Scouting report interview with Dulaney head cross country coach Chad Boyle. The Dulaney boys are the two-time defending 4A state champions. After winning their first title in decades in 2015, the Dulaney boys did not wait as long to pick up their next title as they pulled off a mild upset over Severna Park at Hereford last November despite major graduation losses from the year prior. No graduation losses this year for them to deal with returning their entire top 7 to go for state title #3 in a row.
Meanwhile, the Dulaney girls are the defending Baltimore County champs after pulling off a narrow one point win over Hereford. They ended up finishing 4th in the 4A state race and return 5 of their top 7 as Dulaney girls will be in the hunt for a top 3 state finish.
Top 7 Boys Returnees
| 2 | Dulaney High School (MD) | 174 | ||
| 1) Matt Owens | 16:10.18 | 14 | ||
| 2) Connor Martin | 16:30.00 | 28 | ||
| 3) Brian Mccullough | 16:33.20 | 33 | ||
| 4) Brendan O'Brien | 16:39.81 | 43 | ||
| 5) Ethan Samels | 16:46.07 | 56 | ||
| Average Time: 16:31.85 Total Time: 1:22:39.26 1-5 Split: 35.89 | ||||
| 6) Sam Merng | 16:47.23 | 58 | ||
| 7) Alex Ozbolt | 16:48.80 | 61 | ||
Top 7 Girls Returnees
| 4 | Dulaney High School (MD) | 358 | ||
| 1) Brooke Ruffin | 19:29.70 | 22 | ||
| 2) Dorrie Gaeng | 19:35.61 | 29 | ||
| 3) Destiny Clinton | 20:28.23 | 89 | ||
| 4) Rachel Krug | 20:29.98 | 94 | ||
| 5) Meghan Robinson | 20:50.20 | 124 | ||
| Average Time: 20:10.74 Total Time: 1:40:53.72 1-5 Split: 1:20.50 | ||||
| 6) Emilie Bowerman | 20:50.60 | 126 | ||
| 7) Julia Clark | 21:17.80 | 178 | ||
Q&A Interview with Dulaney head cross country coach Chad Boyle
1. How many years have you been coaching high school cross country (and at your current school)?
I have been coaching at Dulaney High School for 19 years. This year will be Year 20.
2. What do you attribute as the main reasons for the success of your program?
From the days of Bob Dean to the years of Al Henneman, to the last twenty years, the coaching staffs, parents, community and most importantly athletes have developed a culture that is nearly unprecedented in the running community in Maryland. It is a culture of success that I inherited and work tirelessly to cultivate each day. There are many great ways to train a cross country athlete, however I really believe our secret lies deep within the culture of excellence that has evolved over 50+ years of the program.
3. What would be the best way to describe your style and philosophy of coaching and working with high school runners?
I work diligently to be an empowering coach. It is always my goal that what they learn about commitment, work ethic, goal-setting, poise and self-confidence will stay with them for the rest of their professional and personal life.
There is no doubt I am incredibly competitive; anyone who knows me understands that, however I have learned to let that take a back seat to making our athletes better people.
4. What are your core beliefs in your training plan and workouts for your cross country squads?
Philosophically, my training is a diffused hybrid of Arthur Lydiard, Mark Wetmore, Bill Dellinger, Dr. Jack Daniels and Jay Johnson. We take a little bit of everything they have perfected and convert it to work well for high school athletes.
I have been coaching at Dulaney High School for 19 years. This year will be Year 20.
2. What do you attribute as the main reasons for the success of your program?
From the days of Bob Dean to the years of Al Henneman, to the last twenty years, the coaching staffs, parents, community and most importantly athletes have developed a culture that is nearly unprecedented in the running community in Maryland. It is a culture of success that I inherited and work tirelessly to cultivate each day. There are many great ways to train a cross country athlete, however I really believe our secret lies deep within the culture of excellence that has evolved over 50+ years of the program.
3. What would be the best way to describe your style and philosophy of coaching and working with high school runners?
I work diligently to be an empowering coach. It is always my goal that what they learn about commitment, work ethic, goal-setting, poise and self-confidence will stay with them for the rest of their professional and personal life.
There is no doubt I am incredibly competitive; anyone who knows me understands that, however I have learned to let that take a back seat to making our athletes better people.
4. What are your core beliefs in your training plan and workouts for your cross country squads?
Philosophically, my training is a diffused hybrid of Arthur Lydiard, Mark Wetmore, Bill Dellinger, Dr. Jack Daniels and Jay Johnson. We take a little bit of everything they have perfected and convert it to work well for high school athletes.
The long run is a very important component in our program.
5. How many runners do you return from your top 7 from a year ago?
Boys: We return our entire Top 7.
Girls: We return five of our Top 7.
6. Who is your projected top 7 heading into the cross country season?
Boys: Very difficult to determine at this point; yet Brian McCullough, Matt Owens, Drew Dailey, Brendan O'Brien, Sam Merng, Alex Whatley, Alex Ozbolt, Ethan Samels, Zak Audia, Connor Martin, Nick Owens, Mark Bonner, Patrick Dochat, Vinay Khosla will all be factors in that discussion throughout the season. We will be without sophomore upstart Cooper Giesler who severely broke his ankle playing basketball this off-season.
Girls: Dorrie Gaeng, Brooke Ruffin, Emilie Bowerman, Destiny Clinton and Meghan Robinson will be a very solid top 5. Senior Grace Grogan, junior Claire Molavi, freshman Marissa Dailey, sophomore Kayla Brennan, junior Lily Davison, and freshman Kaitlyn Robinson will all be factors in filling out our Top 7.
7. Who are your team captains or leaders and what stands out about them as examples for the rest of their teammates?
Brian McCullough, Matt Owens, Mark Bonner, Brendan O'Brien, and Alex Ozbolt have all shown tremendous leadership for us for the past 12 months. I have to say nothing more than the season they engineered in 2016 to speak about what great leaders they truly are.
Dorrie Gaeng and Meghan Robinson are the clear leaders of our girls team. Their work ethic is extraordinary and they have done a great job marketing our sport after our team experienced a dip in participation in 2016. Our turnout in 2017 is magnificent; it could be a great year.
5. How many runners do you return from your top 7 from a year ago?
Boys: We return our entire Top 7.
Girls: We return five of our Top 7.
6. Who is your projected top 7 heading into the cross country season?
Boys: Very difficult to determine at this point; yet Brian McCullough, Matt Owens, Drew Dailey, Brendan O'Brien, Sam Merng, Alex Whatley, Alex Ozbolt, Ethan Samels, Zak Audia, Connor Martin, Nick Owens, Mark Bonner, Patrick Dochat, Vinay Khosla will all be factors in that discussion throughout the season. We will be without sophomore upstart Cooper Giesler who severely broke his ankle playing basketball this off-season.
Girls: Dorrie Gaeng, Brooke Ruffin, Emilie Bowerman, Destiny Clinton and Meghan Robinson will be a very solid top 5. Senior Grace Grogan, junior Claire Molavi, freshman Marissa Dailey, sophomore Kayla Brennan, junior Lily Davison, and freshman Kaitlyn Robinson will all be factors in filling out our Top 7.
7. Who are your team captains or leaders and what stands out about them as examples for the rest of their teammates?
Brian McCullough, Matt Owens, Mark Bonner, Brendan O'Brien, and Alex Ozbolt have all shown tremendous leadership for us for the past 12 months. I have to say nothing more than the season they engineered in 2016 to speak about what great leaders they truly are.
Dorrie Gaeng and Meghan Robinson are the clear leaders of our girls team. Their work ethic is extraordinary and they have done a great job marketing our sport after our team experienced a dip in participation in 2016. Our turnout in 2017 is magnificent; it could be a great year.
8. Who have you been most impressed or surprised with their improvement and/or fitness from their summer training?
Boys: Drew Dailey, Alex Whatley, Sam Merng, Brian McCullough, Zak Audia. Brian was strong and is now stronger. Drew, Alex and Sam trained a ton together and it is showing. Zak trained solo, and is going to suprise some people. Our other guys are strong as well, but these guys really did a standout job.
Girls: Dorrie and Brooke are in great shape. Emilie Bowerman will be a candidate for most improved runner in Baltimore County I believe.
9. Any impactful freshmen or transfers to join the team this season?
Boys: Freshman Vinay Khosla will have an impact on our team immediately. Josiah Nilsen transferred from St. Paul's. He is a 6'9" high jumper that will impact track and field tremendously.
Girls: Freshmen Marissa Dailey and Kaitlyn Robinson have the chance to very impactful for us in October.
10. What are the top invitational meets that your team will be attending this season?
Barnhart Invitational, Spiked Shoe, Glory Days Grills, Gunpowder Invitational
11. What will be the biggest obstacle or challenge facing your team this season?
Our biggest challenge is always to continue the culture of community excellence passed down from the graduating classes of previous years. Filling leadership voids and constantly maintaining the level of work required to be excellcent is extremely challenging.
Re-cultivating that culture of excellence each fall is a fun challenge, however.
12. What will be the biggest reason why your team is successful this season?
Dulaney is a special place. It's a great place to learn, to teach, to compete with teammates, to socialize with friends. Our team bond is very tough to replicate; when the gun goes off we really run for each other. Many teams say that, but few actually do.
13. What is a favorite annual or common pre-season workout or run for your team?
We have a run called "Elevator" that is a test of pre-season fitness. Athletes know how fit they are when we do that run on the first week of practice.
14. What is a favorite annual or common mid-season workout for your team?
Nothing flashy. We keep it simple. Probably our most exciting workout are interval 800s.
15. What is a favorite annual or common championship season or end-of-season workout for your team?
We do a very difficult hill workout that mimics the challenges of Hereford in the weeks leading up to our championship races.
16. What are your top 3 goals for this year's squad?
a) For every single athlete on the team to improve through the season
b) Contend for the Baltimore County Championship
c) Contend for the Maryland State Championship
P.S. I would really love to break 3:00 in the marathon in Philly in November.