By Alex Frazier
When Zack Montijo and Zach Hoagland, two of North Penn’s top three runners graduated last year, coach Ron Jaros hardly expected to produce an even better team this year.
But that’s just what happened.
On Nov. 1, the Knights defended their PIAA state title, defeating second place LaSalle, 92-125, with North Allegheny a close third with 126 points.
Heading into the competition, the Knights were especially worried about North Allegheny, who had beaten them at the Carlisle Invitational.
In retrospect, that may have been a good thing.
As senior Brian Kuntzmann explained, “We were thinking way too much at the beginning of the season about winning states again and how we have to come out swinging real hard.
“We were looking too far ahead too fast. That was our mistake. We realized that at Carlisle. That’s when we realized we have to slow down and take it one race at a time. We packed it up. Even in practice we tried to stay together.”
LaSalle, ironically, wasn’t as much a concern for North Penn because the Knights had beaten the Explorers several times at invitationals during the season.
“You never know what’s going to happen on any individual day on any different course,” said Jaros. “We knew this was a tough course, had a lot of hills, but then we ran well at Salesianum, which is very similar.”
Kuntzmann noted that Salesianum was a turning point in the season.
“That was the first invitational where we really stepped up,” he said. “That was the first one we won and did well at.”
Kuntzmann, as it turned out, played a huge and unexpected role in the Knights’ second crown.
As a junior, Kuntzmann didn’t have a very good state meet. He came down with a sinus infection at the league meet and battled that the next two weekends. On top of that, 400 meters into the state race, a runner went down in front of him, and he had to summersault over him.
“It was a really tight start,” he said. “You can’t see a step in front of you. Luckily I was able to keep going.”
He ended up as North Penn’s seventh runner, finishing 135th with a time of 17:30.
But this year, he blistered the very tough revised Hershey course to finish as North Penn’s fifth runner, 69th overall in 17:20. Teammate Tim Stauring edged him for fourth by just 10 seconds.
“He had a great race,” said Jaros. “He really made up for all his problems last year, and he was having a tough time all year this year. He finally broke through at the meet and put in his best race of the season. It made the difference between having a minute spread and a 49-second spread. It probably saved us 10-12 points.”
“I felt really good,” said Kuntzmann. “The hills helped me. We’ve been training real hard. Getting on a hilly course really helped give me an advantage over some other people. I used the hills to pass as many people as I could. That’s what made me race so well.”
As expected, Brad Miles led the Knights with a seventh place finish in 16:31.
Newcomer Sam Bernitt was another big surprise for North Penn. A year ago he was running on the soccer field. But when he posted a 4:35 mile in spring track, Kuntzmann and some of his teammates convinced Bernitt to run cross country.
“We told him to come out for summer workouts and he did,” said Kuntzmann. “He said he definitely thinks it’s the right choice. He’s not going back to soccer.”
Bernitt turned out to be a major addition, as he became the Knights’ No. 2 runner. At states, he finished 10th in 16:36.
Last year’s team had three fast runners and then a break to the next two or three. This year, the Knights made up for the loss of two of their fastest runners by running a tighter pack, 49 seconds compared to 1:07 last year. North Penn’s first two runners finished ahead of North Allegheny’s, proving to be a big difference.
“It was a pretty tight group for the type of course it was,” said Jaros. “They had a really great race. They came there a lot more relaxed. They were ready to have a good race at states.”
North Penn’s runners are still deciding if they will run a couple of post-season races such as the Footlocker and Nike Regional meets.
If they do, it will be on their own as the PIAA does not sanction schools competing in post-season events.
Kuntzmann is hoping his good cross country finish will propel him toward a career in college, very possibly at Vermont.
“I was looking at their times and I talked to the coach,” he said. “He told me I was definitely a contender for the team and I would definitely fit in.”
The University of New Hampshire and Delaware are also possibilities.
He’ll keep tuned up by running winter and spring track.
“I run because it’s fun,” said Kuntzmann. “I’m not a totally competitive person. I like to compete, but I like to run.”
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