Phantoms find the right balance
SCHUYLKILL >> Five senior members of the Phoenixville Area High School boys cross country team celebrated their Senior Day during ameet against UpperMerion in the final leaguemeet of the season on Oct. 13 at TCHS Pickering.
Those five Phantoms included Matt Copeland, Luke Deni, Matt LoPolito, Max Seaman and Alex Seidel.
The head coach is Justin Winters, who is in his fifth season, and his assistant coach is former Phantom distance runner Matt Chiappetta.
Phoenixville had a good pack of runners during the 2016 season, which was the first year of divisional competition in cross country in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, which now consists of 12 schools with the addition of Upper Merion and Norristown. Phoenixville was one of three schools which finished in a tie atop the Frontier Division with a 4-1 record. That matter was settled during the PAC league championshipmeet Oct. 20 at Heebner Park.
Phoenixville’s lone setback was a one-point final against Pottsgrove, which was decided by a 27-28 margin. Pope John Paul II was the other top school in Frontier boys competition.
It was decided that the team which had the best finish at the PAC meet would be named Frontier champion from among the schools involved in the three-way deadlock.
“It was so much more fun this year,” Winters said of the divisional setup that separated small schools from big schools. “Every meet wasmeaningful. It restored the competitive balance in the league. There was no one team that dominated.”
Winters felt junior Christian Schaaf was the Phantoms’ most consistent runner this season.
“The nice thing is we have a lot of guys after him,” said Winters. “It var- ies each week. Every guy matters. Different guys step up, which is nice.”
Against Upper Merion, Phoenixville won by a 1753 differential against the Vikings, .Schaafl covered the 3.1-mile course in 17:55 to earn first place.
Schaaf was followed across the finish line by junior Aaron Hin (18:13), sophomore Connor Wilchusky (18:18), Seaman (18:43), sophomore Patrick Darcy (18:44), junior Zack Kleppe (18:51), junior Jack Armstrong (18:52) and ju- nior Kerry Halloran (18:53) in the top 10 with sophomore Connor McShane (19:15) finishing just outside that group in 11th place.
“This is terrific,” said Winters. “You fully get the idea this year of the term ‘team’ at its best, and it works. There was fun throughout the season, which is nice going into the PACs. Something matterswith every runner now, and it really counts.”
Last year Sean McGinnis (High Point) and Dylan Smiley (Salisbury) provided a solid 1-2 punch to lead the way for the Phantoms, but there was a big drop after those two runners.
This year there has been a tighter group of runners, which has been the main key to the Phantoms’ successful campaign.
“That is the secret to success,” said Winters. “Last year we had a huge gap after Sean McGinnis and Dylan Smiley. You are not going to be successful that way. This year we are not that top-heavy. We don’t have that one guy who is so much better than everybody else. Overall, we are more spread out. That is why we have been so successful this year. It has helped us.”
Some other runners who contributed to Phoenixville’s meet scoring this year included freshman Gabe Puleo and junior Jared Desjardins.
Numbers have increased in the Phantoms’ cross country program during the past several years. Thirty-two boys were listed on this fall’s roster.