Older, wiser and stronger, Mifflin’s Zack Zerbe has moved to the head of the pack
By Julie Pelchar Cohen — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
A year ago on the same track, Zack Zerbe and all milers were dusted by the champion.
It wasn’t the margin of victory that caught Zerbe’s attention, but rather the fact that Luke Seymour won with seemingly little effort.
“It was eye-opening,” Zerbe said of the Schuylkill Valley grad, a three-time state runner-up. “He cruised it. I was dead on the ground. That really caught my attention. (I realized) these guys do a lot more work than I do. I’ve got to start working harder to get up to that level.”
A year wiser, stronger and faster, Zerbe was a star during Saturday’s Leonard Stephan Invitational at West Lawn.
The Gov. Mifflin junior notched an impressive 3200 win and ran a 3200 relay leg that had the meet’s distance runners abuzz.
As the third runner in the relay, Zerbe ripped through two laps in 1 minute and 54 seconds to help the Mustangs qualify for next month’s District 3 championships. He lopped five seconds from his personal best.
“I was going all out,” Zerbe said. “I wanted to see my teammates at districts this year. That’s all that was going through my head.”
Zerbe and Mustangs Josh Myers, Adam Plummer and Grant Kellenberger ran a winning 8:04.23.
A few hours later and on admittedly flat legs, Zerbe held back Wilson’s hard-charging Elijah Stoudt to win the 3200 in 9:51.15.
“It hurt,” Zerbe said. “It hurt a lot more than usual.”
“He just muscled through it,” said Mifflin distance coach Jack Heim.
Myers and Wilson’s George Williams were the only other Berks boys to win on the track with their victories in the 800 and 400, respectively. The invitational also featured schools from nearby counties.
Berks boys swept the throws. Berks Catholic’s Brady Mider, the state’s top-ranked shot putter, took the shot and discus titles. Wyomissing’s Collin Niedrowski won the javelin.
Schuylkill Valley pole vaulter Luke Martinez was the other Berks winner in the field.
Zerbe’s performance was a year in the making.
His runner-up showing to Seymour at last year’s Stephan Meet helped Zerbe realize he needed to add muscle if he wanted to continue contending with the county’s top dogs and also realize his goal of qualifying for the PIAA championships.
“He bought into our weight program,” Heim said. “He’s the first one in and the last one to leave. We’ve been preaching that since cross country.”
Zerbe flexed those newly toned arms and legs during last weekend’s Black Knight Invitational, when he earned a convincing 1600 win with a personal-best 4:21.95 that included a zippy 60-second final lap.
“My speed was there before,” Zerbe said, “but it’s even better this year because I’m stronger.”
Look for Zerbe to zip into the postseason and challenge Twin Valley’s Anthony Engle for county titles.
Engle is the defending 3200 county champion and the top returner in the 800 and 1600. (He did not compete Saturday at the Stephan Meet.)
“He’s the guy I respect the most in the county,” Zerbe said. “He’s a machine. He’s the one I want to catch the most.”
A year after his awakening, Zerbe proved Saturday that he was the Stephan Meet runner to chase.
