Sunday North:
By Rich Emert,
The
"We've done OK when we've run in section meets on Tuesdays, but then
we've gone to some invitationals on Saturdays and run really well," he
said. "In between, we've had hard practices on Thursdays and the guys have
really done well in those."
The reason Davanzati hopes the trend continues is that the Tri-State Track
Coaches Association championship is Oct. 18, a Thursday, and the WPIAL
championships are Oct. 25, also a Thursday. So, running well that day of the
week could pay off with a trip to Hershey.
"It's going to be a dog fight," Davanzati said. "We're in
there but so is Latrobe, Gateway,
With junior Ben Porter leading the way,
"I thought coming into the season we'd be pretty good even though we
lost three of our top seven, including Steve Monnie and Rob Miller, our two and
three guys, from last year," Davanzati said. "I knew it would be
tough in the section with
"What has surprised me is the quality of the teams in the WPIAL this
year. We've taken a step up in the number of very good teams [in the area]. We
have a good group of kids and with the times we have been running, we should be
a lock to be the fourth team [in the WPIAL] this year, but a lot of other teams
have stepped up as well."
In Porter,
At last year's WPIAL championships, Porter was eighth and the second
sophomore to finish.
"He has a ton of ability," Davanzati said. "If he doesn't
peak early, he should be in the mix [for the WPIAL individual title]. He has a
lot of natural endurance and deceptive speed. He's right around 2 minutes in
the 800, which is pretty good."
Seniors Wayne Dailey and Logan Elias were on the varsity last season and are
not too far behind Porter. Seniors J.T. Fleming and Eric Rensel are returning
lettermen as is junior Matt Crawford. Sophomore Lance Dugger has been slowed by
a stress fracture and is working his way back. Grant Baron, another sophomore,
has also started to come on.
The deciding factor on whether the
He said the Golden Tornado has "eight or nine runners" who could
step into that No. 5 spot -- the top
"It comes down to my picking the right guys to run that day,"
Davanzati said.
One thing he is sure of, no matter whom he selects,
they will run hard. Whether they will run hard enough is another matter, but
the effort will be there.
Davanzati hasn't burned his runners out by having them compete every
weekend.
"Our dual-meet record [4-4] isn't great, but then we're in the toughest
section in the WPIAL," he said. "There are 48 teams in the WPIAL and
three of the top seven or eight are in the section. But we've done well in the
bigger meets and we've had some success.
"If the kids believe in winning and doing well, that's 50 percent of
the battle."