National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Week ending Oct. 12, 2013

The Unionville girls after winning the Eastern States race at Manhattan. Photo by John Nepolitan.

The girls of Unionville HS in Pennsylvania have been becoming more and more dominant in their home state as the program gets stronger and increasingly mature.  But now in 2013, the rest of the country is really finding out what they’re all about under Coach Mark Lacianca.  Already considered one of the best teams in the region and a national threat (preseason US#11 at DyeStat.com), Unionville has gained national headlines by twice beating 7-time defending national champion Fayetteville-Manlius in New York, first at the Sept. 28 McQuaid Invite and then last weekend at the Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational.

The Eastern States race was most telling, with the season having advanced and considering the depth of the competition with national class teams from throughout the region and beyond.  It’s fitting that, for the first time, Unionville is planning to make a push for the NXN Finals in Portland.  It’s no surprise, though, that Coach Lacianca (photo at right, with some of team, photo by Gregory Stanczuk) would have waited until this year to open that door.  His plans for long-term development of student-athletes are all about what’s best for a group of girls who are loyal first to the state campaign, and what’s best for them in the long run as he tries to instill in them a lifelong love for running, in balance with the rest of life.

A few thoughts from Coach Lacianca:

On the triumphs at McQuaid and Manhattan (Eastern States), and the weeks in-between:  We actually practiced better than we raced for those two weeks.  Any time we race, I am always worried about us “getting out” of a race at 100 percent.  I don't worry about the effort with this group; they know and prove every day in practice that they can get the most out of their ability.  Emily Fisher (senior co-captain), no excuses, was not 100 percent at Manhattan, but we were very proud of the program for being able to pull out a victory.  We know that F-M will get better (as will others) and we need to continue to improve and run on “all cylinders” if we are going to be fortunate to beat them again.

On the historical development of the program in recent years to get where they are this fall:  We have been fortunate to be very good for over a decade now.  We are a smaller school (320 per class) and the talent comes in waves.  We work very hard to help our athletes develop each year and to love the sport of running.  We have always had a very good runner and some very good teams (including the state championship team in 2004), but this year everything has come together.  I have not had to keep emotions in check or motivate any more or less than in previous years.  The meets take care of themselves, these girls are competitive.  The team and program were in place and everyone has helped each other reach their potential.

On the leadership of the team coming into this year and the depth that has developed that has made this team really special:  Courtney Smith has been our running leader since she stepped onto the XC team her sophomore year, but she has really turned into quite a leader with this current team.  Courtney's (and Emily's) progression is what I am really proud of at Unionville.  The team has been business as usual, and the way Courtney and Emily conduct themselves has set the correct tone.
We knew about our top 5 in June – our 4th and 5th runners going into the summer were Gretchen Mills and Bridgette Zerbe – and I was convinced they could compete for a state championship.  But the additions of Kacie Breeding and Elizabeth Edwards have really put us over the top.  Once Kacie and Elizabeth proved to be #4 and 5, with the way our team was running, we have proven to have something special.  It is always fun to see new runners get excited about the sport and they are two great examples of athletes who had no idea that they could run at this level.  Gretchen and Bridgette have both been instrumental in helping push and provide structure for them at practice. 

On passing up NXN Northeast in the past and what’s in store this fall:  We decided in 2012 not to go to NXN and to put everything into the state meet.  We ended up having one of our stars (Olivia Young) come down with a stress fracture in early October 2012 and she raced with limited running at a high level.  However, we knew we were young and fragile, and the gap between the PA State Meet and NXN was too long.  I am not real comfortable peaking for states and then trying to keep the team running at a high level for another 4 or 5 weeks.  We always do what is best for the team and we have had a couple of other years where I think we could have qualified for NXN.
But I think by last May we knew we were really good and experienced, and the NXN run was going to happen in 2013.  This year our team is strong enough and mature enough that we decided to go for it and run through the state meet on November 2nd.  We pushed back all of our workouts a month and did more base training.  We will treat the state meet as if they were the Penn Relays and be ready to compete.  The rooms are booked for regionals and we believe we are ready to earn a spot in Portland if we stay healthy.