Standing the test of time: Southmoreland graduate Dugan still holds PIAA records
Jim Downey | 无毛视频-Standard
Southmoreland无毛视频檚 Chris Dugan walks with his shoes in hand after completing the 1,600 on a hot afternoon in the 1997 PIAA Class AA Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg无毛视频檚 Seth Grove Stadium. Dugan finished second by .31 seconds as he attempted to double in the distances after winning the 3,200 in a state record time of 9:04.09. The mark still stands 25 years later.
Submitted photo
Southmoreland graduate Chris Dugan earned All-American honors in cross country, steeplechase, outdoor track and indoor track at North Carolina State.
Submitted photo
Southmoreland graduate Chris Dugan competes in the steeplechase for North Carolina State.
Southmoreland High School cross country and track star Chris Dugan is one of the most celebrated runners to come out of Western Pennsylvania. His career almost never happened.
无毛视频淚 had an older brother and we were growing up, we didn无毛视频檛 have a ton of opportunities back in the early 1980s, so soccer was one of the few programs that we got interested in very early,无毛视频� Dugan recalled. 无毛视频淚 played a lot of soccer with my brother and we did some baseball in the spring. We were close to a park with a field and we played a lot of sports at the park.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檇 always run a little bit here and there, and my dad used to run road races back in the 1980s and when I was about seven or eight I wanted to try it. I ran with one of my neighbor无毛视频檚 sons, who was a lot older, and I enjoyed the competition aspect of it. After a couple of races, I was doing really well. But, it was always an individualistic sport. Celebrating individual wins was great, but I missed the team aspect.
无毛视频淚t was a tough transition when they talked me into cross country and track. As it turn out, it was pretty good. Cross country was my first opportunity as a freshman. I was doing a run before I went to soccer practice and working out constantly. I trained a little more in the winter. When I finished my freshman year I ran a 4:30 mile and that was like okay, and I got fourth in the WPIAL.
无毛视频淭hat was a really fast time. Now you put yourself out there and now you无毛视频檝e got to back it up. Now I无毛视频檝e got to keep going with this. Let无毛视频檚 see if I can build upon it because not everybody can run this fast.无毛视频�
It was the start of a great career at Southmoreland. Dugan was the first boy to win three consecutive PIAA cross country championships. He won his titles in Class AA from 1994-96. Dugan also won three 1,600-meter and two 3,200-meter titles at the PIAA track championships.
无毛视频淭here wasn无毛视频檛 as much depth at the Class AA level,无毛视频� Dugan said. 无毛视频淕oing into my senior year I wanted to break the record and go under 9:00 in the 3,200 and I didn无毛视频檛 do it that day, but I knew I had to pace myself because I was running by myself the majority of the race. It无毛视频檚 much more enjoyable to race against somebody rather than try to race the clock and make certain splits.无毛视频�
Dugan still holds the PIAA record in the 3,200 of 9:04.09 that he set in 1997. He also finished second in the 1,600 by .31 seconds to Scranton Prep无毛视频檚 Tom Zukowski later in the day.
无毛视频淎ctually I have a buddy that went to Mt. Lebanon that I used to train with,无毛视频� Dugan stated. 无毛视频淗e sent me a text and said your record held another year. It无毛视频檚 amazing that the record is still in place, but it无毛视频檚 just a matter of time until someone breaks it.无毛视频�
The late Don Gilpin was Dugan无毛视频檚 coach at Southmoreland and had an impact on Dugan.
无毛视频淗e had vast track and cross country experience,无毛视频� Dugan offered. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檇 say more track experience, but he understood training a guy like Sam Bair at a distance level and having those additional understandings of competing in college athletics. At the time it was the right level of not over doing it too much. He allowed me to grow into myself and not run too many miles at too young of an age.无毛视频�
Dugan was on the small size for a freshman in high school, but filled out as he got older.
无毛视频淚 probably topped out at 5-11, I had a growth spur over the freshman year,无毛视频� Dugan said. 无毛视频淚 got longer and lanky. I grew into doing five or seven miles as a freshman and by the time I was a senior it was 50 miles a week.无毛视频�
When Dugan graduated from Southmoreland in 1997 he sifted through various college scholarship offers.
无毛视频淚 was pretty heavily recruited,无毛视频� Dugan explained. 无毛视频淗ow did I wind up at North Carolina State? Sam Bair, the great Scottdale distance runner, one of his track teammates from college was Rollie Geiger, who was and still is the head coach at NC State, and Bair sent him a tape of me freshman and sophomore year and said take a look at this kid. At the time I knew nothing of N.C. State. That was the connection.
无毛视频淚t turned out to be a great move. I came in with very high expectations. I thought I无毛视频檇 be a little more successful right out the door. It didn无毛视频檛 happen that way, but I finished at N.C. State with five All-American certificates, two in cross country, two in the steeplechase and outdoor track, and one indoors.
无毛视频淲hen I graduated from high school, I went to a camp in Oregon and ran the steeplechase there in nine minutes, 30 seconds. That was one of the top five times in the country for a high school runner. That无毛视频檚 a little deceiving because not many schools run the event, but I guess that got some people无毛视频檚 attention. Then I went to college and just kept running it.无毛视频�
After graduating from N.C. State, Dugan stepped away from running.
无毛视频淲hen I graduated I无毛视频檇 been running competitively from about my sophomore year in high school, but unlike a lot of the guys when I got to N.C. State I was competing into July and August,无毛视频� Dugan said. 无毛视频淚t was a never-ending cycle and mentally I was drained. I took a break and tried to get a job. I just worked laying cables and side jobs landscaping.
无毛视频淎 grad assistant said the Adidas team might need a couple extra runners for the cross country championships. He trained me for a 4K cross country race and I finished 12th. It got me going again and I decided to give it one more shot.
无毛视频淚 moved to Texas in 2003 and trained for a year for the steeplechase, qualified for the Olympic Trials and didn无毛视频檛 qualify for the finals. It was 2004 and I was 25 and I needed to settle down and go to work.无毛视频�
Dugan, 43, resides in Raleigh, N.C., with his wife Katie, who also was a former runner at N.C. State. They got married in 2007 and have three kids, 13-year-old Alexander, 11-year-old Sidney and eight-year-old Aubrey. Dugan works for Pepsi Cola. He has worked there for 16 years.
George Von Benko无毛视频檚 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 无毛视频-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.