There wasn't just one thing that sold Avonworth High School distance running sensation Lucas Zarzeczny on Penn State.

Zarzeczny, who won the PIAA and WPIAL Class AA cross country titles in the fall, picked Penn State over William & Mary, Georgetown, American University and Syracuse.

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Avonworth's Lucas Zarzeczny is the top seed at 3,200 meters at today's WPIAL championships. Click photo for larger image.

"I liked their facilities, their coaches, the fact they're in the Big Ten," Zarzeczny said. "They've got a great team ... that was the biggest factor. The guys on the team made me feel at home."

Zarzeczny adds to what is already considered an outstanding recruiting class of distance runners at Penn State. Others who will be joining the Nittany Lions in the fall are Kyle and Owen Dawson from Coatesville and Chris Ferry from West Chester Henderson.

Kyle Dawson was third at the PIAA cross country championships in Class AAA, while Owen Dawson was eighth and Ferry, 11th. Kyle Dawson was third in the 3,200 at the PIAA track championships last year.

"I'm not sure what they have in mind for Lucas," said Brian Hoffman, who coaches the Avonworth cross country team and is a coach for the Northgate/Avonworth track squad, a co-op program between the rival schools. "I think Lucas is better the farther he goes. The 5,000 meters might be his race."

Zarzeczny is also an outstanding student and one of four scholar/athletes being honored by the WPIAL this year with a $5,000 scholarship. He has a 3.9 grade-point average.

"That [scholar/athlete award] was completely unexpected," he said.

There are still a couple big races remaining in Zarzeczny's high school career. He will compete in the 3,200-meter run tonight at the WPIAL Class AAA championships at Baldwin and run a leg on the Northgate/Avonworth 3,200-meter relay team. The others on the relay are Kevin Williams, Jarryd Lambert and Brian Beatty.

Zarzeczny was second in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the WPIAL track championships a year ago. He decided to put all his efforts into the 3,200 meters this year and is seeded No. 1, ahead of Central Catholic's Scott Van Kooten and Seneca Valley's Chris Cipro.

His goal this track season is to run the 3,200 in 9 minutes flat, which would be flying. If the weather is right, he might be able to do that at the PIAA meet May 26 at Shippensburg University.

He also wants to help the 3,200 relay make the trip to Shippensburg. The relay has the sixth-fastest seeded time of 8:06.6 and that was without Zarzeczny as the anchor.

"Those guys can go faster," Hoffman said. "You never know, but I think they have a good chance of making it."

As for Zarzeczny's decision on a college, Hoffman said he made a good choice.

"The thing is, Lucas has still got a lot left in the tank," Hoffman said. "He didn't put in mega miles in high school. There's plenty of room for him to improve."