On Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, the State College Boys Cross Country Team traveled across the country to compete at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon. Out of 22 teams from across the country, the Little Lions placed eighth with a score of 257, one point shy of seventh place.
The leading runners for State College were the Oppermann brothers, senior Isaac and sophomore Theo. Isaac Oppermann finished 43rd with a time of 16:09.5 and Theo Oppermann came in right behind him in 44th with a time of 16:09.9. The rest of the team included seniors Owen Coughlin, Stephen Fowler, and Griffin Selber, along with sophomores Luke Bradbury and Kyle Fritzsche
To reach the national stage, the team won the PIAA State Championship for the first time since 1986. Then, the team placed second at Nike Cross Country Regionals, punching their ticket to Portland.
“It was a great experience for me personally, I think all of us on the team had a great experience as well. It was just fun to interact with other kids from the other teams,” Theo Opperman said.
While the results were positive, State High’s road to success was never easy.
“Everything’s not all sunshine and rainbows, you know, like we all really do like each other, but we’re also like not afraid to get in each other’s face if we’re slacking off,” Coughlin said.“They will make sure that you know that you could be doing more and I think it really builds just like a competitiveness within the team to be better but it’s not like an arrogant kind of thing. It’s more just like everyone’s trying to lift each other up, and as a result of that, you can see kind of what we put together this year.”
Coughlin also discussed the future of the program and how it could continue to improve in the coming years. With three sophomore competitors, the team has time to grow and improve.
“I really think we’re setting a lot of other kids up who were watching us from their TV [to think] ‘I was to do greater things and have much better team performance in the future years.’ I think State is gonna be very, very good and this was just the start of something that’ll build up for many years to come,” Coughlin said. “I think we have a lot of young talent on the team that’s just really hungry and would love to go there.”
In addition to the race, there is also the surreal experience of being 2,000 miles from home and competing on the national stage.
“There [were] a lot of great experiences,” Theo Oppermann said. “I would say going to see all the places was cool, but I don’t think anything will beat just being on that start line in the mud and the cold rain and just being there with our team and like just like preparing to be aggressive. Even though it’s like probably one of those stressful moments, it [is] also like that’s what makes it so fun.”
The future looks bright for the Boys Cross Country Team as they reached the national stage for the first time this winter. The team hopes to continue their momentum next season and will continue training during the offseason.
