National Championship and 2011 Season Wrap Up

Men’s Team

What an amazing season we had in 2011. Our team largely operated as a dark horse for most of the season proving at each meet that we belonged at the national championship in Oshkosh, WI. With great leadership from our upperclassmen, key transfer students bolstering our roster, and some outstanding performances from freshmen and developing underclassmen we are continuing the excellent tradition that has been made here for our men’s team.

Senior Pat McLaughlin

Without a doubt this was one of the most fun seasons I have ever been a part of. It is truly a life altering experience to be around a group of people that are focused on becoming better. Pat McLaughlin, our lone senior in the top 7, had the season of his college career. He was a solid performer all season long and ran his second best performance of the season at the national championship.  I couldn’t be more proud of Pat for all the work he puts in to his running and am even more impressed with all of the little things pat does off the course to prepare for race day. Our team will definitely miss him next year but with freshmen standouts Alex Simon and James Rynes working hard to improve I believe we will be back at NCAA’s next Fall.

It makes me feel good as a coach to know that our team can foster growth in its freshman enough so that they can earn their spots at the national meet. I was surprised as any to find two freshmen in the top seven who made a staggering amount of progress in one season in large part due to the competitive nature of the team and our leaders on it. These men are perfect examples of “putting the hard work in and getting great results out.”

All-American Bobby Over

Also new to the ACXC program this year were Bobby Over and Kevin Edwards. These guys made such a positive impact to the culture this year here at Allegheny. Each day they put in the effort to earn their spots on top of the team. Bobby, Mid-East Regional Champion & All-American, was only the second Allegheny runner ever to win a regional title. While also serving as an office assistant for the team Bobby has impacted almost every facet of our program here and I am truly grateful.  Kevin’s continual competitive nature and addiction to finding the “best wings in Meadville” attitude has made the team come together and keep the worries of competition at bay all season long. 

The last group of the nationals crew, Mike Vlah and Jack Denison, played such a crucial part of our squad almost every single race we have been in during 2011. As the 4 and 5 man for most of the season a ton of pressure was added to these guys and they have all the respect in the world from me for it. It is not easy to ask a guy who has improved his time by almost two and a half minuets to race faster than he ever has at each meet but we did from Jack. He handled the pressure about as well as anyone could have and finished his season with his second best race at 8k ever.

As happy as I was about our top 7 guys achieving a 24^th place finish at the National Championship this I was equally encouraged by the men that didn’t have the opportunity to run at the meet. Seniors Jack Conant and Greg Eyer fought tooth and nail at every meet to be in the top 7 and I credit their efforts to helping our freshmen progress and making our 5-7 men tougher. A staggering amount of progress was made this year by returning men Tom DeAcentis, Evan Breitsch, and Lance Claflin. You guys are playing an important role in the future success of ACXC. I am looking forward to seeing all of you battle next year for top 7 spots. In almost every season the injury/illness bug bites some people and our few guys Don, Brennan, and Ray pulled the short straw this year. However, unlike most people who would just throw their season away each of these guys battled their very best to comeback. Pool workouts, relentless months of boring easy runs, slow intervals, and having to rest are all things straight out of an endurance athlete’s nightmare, and each of these guys made it though becoming better for it and some gaining knowledge of how to best approach a season in the future.

I just want to thank all of you guys for an incredible season this year. It is seasons like these that fuel me to become a better coach and make me love the sport even more. I am looking forward to the 2012 season and many more Wing Nights.

Women’s Team

Kristina Martin

What a crazy ride the 2011 season had in store for our ladies team. Amidst injury and illness we came out on top in our season with a higher finish in the Mid-East region, Academic All-American accolades, and had our first women competitor at the NCAA championships in 5 years! You ladies made it extremely easy to come to work each day with your lighthearted/easy going attitude and strong determination to get better. At times I know it was rough making it through some meets but we are better for it. You ladies didn’t look at any of the negatives around you and continued with the season knowing everything was going to be OK.

It was a fantastic year for dominating performances and story book comebacks. Kristina Martin, you killed it all year! It would be tough to find another sophomore with a consistent dominating year as you have had in 2011. Your incredible work ethic and strength are going to continue being your best assets as we get you to the NCAA Track Championships this Spring. Fantastic job making to XC NCAA’s and competing in your first national race. While you may not have gotten the results you wanted I can assure you that you will never forget your first shot at the big show!

Kelly and Suzanna your comebacks are inspirational. I know being hit with the injury/illness bug is the worst thing that can happen to you during a season but you made me proud to be your coach the way you to made it back for the post season. All of the pool workouts were worth it ladies. Congrats Kelly on your best finish at the NCAA Regional meet in your career! You leadership was invaluable this year. Way to show the ladies that hard work pays off.

The freshmen crew! Alex, Andy, and Marissa: Thank you so much for infecting this team with laughter and your hard efforts this Fall. You guys made each day enjoyable and your performances this year were awesome. You are going to help bring this team back to the NCAA meet! With ladies like you our future is looking great.

Our lone senior Amber Wetzel: You will be extremely missed. My biggest regret of the season will be not being able to convince you to run Track in the spring! Your calm and collected attitude before races helped all of the ladies this year and your solid performances help get our team back in the top 10 in the region. Thank you for an incredible four years of hard work. We will never forget you or your parkour skills. 

Some of the team who made the trip to Nationals

Ladies, I will never be able to thank you enough for the laughs and letting me be your running partner. I can't wait to hit the roads with you in 2012.