PIAA State Championship:

Nobody Beats the Knights!

Leading up to 2002, North Penn was labeled as an 800 meter runner’s paradise. Year after year, Dick Swanker would construct a 4x800m relay team that continually challenged Pennsylvania’s elite schools for the state title. State Relay titles, school records, and individual contributions at the state and national level were not uncommon for the North Penn Track and Field team. However, 2002 was shaping up to be a special season and not just because of a single relay.

The 2002 season, would bring the return of state and district senior point scorers Steve Craig, Dan Michael, Zach Thomas, and Kevin Zeblium, along with promising Juniors Rick Bennett, Matt Henderson, and Adam Thomas. Steve & Dan had shown their versatility in the mid distance events with the ability to compete in the 400m to the 1600m in previous seasons. Zach Thomas was a state contender in the hurdles and Matt Henderson was an all around threat in the sprints. While the outlook for the team going into the 2002 season was optimistic, the team’s mission didn’t take shape until the 2002 Penn Relays.

The Penn Relays is always one of the highlights of any track season, and 2002 didn’t disappoint. The team of Matt Henderson, Adam Thomas, Dan Michael, and Steve Craig won the Championship of America in the Distance Medley Relay, something no other team in school history had accomplished, while also setting a school record of 10:17.47. In the 4x800m Championship of America race the relay team of Rick Bennett, Dan Michael, Adam Thomas, and Steve Craig were the 1st American Team to cross the finish line. The 4x400m team of Steve Craig, Dan Michael, Kevin Akins, and anchored by standout Matt Henderson finished 1st in the Philadelphia area schools race. Lastly, the 4x100m Relay Team of Mike Penn, Zach Thomas, and Kevin Zeblium, also anchored by Henderson took 4th in their heat setting a new school record of 42.5 seconds! The Knights performance at the 2002 Penn Relays was described as North Penn’s “strongest team performance at the Penn Relays in school history,” and with such a depth of success it certainly brought into focus the bigger mission for the 2002 Knights Track and Field season.

A state team title for North Penn Track Field was an honor only achieved by one other North Penn Track and Field team, the 1981 Boys Team. It had been over two decades since the North Penn Track and Field team had celebrated the success of a State team title. With the momentum from the Penn Relays, the Knights polished off the regular season undefeated in dual meets, 7-0 (at the time North Penn was in the midst of an undefeated dual meet streak that started in 1995). The Knights then captured their 7th consecutive Suburban One Patriot League crown with no issue. The next hurdle was the District 1 Championships at Coatesville High School.
If North Penn was going to be a contender for a State Team Title, the District 1 Championship was as good a place as any to test it out. Glen Mills had dominated the District One meet with 7 consecutive championships. In the year prior (2001), after a disappointing loss in the 4x400, the Knights finished 5th as a team walking off the track to the infamous Glen Mills chant, “Nobody beats the Bulls!” However, 2002 proved to be different than 2001. Steve Craig and Dan Michael dominated the 800 meters and 4x800m relay. Matt Henderson & Kevin Akins scored in the 200 meters and were key cogs in their respective 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Zach Thomas scored in the hurdles and Kevin Zeblium placed in the 100 meters. After two long days, North Penn was triumphant for the first time in over 10 years with a 12 point victory over 2nd place Glen Mills. And so began the chant, “Nobody beats the Knights!”

There was still one more rung on the ladder though, Shippensburg University, the 2002 PIAA AAA State Championship Meet. The bus departed with 12 guys;
Kevin Akins, Rick Bennett, Steve Craig, Tim Heebner, Matt Henderson, Matt Krum, Mike Macksoud, Dan Michael, Mike Penn, Adam Thomas, Zach Thomas, Kevin Zeblium

Each played their part, Zach Thomas took 4th in the 110M Hurdles, Matt Henderson placed 3rd in the 200m Dash, and all three North Penn relay teams (4x100—3rd (Mike Penn, Zach Thomas, Kevin Zeblium, Matt Henderson), 4x400—3rd (Steve Craig, Dan Michael, Tim Heebner, Kevin Akins, Matt Henderson) , and 4x800—1st (Rick Bennett, Matt Krum, Adam Thomas, Dan Michael, Steve Craig) placed in the top three. Going into the last race of the day, the Knights trailed Cumberland Valley and Altoona in the overall team standings by 3 points. If North Penn was going to hang a banner on the wall in 2002 they would need a 5th place finish or better in the 4x400m relay to win the team title. In what was a very tight race, the last race for many of the team members, the 4x400m relay team of Steve Craig, Dan Michael, Kevin Akins, and anchor leg Matt Henderson managed to squeeze out a 3rd place finish in a school record time to clinch the state title. 3rd place never felt so great! We did it…STATE CHAMPIONS!