Often in athletics there is a story within a story -- this is one of those instances.

The North Hills boys' cross country team knocked off rival North Allegheny, 28-29, in at Section 3-AAA meet last week at Seneca Valley. That victory coupled with North Hills' win against Pine-Richland Tuesday gave the Indians their fourth section title and undefeated regular season this decade.

Any victory against North Allegheny in boys' cross country is cause for celebration. After all, the Tigers are the four-time WPIAL Class AAA champions and could "five-peat" this season. Everybody enjoys beating the defending champion.

North Hills coach John Wilkie is the first to admit that while he has talented runners, his Indians don't match-up well against North Allegheny in a large invitational.

"We have four very good runners but in a big meet our fifth guy hurts us because he is usually so far back," Wilkie said. "But in a duel meet that weakness is minimized.

"We have a great duel-meet team. I would put us up against any team in the state in a duel meet."

North Hills would have been a good invitational team as well this season had it not had one of its better returning runners decide to play football. His defection left the Indians with the fifth-man problem.

At the Central Catholic Invitational this past Saturday at Schenley Park North Hills' first four runners were all in the top 43. But its fifth man placed 103 and that's the main reason the Indians were fifth in the team standings. North Allegheny's top five runners were all in the top 27.

For the duel meet against the Tigers, Wilkie figured that if his top four runners placed two, three, four and seven North Hills had a good chance of winning. That's exactly what happened.

Ryan Gil won the race for North Allegheny, but the Indians' Joe Kush, Juris Silenieks and Zach Hebda finished second, third and fourth, respectively, and senior team captain Paulson Domasky was seventh. Brian Dulick was 12th for North Hills.

North Hills has won section titles in 2001, '02, '03 and now '09. The Indians were the WPIAL Class AAA champions in 2003 and '04.

"What I'm most proud of is the way this team has battled back from adversity," Wilkie said. "Silenieks had surgery on both calves last track season to correct a compartment syndrome. Then we had guys decide not to come out. There aren't many of us but these guys have great work ethics and wills of iron."

And then there is Domasky. He's the story in the story.

He snapped the femur bone in his left leg while playing Ultimate Frisbee in Virginia last November. Surgery was required and he has a 13-inch titanium rod in his thigh with three screws holding it in place.

Since the accident and surgery he has literally had to learn to run all over again. He has lost count of how many hours of rehabilitation he has endured.

"It was really hard to start back up," he said. "My form was all messed up.

"I tried running in track season and it was really hard. I wasn't back to my normal self until July. I really had to work on my stride."

Domasky, who wouldn't mind running for Grove City College next year, ran with his teammates throughout the summer and said he is just now feeling strong.

"It's like I'm where I should be," he said. "I would say I'm right up there [with my training]. Coach Wilkie had a good plan for me."

It would have been easy for Domasky not to run this fall. He had a built-in excuse with the injury. He has displayed a great deal of physical and mental toughness.

"He was the real hero of the [North Allegheny] meet," Wilkie said. "He beat NA's Jay Cadwallader for that seventh place despite having lost to Cadwallader by over a minute at the Red, White & Blue Classic earlier this year."

"It feels great to beat our archrivals," Domasky said. "Coach Wilkie had written up two different ways we could win. The other guys did their part and I did my part and it came together just like he planned it out."

Wilkie hopes the Indians have enough left to be one of the top four teams in the Class AAA race at the WPIAL championships Oct. 29 at Coopers' Lake Campground near Slippery Rock. Doing that would earn them a trip to the PIAA championships Nov. 7 in Hershey.

"These guys deserve it," Wilkie said.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.