The Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy junior had a terrific season despite struggling with juvenile arthritis.
Neely Spence Gracey, a long-distance runner for adidas and the top American finisher at the 2016 Boston Marathon, writes a letter to her former self.
#10 in a Series: What makes a T&F fan? Fred Carlson AKA sverige55 and known by the teams around Pittsburgh as Mr C, was raised in Connecticut and attended Simsbury High School. As a HS athlete he ran a 4:27 mile and a 9:47 2-mile.
![\"\"](\"https://pa.milesplit.com/files/pa/features/2007/classof82/gina_02.1pfp.jpg\")
Photo: Sun Valley's Gina Procaccio leading he first 100m of the state XC Champs in 1979 at Fort Indiantown Gap, when the class of '82 were sophomores.
Publisher's Note: The PA girls' class of 2008 is special. Two Foot Locker finalists as juniors. An 800 runner who medals at states in cross country, but also competes on the national stage against world class talent as a junior in the two-lapper. Pretty rare you say? Actually, it is. But it was a PA class of girls in 1982 who wrote the record books on those events, and whose records and accomplishments this current class is chasing. In this three-part series by Neely Spence (yes, that Neely Spence), she'll introduce you to this talented group, tell you about their accomplishments, and give you some perspective on why those marks still stand.
From Part Three: After High School – “College kind of killed my spirit; in high school I had the whole package… the coach, the team, the support. In college, I also had a great coach, but I really didn’t feel the same as I did in high school. Everyone on my team was great individually, but we never really worked together, we just competed.”
Photo: Sun Valley's Gina Procaccio leading he first 100m of the state XC Champs in 1979 at Fort Indiantown Gap, when the class of '82 were sophomores.
Publisher's Note: The PA girls' class of 2008 is special. Two Foot Locker finalists as juniors. An 800 runner who medals at states in cross country, but also competes on the national stage against world class talent as a junior in the two-lapper. Pretty rare you say? Actually, it is. But it was a PA class of girls in 1982 who wrote the record books on those events, and whose records and accomplishments this current class is chasing. In this three-part series by Neely Spence (yes, that Neely Spence), she'll introduce you to this talented group, tell you about their accomplishments, and give you some perspective on why those marks still stand.
From Part Three: After High School – “College kind of killed my spirit; in high school I had the whole package… the coach, the team, the support. In college, I also had a great coach, but I really didn’t feel the same as I did in high school. Everyone on my team was great individually, but we never really worked together, we just competed.”
From Part Two: Their Senior Year – The shock from that victory was the impetus that propelled her training the next few weeks with one goal in mind for her first national showing. “ I wanted to win Kinney,” said Lois Brommer after her then all time best 17:04.7 at Van Cortlandt Park. (now all time #2).
From Part One: The Early Years – “She had one foot in High School and one in the world. All her training was based on a long-term scale. We were thinking not this race or even next year… eight years from now!” - Jack Fuery, Kim Gallagher's Upper Dublin coach.
Photo: Lynne Strauss, State College (l) and Lois Brommer, Mechanicsburg, in the XC state champs in 1980 at Lehigh.
![\"\"](\"https://pa.milesplit.com/files/pa/features/2007/classof82/gina_03.1pfp.jpg\")
Publisher's Note (Don Rich): The PA girls' class of 2008 is special. Two Foot Locker finalists as juniors. An 800 runner who medals at states in cross country, but also competes on the national stage against world class talent as a junior in the two-lapper. Pretty rare you say? Actually, it is. But it was a PA class of girls in 1982 who wrote the record books on those events, and whose records and accomplishments this current class is chasing. In this three-part series by Neely Spence (yes, that Neely Spence), she'll introduce you to this talented group, tell you about their accomplishments, and give you some perspective on why those marks still stand.
From Part Two: Their Senior Year – The shock from that victory was the impetus that propelled her training the next few weeks with one goal in mind for her first national showing. “ I wanted to win Kinney,” said Lois Brommer after her then all time best 17:04.7 at Van Cortlandt Park. (now all time #2).
From Part One: The Early Years – “She had one foot in High School and one in the world. All her training was based on a long-term scale. We were thinking not this race or even next year… eight years from now!” - Jack Fuery, Kim Gallagher's Upper Dublin coach
![\"\"](\"http://www.penntrackxc.com/jpgs/xc2007/preview/083007_boys_01fp.jpg\")
In AA, it was a senior sweep of the top 10 in 2006, making Terrence Lee of Engineering & Science the top returner. West Middlesex will get some challenges along the way to a repeat AA title. In AAA, North Allegheny is strong on paper, AND they have the focus this year to finish the job in Hershey. Vince McNally of Conestoga Valley and Chris Aldrich of West Chester Henderson are the individual class of AAA. The 2007 AA and AAA Boys preview...
Includes top returning individuals and teams with elite performances in 2006