State College boys cross country earns first state title in nearly four decades. ‘It’s surreal’
State College’s boys cross country brought home its first team state title in 38 years Saturday evening.
The Little Lions won the PIAA Class 3A State Boys Championship held at Hershey, with two runners finishing in the top five, two more in the top 25 and two more in the top 55.
Head coach Rebecca Donaghue said earning the title was a special moment for her team.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Donaghue said with a laugh. “But it’s surreal that they have finally done something that hasn’t been done in so long. And it’s incredible to do it in Pennsylvania. It’s one of the best states for cross country in the entire country. It’s a competitive state. And to do that is quite remarkable. They’ve been doing it all season long. I told them just keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ve been right on path to this goal all season long.”
Making the win even more special for the school is that the top two finishers are brothers — senior Isaac Oppermann and sophomore Theo Oppermann.
Isaac finished in fourth, one second ahead of Theo, who finished fifth. The brothers have pushed each other all season and helped set the pace for the team.
“To be led by two brothers is pretty unique,” Donaghue said. “They really push each other. They’ve been pushing each other, and it’s a healthy push, from the time they both were on the team together. They have brought that push to the entire team, and they’ve all been right there shooting for that common goal for a long time. This group of boys is incredibly special, and that’s what it really takes to win a state title, is a really special group.”
Those two make up two of the top seven that finished in the top 70, with four of the runners being seniors (Isaac Oppermann, Owen Coughlin, Stephen Fowler and Griffin Selber) and three being sophomores (Theo Oppermann, Luke Bradbury and Kyle Fritzsche).
And while the state title came this season, the groundwork for it was laid last year when the group finished third at states. That came despite it being the first year the school had combined the boys and girls cross country teams, creating a drastic change in coaching.
Donaghue said that was when she realized what the team was capable of doing.
“We’ve been seeing it for over a year,” she said. “Last year was incredible as well. It was just about a transition year, learning what kind of training they can respond best to and the big race mentality and the experience, we were learning about that with this group last year. And for them to be third last year was remarkable. ... The second they finished the state meet last year, we knew they were hungry for more.”
This does not have to be a one-off for the team, either. Four of the top seven runners will be graduating, but the other three will still have two years of running left to do in high school.
Theo Oppermann and Bradbury were two of the top three finishers this year and could be at the forefront of next year’s team, too. There’s plenty of reason to believe Donaghue and her team will stay competitive at the state level in a state that produces plenty of cross country talent.
“They’re definitely hungry to do it again,” she said. “We can already see it in the talk afterward and we see the upperclassmen guiding — and they’re the best role models. The younger ones are really looking up to them. I can really see it. You can see that they’re hungry to do that again. It’s pretty exciting.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 9:36 AM.
