Current Season
2001 PIAA State Championships
Hershey
AAA Boys race photos, plus interviews with Baldwin coach Rich
Wright, state champion Dan Mazzocco, and
Ken Roseberry, head coach of state champion
Cedar Cliff.
Mazzocco
was told to take off at a mile, and that's exactly what he did.
That's Robertson and Rodgers leading the chase pack.
A short time later, Dorian McDonald
of Liberty leads the pursuit.
And
the big finish.
Coach Wright and his state champion
celebrate moments after the victory.
Baldwin
Head Coach, Rich Wright
On Dan Mazzocco's race plan:
"We're going to run the first mile with whoever the leaders
are. It doesn't make any difference who that is. At the 1600 meter
mark, he's going to start opening up because it's on a downhill.
He's going to work hard through the hills in the second mile.
Then at the very top of the hills, he's going to start rolling
and use his God-given speed over the last 1600. We feel he's one
of the fastest milers in the state, so the last mile works to
his favor. He's going to force everybody else to go faster than
their normal."
After the race:
"He built on his 11 second lead at the top of the hill, and
just maintained it down the hills as planned. This is the greatest
kid. He deserves it so much."
Dan Mazzocco,
Baldwin, AAA Boys Champion:
On the race plan and how it unfolded:
"They (the coaches) told me to sit back for the first mile
and then take off after the mile marker. They wanted me to go
on the hills. I looked back a lot because I wasn't feeling as
great as I wanted to. I put on the lead slowly. It helped me relax
more up the hills because I knew I had some leeway. I heard footsteps
on the dirt path and different parts of the course, which made
me say 'you better keep your head together, keep everything flowing.
You don't want to lose this now.' At the top of the hill, I had
a good lead, but I didn't know everybody's kick or strategy. And
I knew that Steph Madia had outkicked the girl from way out, so
I knew that anything was possible."
On his recovery from a sub-par States in 2000,
to capture the title in 2001:
"After what happened last year, I knew that I could either
beat myself or I can learn from that. If I get beaten, it's going
to be by someone who can outrun me. Last year if I wasn't leading,
I was panicking. This year's I've learned to run from behind and
do a lot more course management. This time I didn't want to let
myself lose in my head before I ran. I figured if someone outran
me, that's fine. They won that day, so you go on to the next day
and hopefully beat them then. I think the biggest difference this
year was I started getting everything in line - diet, my spiritual
life, and my relationship with my coaches."
On the influence of his coaches:
"Right now I'm trying to learn all aspects of racing. Whatever
my coaches tell me to do, I'm going to do it, because they watch
me run. They see the competition. I've always trusted them, but
when I got nervous, I went back to my own instincts. But now I
listen to them. If I don't, that breaks a bond between a coach
and an athlete. My coach wouldn't lead me the wrong way."
On the rest of the season:
"I have three more races I want to do well at, Mid-East Championships,
Northeast Foot Lockers, and hopefully, the Footlocker Championships.
I'm just trying to take one race at a time and build myself up
to the final one."
Ken Roseberry,
Head Coach, AAA Boys Champion - Cedar Cliff:
Cedar Cliff gets the news.
On team focus:
"This is the second year in a row where we picked a meet
and ran our best race at that meet. Unfortunately, last year's
was Districts. This year's was States. As an athlete, it's the
hardest thing to do, and as a coach, it's the scariest thing to
do. So when it finally happens, everybody running their best race
when they're supposed to run their best race, it's great."
On the five kids that won the title:
"They were very confident today. Philbin (Pat, 7th, a junior)
came up huge, and I think everyone fed off of that. Yinger (Jason-27th,
a junior) was outstanding because he's only been running for two
years. I wish he would have gotten a medal. Three kids in the
top 12 is incredible. And our 5th man (Sr. Jon Boal-87th) had
all the burden. He had a stress fracture in his leg. He had everything
going against him. He had the pressure of last year's finish.
For him to step it up and stay in the race is what solidified
it."
Coach
Roseberry joins the celebration.
With their trophy and medals.
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race Photo & Interview Pages -
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