When is a 12th-place finish better than a third-place finish?

It's better when the 12th place comes in Portland, Ore., against most of the top high school cross country teams in the country and the third place was in Hershey, Pa.

The North Allegheny High School boys' cross country team, a.k.a. the Wexford Flats Running Club, competed in the Nike Cross Nationals last Saturday at the Portland Meadows course in Oregon and placed 12th out of 22 teams. That might not seem like such a big deal until coach Jim LeDonne explains the situation.

"We were ranked anywhere from 20 to 22 going in," he said. "So, to finish 12 was pretty good. We had just a 22-second split between our top five runners, so we went out and competed well."

North Allegheny runners were disappointed in their third-place finish at the PIAA championships in Hershey Nov. 1. North Penn won the PIAA Class AAA team title with 92 points and La Salle College High School was next with 125, a point ahead of North Allegheny. The Tigers had gone into the championships as the favorite to win the team title.

LeDonne had thought about having his runners participate in the Nike Cross northeast regional at Wapping Falls, N.Y. After the poor finish in Hershey, his runners were adamant about competing in the Nike race.

"I told them to take a couple days and think about it," LeDonne said. "They had such a sour taste in their months after the state meet. They didn't want the season to end that way."

So, while most cross country teams in the state were letting their legs recover after the PIAA meet, North Allegheny was pumping up its mileage.

As Wexford Flats, the team placed third behind two New Jersey clubs at the Nike regionals and earned an at-large bid to the nationals and a trip to Oregon.

"It was a great experience for the guys," LeDonne said. "The meet was first class all the way."

The Nike nationals was a little different race than the North Allegheny runners were used to. It was a Eurpoean-style cross country course with bales of hay on the course to jump over and mounds, instead of hills, to traverse. Plus, the course was wide open, so spectators could see the action.

"Yeah, it was a little different," sophomore Ryan Gil said. "I'd never run on a course like that before, but once you get into it, it's not so bad."

Gil was the first Wexford Flats runner to reach the finish line. He had a time of 16 minutes, 16.1 seconds on the 3.1-mile course and was 78th overall, 43 in the team scoring. Teammate Chase Broussard, a senior, was 94th with Pat Morgan 98th. The team finished with 301 points. North Spokane, Wash., was first with 134.

"The competition was good and there were always people around you," Gil said. "It was a good experience."

Because of the quality of the field, LeDonne told his runners they would have to get off to a fast start. He was surprised at how fast they began the race.

"They had a scoreboard and after the first 1,000 meters, we were in fifth place," he said. "In that kind of a race you have to get out fast and we did. Everybody just had a much better feeling about themselves and the team than they did after the state meet."

It has been a long season for the North Allegheny boys. They will take at least a couple weeks off before getting back into things with indoor track.

"I could feel it in my legs the last race," Gil said. "They just felt tired, but I'm glad we had a chance to compete [at the Nike nationals]. I don't think anybody expected us to make it past the regionals. We're pretty happy with how we ended it."

With himself, Eric Balaban and Jay Cadwallader returning next fall, Gil said the strong finish in Oregon will provide some incentive.

"I don't know that we'll have as strong of a team next year," he said. "But doing well out there will help."