Punishing workouts pay off for Anthony Engle in the end

Track & Field coverage presented by ATT Sports, Inc.

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

Anthony Engle’s introduction to distance running came when his parents placed him in a 5K around age 8. It was, to use his words, pretty torturous.

Twin Valley’s junior was more interested in football back then. Running back and outside linebacker were his positions of choice until middle school.

That’s when Engle reached a fork in the road. He tried football and cross country at the same time for one season and was the fastest seventh-grader in the county.

The helmet and shoulder pads were put away for good.

“I still love football to death,” Engle said. “I recognized that I have more of a future running cross country and track, so that’s what I stuck with.”

It looks like a wise decision several years later. Engle is one of the most talented and versatile runners in the state. He helped Twin Valley win the 3200 relay and finished third in the 800 in Class 3A at the District 3 championships at Shippensburg Saturday.

That success came nine days after Engle won the open 3200 at the Firing Meet. He’s one of the few runners who can break 1:55 in the 800, 4:20 in the mile and still excel at the two mile.

“I don’t know how he does it,” teammate Matthew Crow said. “He’s crazy. He puts in the work. He’s getting what he deserves.” 

Crow shared a story about Engle’s punishing workouts in practice. He’ll run eight 400 sprints that clock in at about 63 seconds each.

Those help make Engle faster. They also help him deal with the agony that sometimes accompanies distance running.

“It’s painful; I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Engle said. “Learning how to deal with that pain and becoming more mentally tough, that’s what it’s all about.”

There was a moment of truth during the 3200 relay at districts. Engle took the baton for the anchor leg with a lead of about five meters.

Cumberland Valley was closing fast as the race headed toward the final turn. It briefly looked like Twin Valley’s win was in danger.

Engle was simply pacing himself. He had another gear. As soon as he felt the shadow behind him, he gained control and won by more than a second. The team of Engle, David Seel, Frankie DiSilvestro and Ben Meister earned the school’s first 3200 relay gold since 1991.

“I wasn’t too worried,” Meister said. “Once we gave him the baton with a little bit of a lead, I knew he pretty well had it.”

Engle had enough left to finish the 800 in 1:56.31, which was about two seconds off his PR, and returned to the medal stand.

The PIAA Class 3A field is incredibly deep in the 800 with 24 runners under 1:57. Engle will try to navigate that crowd and earn a state medal this weekend. Twin Valley’s 3200 relay is seeded sixth and its time of 7:56.92 is roughly six seconds off the county record. 

Next season Engle hopes to challenge for state gold. Either in the relay or an individual event.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m getting ahead of myself,” he said. “But a win in something would be nice.”

Distance running has treated Engle well since that not-so-fun debut. Part of him still misses football. With one high school year remaining, would he ever give it another shot?

“I’d be lying if I said I never thought about it,” Engle said with a smile. “But it’s not happening.”