The day of the WPIAL Class 3A Cross Country Championships started off rather shaky for junior Rowan Gwin. When he got to school, he discovered he had forgotten to pack his practice shoes, and he had an “uh oh” moment. He was able to rebound from the mishap, however, and went on to place 7th overall and qualify for the state championships. He will be joined by talented sophomore Ethan Vaughn, who finished 14th. The boys team, as a whole, finished 6th.
“I was hoping the team would place a little higher because they have been training and running so well, but, overall, I’m very happy with the effort they have put in all season,” says coach Tom Moul. “They are a young team, and for many of them, it was their first WPIAL championship race.”
“I’m very proud of Rowan and Ethan, not only for how well they did at WPIALs, but also because of how hard they worked all season.”
At the beginning of the summer, when the team started preparing for the season, coach Moul had hoped Rowan would finish in the top 15, but the junior had ambitions of his own.
“He set a goal for himself to be in the top seven, and he did that,” says coach Moul of Rowan, who won the section championship as an individual and led the team to its fourth consecutive section gold medal. “He is focused, a gamer, and a great leader for the younger kids.”
“I was confident going into the race because I had been running with the top group all season,” says Rowan, who clocked a 16:37 finish at WPIALs, as compared to his time last year of 17:50. “It was just a great feeling coming down the home stretch.”
He says his path to success started back in spring training for track when he decided to really focus on becoming even more competitive.
“I really bought into the program and what the coaches were saying,” Rowan says. “I started by spending a lot more time in spring training working on my hips and legs to get them stronger to hit the hills harder. It really paid off.”
Ethan’s performance also lived up to what his coach believed he could do.
“For Ethan to medal as a sophomore is great,” the coach says. “He was a surprise last year as a freshman when he became a top-5 varsity runner on a really good team. I was hoping he’d make the next jump to a top WPIAL finish, and he did just that. To medal as a sophomore and advance to states is a very big deal.”
Ethan says his biggest improvement over last year is his increased endurance.
“I’m probably able to run longer and faster this year without getting as tired,” he says. “Most of my times have dropped about a minute to a minute and a half on all courses, so I felt I had a 50/50 chance of placing high enough to advance. At WPIALs, I did try and speed up when I got to the top of the hill to get back into pace and tried to keep the people at the front (and Rowan) in my line of sight.”
Logically, superstitions have nothing to do with actual performance, but Ethan, like many athletes, is convinced that his good luck charm – fanciful socks – have something to do with how well he performs.
He humorously explains, “I first started wearing them my freshman year because I got them for Christmas as a present. They are comfortable and light, and I have done well in all of the races that I wore them, so I consider them to be my lucky racing socks. When I win a race, it’s quite funny to hear people say, ‘These kids just got beat by a kid wearing socks that have dinosaurs with Santas wearing hats.’”
Couch Moul concludes, “The next challenge for these guys is to make another statement at the PIAA meet. They’ve already established themselves as top WPIAL runners; now we want to see them do the same thing at the state meet. Rowan has run that course three times now and Ethan twice, so they both have experience. I’m excited to see what they can do next weekend.”
The PIAA championships will be held November 5 in Hershey.