For North Allegheny cross country team, it’s a matter of staying the course

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, September 30, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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When it comes to putting down cones, North Allegheny might be second only to PennDOT. There are always plenty lining the school’s cross county course in North Park.

“We put a ridiculous amount of cones up,” NA coach John Neff said. “There’s no way anybody is going to get lost. We make sure the kids know exactly where to go.”

Cross country is unusual among high school sports because the “playing field” changes depending on the host site. One week it’s a winding course with steep hills, and the next could be flatter and faster.

Golf has that variability, too. But in most other WPIAL sports, the dimensions of a football field, the arrangement of the bases or the height of a basketball rim is consistent.

That variability adds value to the mental preparation and strategy needed to succeed in cross country, Neff said. Seniors who’ve run a course multiple times can have an edge over first timers.

“Sometimes you get to a new course the day of a meet or the day before and you’ll walk the course,” Neff said. “We’ll talk about how, ‘When you’re in this position, this is what you’re looking at or this is what you’re thinking of.’

“Knowing a course makes you able to think of the race plan. It’s not, just, the gun goes off and let’s see what happens.”

That visualization clearly has served North Allegheny well. The girls team has won five WPIAL and five PIAA titles in a row, and the boys are three-time defending state champions.

Most cross country courses are about three miles or five kilometers in length, but each has its own personality. Neff laid out North Allegheny’s current course, and the runners follow the same path each season.

This year, the section schedule had the Tigers hosting Butler and Shaler for a tri-meet at North Park on Oct. 3.

The availability of online maps makes the design process easier, Neff said, since organizers can pinpoint an almost exact distance on a computer. Course designers still are limited by the topography of an area.

If given a blank slate, Neff said there are elements he’d combine for an ideal course.

First, a wide starting line, so every runner has a clear view, and maybe a half-mile straightaway of level grass for an unencumbered start.

There’d be some twist and turns, giving runners a chance “to beat a guy to the corner,” he said. “And there should be some up hills and down hills. Ideally, you’ve got a couple of hills that are tough, pretty much straight up.”

An ideal course would finish with a healthy straightaway, so “it turns into an old-fashioned footrace,” he said, “just to see who wants it more.”

If there were a course on NA’s schedule closest to his ideal specs, it’s probably the one used for the state championships.

“As I’m picturing it, I’m thinking of that Parkview course out in Hershey,” Neff said. “Some people complain about the hills. Some people complain about this or that. … I think it’s pretty good.”

Neff said that setting up the North Park course for an NA home meet takes about two or three hours. He called it “three miles of cones,” sometimes placed just 10 feet apart to mark a trail.

“There are times we go other places and the course is clear to the coach, but maybe not for the kid, which is what matters,” Neff said. “If the kid isn’t sure where to go, that tentativeness is going to make them not run as fast.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny