanked," Massie said.
In their first year in the PIAA, Gratz would finish in a 3rd place tie with North Penn, 11.5 points behind champs Central Dauphin, and three behind Cumberland Valley.
"2005 taught us a lesson," Massie says.
Obviously, he learned that lesson well.
This season, Gratz ran a scaled back schedule during indoor and carried that philosophy right through the outdoor season. An indication of their conditioning (and freshness) was evident when they finished as the top American team at the Penn Relays Carnival in two Championship of America relays, the 4x400 (3:14.55) and the 4x800 (7:45.66). But the talk persisted in the track & field community. Some thought that when the grind of the PIAA state meet hit Gratz again, that history would indeed, repeat itself. If you looked at the weekly results during outdoor, you knew they hadn't raced every weekend. Something was different. But the talk continued.
Massie and his team knew how rested they were. They knew how much more time they devoted to training this season, than simply racing. And they said nothing.
They ran their district meet and qualified in everything they had the year before. But then the seedings were announced the Monday before states, you knew that Massie had a plan.
Khaliff was not in the 400 or the 800. "In the 800, we knew there were a lot of quality runners and we might get a few points, but not ten points. So we took Khaliff out of the 400 and 800." Kevin Talley was not entered in the 400. Sure, Kenneth Talley was in the 100 and 200. But no other member of that strong 4x800 was in the open 800. The 1600 was out, too. "Kenneth asked to run the 100, and of course, he wanted to run the 200 because that's his race. And we let Kevin run the 200 instead of the 400 hoping he could come back."
Massie had a plan. Just qualify and move to the finals where the pieces would come together. In the 4x400 trials on Friday, they used their lead-off and anchor, and rested the Talleys, who rejoined the relay for the finals.
The plan? Win or score well in the relays. Score a few points in either the 100 or 200, or as it turned out, both, and let the chips fall where they may. By becoming the first team in a long time to sweep three relays, they had 30 points, all on come-from-behind victories (Kenneth Talley from 5th place and 10 meters down in the 4x100 to beat Germantown by two meters. And Featherstone came from behind to win in both the 4x800 and 4x400. The only glitch came when Kevin missed the 200 final because of an injured ankle.
Massie is especially happy about the relationships that have evolved over the two-years since joining the PIAA... especially with Cumberland Valley. "We have seen them in races. We have talked with them. They have a great program, and David Stonfer is a great kid. Last year, David walked Khaliff in that last leg. So today, when I was congratulating him, I told him that is payback for last year." And neither Massie or Featherstone were surprised by Stonfer's other gear this year. "We already knew about that. No one can take anything away from Dave, he ran a great leg." (Featherstone split 46.7, Stonfer 47.4)
"It's great camaraderie and competition between us and Cumberland Valley and other schools like North Penn, Harrisburg and others."
Massie is looking forward to watching the continuing development of his two-time come-from-behind anchor, Featherstone, who is just a sophomore. In addition to the incredible race with Stonfer, Massie says others like Cody Edling, have helped Khaliff mature.
"We didn't come out here to break any records, but we just ran with a whole lot of heart. Being in this situation makes us have to step up to another level. Yes, this means everything for District 12. We are for real."
THE RACES THAT SCORED 44 POINTS
100 Meter Dash:
Kenneth Talley 10.96 prelims, 10.85w semis, 10.70w 3rd 6 points
200 Meter Dash:
Kevin Talley 22.42 prelims - 22.20w semis did not advance (ankle injury)
Kenneth Talley 22.05 prelims, 21.83w semis, 21.65w 2nd 8 points
4x800 Finals:
7:43.43, 10 points
Derrick Davis 1:54.6, Darryl Davis 1:56.8, Devin Summerville 1:58.3, Khaliff Featherstone 1:52.9
(Cumberland Valley 7:43.90)
Gratz ran 7:53.44 in the trials, top qualifier
4x100 Finals:
42.02, 10 points
Markise King, Khaliff Featherstone, Kevin Talley, Kenneth Talley
(Germantown 42.18)
Gratz ran 42.35 in the trials, 2nd best qualifier
4x400 Finals:
3:14.99 10 points
Derrick Davis 48.7, Kevin Talley 48.8, Kenneth Talley 49.8, Khaliff Featherstone 46.7
(Cumberland Valley 3:15.05)
Gratz ran 3:19.45 in the trials, 4th best qualifier
And Massie didn't want to forget his girls' 4x100, where Torey Satchell, Shaniya Richardson, Persha Lane and Clarenchell Tate, with a "phenomenal anchor" came from 3rd place down over 10 meters to nip Penn Hills at the line, both times in 47.99 seconds.