BOYS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM 2011
Undefeated Suburban One League Champion
PIAA AAA STATE TEAM CHAMPION
Head Coach Mike Werner
Assistant Coach Mike Hertz
Captains: Jack Macauley, Dan Davis, Chris Trimble and Ben Kloss
Team Members in Picture:
Front Row: Tyler Johnston, Dan Davis, Matt Molloy, Chris Trimble, Jack Macauley, Luke Stauring, Hunter Hill, Ryan Grace
2nd Row: Coach Werner, D.J. Joell, Matt Shive, Devin Wilkinson, Hadrien Guichard, Franco Gigliotti, Michael Cooney, Thomas Leffler, Coach Hertz.
3rd Row: Tobias Damrat, Joe LeConey, Ben Barnhart, Nathan Harris, Anthony Rivellini, Ben Kloss, Niall Casey, Shaun Collins,
4th Row: R.J. Chandler, Anthony Camasso, Reece Maurer, Mark Biedlingmaier
Not pictured: Eric Rothenberger, Gage Wellington
Dual Meets 10 – 0
North Penn 23 Lower Merion 33 North Penn 25 Hatboro Horsham 33 North Penn 21 C. B. West 38
North Penn 19 Upper Dublin 43 North Penn 16 Pennridge 45 North Penn 15 Quakertown 48
North Penn 15 Wissahickon 48 North Penn 18 C.B. East 45 North Penn 23 C.B. South 36
North Penn 16 Souderton 47
Championship Meets:
1st - PIAA AAA STATE CROSS COUNTRY TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
3rd - DISTRICT ONE AAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
1st - SOL CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
2nd - Salesianum Invitational
3rd - Briarwood Invitational
1st - C. B. East Invitational
NORTH PENN PIAA AAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
11th (17th) Jack Macauley 40th (78th) Ryan Grace 65th (139th) Hunter Hill
18th (30th) Dan Davis 42nd (82nd) Matt Molloy 117th (222nd) Tyler Johnston
21st (35th) Chris Trimble
Inducted NPAAA Hall of Fame – 2018
2011 Cross Country Team PIAA State Champions
“No one expected North Penn to take the AAA State Title. But they did. They practiced for it.” Cory Mull - PA Milesplit
After a third-place finish at the District 1 Championships, the 2011 North Penn Boys Cross Country had an “uphill battle” in Hershey in trying to erase a 66 point gap to District 1 Champion West Chester Henderson and overcome a seventh-place Milesplit ranking in the PIAA to achieve its third State Title in program history.
The journey toward a 2011 State Title began in 2010. The young Knights took second in the Suburban One Continental Conference Championships; however, they knew the importance of experiencing States in 2010 to set up competing at States in 2011. Taking a surprising second place in the 2010 District 1 Championships, the Knights qualified for States in 2010 and traveled to Hershey to gain the much-needed experience needed to win in 2011.
The 2011 season had its share of ups and downs but the dual meet results were consistent with the posting of a perfect 10-0 record. Through the dual meet season, their two-part focus was clear: minimize the gap between their first and fifth runner and become very strong at running hills.
The lessons in “gap control” were highlighted in a league meet at Souderton where the team missed their predetermined one through five runner gap limit. Consequently, they had to run repeat 1,000-meter intervals on Souderton’s track after the race. This lesson in emphasizing running as ONE UNIT proved very valuable in achieving post-season goals.
The lessons in “climbing” came from the invitational schedule. Two of the three invitationals focused on very strong competition at very challenging courses. At Briarwood (Belmont Plateau), North Penn took third behind nationally-ranked and undefeated Cardinal O’Hara and Delaware State Champion Salesianum. Taking third in early September to these two very strong programs gave the Knights confidence that with six weeks of focused training left in the season, there was time to make up some ground.
Two weeks later, North Penn took second place to Salesianum at their invitational on the most challenging course of the regular season. Finishing behind Salesianum again was not a goal; however, the Knights had shown growth since Briarwood; reducing their point gap behind the Delaware State Champion from nine to just three points in only two weeks. The climbing growth was a result of hard weekends spent training at Militia Hill and Peace Valley Park. With the postseason two weeks away, the Knights continued to visit Militia and Peace Valley to prepare for the last hilly course of the season...HERSHEY!
The first step in the 2011 postseason was the Suburban One League Continental Conference Championships. Taking five of the top thirteen places, North Penn ran away with the thirty-eight-point victory. Jack Macauley, Dan Davis, and Chris Trimble were all named First-Team All-League. Matt Molloy and Ryan Grace were named Second-Team All-League.
The second step in the postseason was the fastest race of the season in the District One Championship at Lehigh University. While Lehigh’s course didn’t provide an opportunity to showcase North Penn’s strength in climbing, it did give the Knights an opportunity to post the lowest one through five runner gap of the season . . . 43 seconds! This tight gap led to a third-place finish out of fifty-five schools on a FLAT course. The question for the climbing Knights leading up to States . . .”If we were third on a flat course, what will we be on a hilly course?”
"We've done so many more hill workouts this year because we knew we would be at States," Junior Jack Macauley said. "Every Saturday morning, waking up at 6:30 to travel to Militia Hill or Peace Valley, wherever we were going every Saturday morning when we didn't have a race. It was kind of grueling, but it paid off."
The trip to States in 2011 was different. North Penn was third place in District One and ranked seventh in the state. “No one paid attention to us,” said Senior Dan Davis. Gap control and climbing was how North Penn prepared, and the results were going to be tied to that. "We knew we had to have our best race if we were going to get it," senior co-captain Chris Trimble added. "And we knew we could put together this race. We were ready for it; we trained for it. So we knew we would have a chance. To win the State Championships, North Penn was going to have to defeat undefeated and nationally ranked (#1 PA) Cardinal O’Hara.
Six weeks earlier at the Briarwood Invitational, O’Hara had defeated North Penn by 45 points. To give O’Hara their first loss of the season, North Penn was going to have to have their best meet climbing while also staying disciplined in their gap control.
Both teams got off to a great start! At the mile mark of this 5K (3.1 mile) race, Cardinal O’Hara took the team scoring lead with 95 points, with North Penn close behind with 98 points. The next 2.1 miles in Hershey featured several challenging hills that would ultimately determine the team champion. As they crossed the finish line, the results looked extremely close among several teams so no team was really talking about North Penn. After what felt like an eternity, the results were announced. For the first time since 1972, the PIAA AAA Boys Cross Country Team Championship was determined by a tiebreak! Both North Penn and Cardinal O’Hara scored 132 points. In cross country, a tiebreak is determined by the place of each team’s sixth runner. North Penn’s sixth runner finished twenty places ahead of Cardinal O’Hara’s, giving North Penn their third state title in program history.
Junior Jack Macauley led the way in eleventh place, with Seniors Dan Davis and Chris Trimble close behind in eighteenth and twenty-first place, respectively. Sophomores Ryan Grace and Matt Molloy finished in 40th and 42nd. And rounding out the varsity team was Hunter Hill and Tyler Johnston in 65th and 117th. Climbing and gap control work paid off with the one through five runner gap for North Penn at 46 seconds to Cardinal O’Hara’s 1:32.
The season of preparation paid off and the 2011 North Penn Boys Cross Country Team are State Champions! Congratulations to the entire team from both Coach Werner and Coach Hertz.