Cross Country, Track
Favorite athlete: Meb Keflezighi
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Qualifying for States at Districts
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Someone let a big crayfish bite them, and they bled after a long run.
Music on iPod: The Orwells, Arcade Fire, Alt-j, Grouplove
Future plans: Studying Environmental Engineering
Words to live by: “If you don’t build your dreams, someone will hire you to help build theirs.”
One goal before turning 30: To run a marathon
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m an avid biker.
By DENNY DYROFF
You wouldn’t think that eating Weiner Schnitzel and bratwurst or watching a World Cup soccer game on a huge screen in a town square would have a negative effect on a local high school cross country runner’s season -- but in some ways it did.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a major setback for Pennridge senior Phil Gunderson. The Rams’ top runner made it all the way to this year’s state championship meet -- if only by the skin of his teeth.
Most cross country runners devote the entire summer building a base and getting ready for the fall season. Gunderson trained hard last summer. But, he did take some time off for a trip to Germany.
“I got to do an exchange program,” said Gunderson. “We applied for it a year-and-a-half ago. During the school year in the spring, some German students came over here for three weeks. Then, we went over to Nuremberg for three weeks this summer.
“We left for Germany on June 21 and came back July 14. I didn’t have much time to do any running then, so my training took a hit. I never did catch up to where I would have been -- but it wasn’t bad.”
Gunderson’s trip to Deutschland centered in Nuremberg but also included visits to Rodenberg, the Herrenchiemsee Castle and Munich.
“I stayed with a host family -- Vincent Vanzetta’s family,” said Gunderson. “In Nuremberg, we saw where they held the trials. We went to the Nazi Rally Grounds and got to stand where Hitler stood on the balcony. We also visited the Imperial Castle and a lot of very ornate churches.
“We were in Germany during the World Cup, and they had a giant TV screen in the town square where fans would gather to watch Germany play. On one of the days, we watched the game between Germany and the United States. So, there was a bit of a conflict.
“We also watched the World Cup final there (a 1-0 win by Germany over Argentina in the Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil). Everybody went crazy when Germany won. It was a pretty neat experience.”
The trip also gave Gunderson a good opportunity to practice his German.
“I’ve been taking German in school for four years now,” said Gunderson, who is one of the top academic students in his class. “It was tough to understand because the Germans speak so quickly but I did all right. I did better when I was speaking rather than trying to understand what was being said.”
Even though his trip to Bavaria set his cross country season back a little, Gunderson still had a season most runners only dream about. He finished the season by running at the PIAA Class AAA Championships in Hershey.
Qualifying for the state meet took place at the District One Class AAA Championships, which were held October 24 at Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus. The top five teams qualified as a team along with the top 25 non-team finishers.
“Phil is a good runner,” said Pennridge coach Terry Permar. “He’s a strength runner. The big story is that he made states. He finished 38that districts and was the last qualifier. It’s a really big deal because we didn’t think he’s make states. But, lo and behold, he did.”
There was a large group of runners finishing very close together from the mid-30s to the mid-40s with very little time separating them. Gunderson was 38that 16:29 -- just behind Harriton’s Jonah Gillespie-Sickman at 16:29 and the Bensalem duo of Alex Ramirez and Tyj Mays, both of whom crossed at 16:28.
A number of other runners were nipping at Gunderson’s heels, including Central Bucks West’s Declan McDonald and Pennsbury’s Alek Sauer (16:31), Conestoga’s Nick Cruickshank and Downingtown West’s Ryan Barton (16:32) and Harriton’s Liam Boyes (16:33).
‘”The day of districts, I was just trying to get myself psyched up for the race,” said Gunderson. “It was maybe my last race so I was just jamming out on the bus -- listening to ‘Elephant’ by Tame Impala.
“I was running well during the race. Coming into the last mile, I was 43rdor 44th. I just kicked it in coming out of the cornfield. I like to think it was my best kick of the year. I’m not much of a speed runner, so I started my kick with a half mile to go and started reeling some guys in.
“In the last 200 meters, I was coming up on some guys and passed two or three of them at the end. I really didn’t know how close I was to making the state cut. Even after the finish, I didn’t know.
“I kept running back and forth from our tent to where they were posting the results. It was a nail-biter. Finally, they posted the results. When I saw that I had qualified for states, I was ecstatic. It was my senior year so making states was my goal. Still, it was kind of unexpected.”
Or, as they would say in Nuremberg -- zur Überraschung aller (“to the surprise of everyone”).
“States was a great experience,” said Gunderson. “It was a great way to finish a senior season.”
Permar has been impressed with not only Gunderson’s athletic skills but also his versatility.
“Phil is a pretty active guy,” said Permar. “He plays trombone in the band. On the weekend of districts, he had to be in the Homecoming Court at the football game and he was also in a parade.
“He’s on student council. He just got the scholar-athlete award for the fall for the highest GPA. He’s as smart as a whip.”
Gunderson’s resume includes four years running track and cross country, three years on the school’s debate team, four years on the school’s Executive Council, two years in the National Honor Society, four years playing in Pennridge’s symphonic band and four playing in the school’s jazz band.
“A friend convinced me to join the debate team when I was a sophomore,” said Gunderson. “We have four debates a year at different schools. We’ve had two already -- one at Pennridge and one at Catasauqua -- and two to go.
“I play trombone on the jazz band at school and euphonium in the symphonic band. I’ve played both instruments since I was in fourth grade.”
Maybe some time in the future, Gunderson will be playing the euphonium in a German oompah band. Until then, he has a lot of studying and running left to do.
“I plan on being an engineering major in college but I haven’t decided where yet,” said Gunderson. “I want to study bio-environmental engineering.”
The Pennridge senior’s college list is an impressive one and includes Bucknell, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
