UNDEFEATED BOYS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM 2008
Suburban One League Champion, District One Champion
PIAA AAA STATE TEAM CHAMPION
Head Coach Ronald Jaros
Assistant Coach Ernest Perilli
Captains: Sam Bernitt and Brad Miles
Sr. Captains: Dom Camasso, Brian Kuntzman, Brian Quintrell, and Tim Stauring
Team Members in Picture:
Front Row: Alex Dello Buono, Brian Quintrell, Sam Bernitt, Brad Miles, Tim Stauring, Brian Kuntzmann, Dom Camasso
2nd Row: Nick Swan, Mike Wesolowski, Rob Gaspar, John Kim, Mike Eastlack, Brandon Rothenberger, Steve Eastlack, Mike Duggan
3rd Row: Coach Jaros, Chris Yang, Shane Cassey, Tim Sees, Jake Sapon, Tim Leslie, Coach Perilli
Team Member not in Picture: Jeff Klein
PIAA ALL STATE: 1st team Brad Miles; 2nd team Sam Bernitt
Dual Meets 11 – 0
North Penn 19 Methacton 43 North Penn 19 C.B. West 41
North Penn 15 Council Rock North 50 North Penn 18 C.B. East 41
North Penn 15 Quakertown 49 North Penn 16 Pennridge 42
North Penn 23 Hatboro Horsham 35 North Penn 15 Souderton 46
North Penn 15 C.B. South 45
Championship Meets:
1st - PIAA AAA STATE CROSS COUNTRY TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1ST - DISTRICT ONE AAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
1st- SOL NATIONAL DIVISION CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
1st - Manhattan College H.S. Invitational – Best Team of Meet Watches
1st- Salesianum Invitational
1st - C. B. East Invitational
2nd- Briarwood Invitational
2nd- Carlisle Invitational
North Penn PIAA AAA State Championship
3rd (7th) Brad Miles 39th (69th) Brian Kuntzmann
5th (10th) Sam Bernitt 59th (118st) Dom Camasso
18th (31st) Brian Quintrell 128th(235th) Alex Della Buono
27th (49th) Tim Stauring
Inducted NPAAA Hall of Fame 2015
“Underdog North Penn claims back-to-back PA State Crowns.”
How did the team with five of their top seven runners returning for the 2008 season become the underdog at the state meet? It started with the fact that they were the defending PIAA State Cross Country Champions. Secondly, from 1939 through 2007 in PIAA history, there have only been four school districts in Pennsylvania that have had back-to-back Cross Country State Championships. No pressure there.
We started the official season practice having gone through the same summer workout packet as last year. The guys were in great shape but were putting a lot of pressure on themselves by looking too far ahead. As Brian Kuntzmann put it “...we just felt the pressure trying to keep up with last year’s team and trying to make it happen again this year.” The one point loss at the Briarwood Invitational ate away at their confidence, even if it was to the number three ranked team in the Nation. The Knights were winning dual meets but not with the crushing shutouts of the previous year. Then came the 56 to 109 loss at the Carlisle Invitational to North Allegheny. Talk about being tight as a drum!
The turnaround came at a practice when we started to realize they were hitting the same workout times as last year and that the only difference was the mental side in races. That understanding showed in the next invitational. At Salesianum, North Penn scored a big win over teams from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland and lead runner Brad Miles ran the third fastest time in the history of the meet. We followed that up with another big win at the Manhattan Invitational. The Knights won their section race by placing runners Brad Miles in 1st, Brian Quintrell in 2nd, Tim Stauring in 3rd, Sam Bernitt in 4th, Dom Camasso in 9th, and Brian Kuntzmann in 12th —the second best team time of the day. Their 13:04.23 was just a few seconds off of last year’s. We were back and ready for the championships.
North Penn won their League meet with 45 points with Brad Miles in 1st, Sam Bernitt in 4th, Brian Quintrell in 7th, Dom Camasso in 14th, Brian Kuntzman in 19th, and Tim Stauring in 32nd. At the District One Championships, Brad was 6th, Sam was 7th, Brian Quintrell was 11th, Tim placed 38th, and Dom was 48th, with Brain Kuntzmann 51st.
The PIAA State Cross Country Championships were now in front of us. As one reporter put it, North Penn “…has undergone a complete metamorphosis since that late September afternoon.” She went on to describe the relaxed mood of our team and how that should be “the first indication that the rest of the state could be in trouble.” She continued “when a team with the combination of talent and historical success that North Penn possess is relaxed, there is no telling what might happen.” The Knights, ranked 13th in the MileSplit National poll, defended its PIAA title. North Penn finished with a 49 second split between its 1st and 5th runners and a team score of 92. For the second year in a row, North Penn was the only team to score under 100 points. The final team and individual placings for the state meet were as follows – Brad Miles 3rd/7th, Sam Bernitt 5th/10th, Brian Quintrell 18th/31st, Tim Stauring 27th/49th, Brian Kuntzmann 39th/69th, Dom Camasso 59th/118th, and Alex Dello Buono 128th/235th.
Many consider the District 1 Championship the most difficult in the State from which to advance and a preview of the State meet. The five state qualifying teams from District 1 finished in the top seven teams in the State meet and four of these teams are from Suburban One.
North Penn Cross Country finished its second undefeated season in a row, its first back-to-back PIAA State Championships, and another League and District 1 title.
The end of the year awards were as follows – Brad Miles -team MVP, team High Scorer, 1st Team All-State & 1st team All –League; Sam Bernitt- Rookie of the Year, 2nd team All-State & 1st team All-League; Brian Quintrell – Outstanding Senior, 1st team All-League; Dom Camasso – Coaches Award, 2nd team All-League; Brian Kuntzman – Clutch Race Award, 3rd team All-League; Tim Stauring – Coaches Award, Honorable Mention All-League; Alex DelloBuono – Outstanding Sophomore. Coaches Jaros and Perilli congratulate the entire North Penn Cross Country team on a great season.