Juniors among three sets of teammates to compete in boys final in San Diego, along with Spamer and Stewart of Brighton (Mich.) and Thompson brothers from Skyridge (Utah), in addition to becoming only fourth pair of male athletes from one California school to qualify in same year

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

In the aftermath of the most disappointing day of their entire season, juniors Colin Peattie and Nolan Topper regrouped in time to produce one of the most amazing achievements in the history of the Bellarmine College Prep cross country program.

After enduring a third-place finish Nov. 30 at the Division 1 state final, one point behind runner-up Jesuit, one week later Bellarmine Prep became only the fourth boys team in California history to have a pair of athletes qualify for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in the same year following the efforts of Peattie and Topper at the West Regional at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

FOOT LOCKER FINALS LIVE WEBCAST INFO

Despite competing on a rain-altered road course, instead of the traditional hilly 5-kilometer Mt. SAC layout, Peattie still placed fourth in 14 minutes, 54.4 seconds, with Topper finishing seventh in 14:55.2 to earn their trips to compete Saturday at Balboa Park’s Morley Field in San Diego.

“Both of us were super fired up, not just to run for ourselves, but to run for Galen (Topper), Clem (Welsh), Casper (Aliaga), Christian (Yarwood) and Aiden (Theocheung). We were just running for the whole team (Saturday) and I think we made them proud,” Peattie said. “I think it gives us a lot of confidence that we can come to a high-quality meet with a bunch of super high-caliber athletes like (regionals) and be able to perform well.”

Peattie and Topper not only became the first Bellarmine Prep athletes since Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau – who finished 19th in 2016 and 21st in 2017 – to advance to the Foot Locker national final.

They also joined West Covina twins Danny Mercado and Diego Mercado in 2005, Jesuit brothers Eric Mastalir and Mark Mastalir in 1984-85 and the Mission San Jose tandem of Jay Marden and Rich Read in 1979 as the only California teammates to qualify for the national championship meet in the same season.

“They have pushed each other to truly be their best. As the coach, I am just so proud that the two of them have had this whole experience together. I know how rare it is to have all the ‘planets align’ and have two athletes achieve to this level at the same time,” Bellarmine Prep coach Patrick McCrystle said. “I have definitely had pairs of athletes who had the potential to do great things together, but never have I had the fortune and luck to have two such talented athletes ‘put it together’ at the same time. So, knowing of the Mercados and Jay Marden, and knowing Eric and Mark so well personally, I feel blessed to be a part of it, no matter how small.

“It is no small feat to have achieved this. I definitely appreciate the historic nature of having two juniors run at Foot Locker, and as a fan of the sport, it is humbling to be a part of it.”

It is another significant highlight during an impressive four-year run for Bellarmine Prep, which also included becoming the first West Coast program to win the Championship of American Distance Medley Relay when Alex Scales, Tommy Rocha, Ben Micallef and Beaudoin-Rousseau prevailed in 10:06.10 at the 2017 Penn Relays.

Although all four athletes graduated, Bellarmine Prep still produced the all-time team record of 76:09.6 at the prestigious 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course Nov. 6 at the West Catholic Athletic League final, with an all-junior lineup eclipsing the standard of 76:15.4 achieved by the 1985 Jesuit lineup that included both Mastalir brothers.

“Historically, finishing third as a team in the fastest D-1 race in state meet history was fantastic, but the course record at Crystal was on a par with winning the Penn Relays DMR,” McCrystle said. “Meika’s two trips to Foot Locker were huge. He was the first BCP runner to ever make it, though many had tried, and he really set the stage for these guys to believe in themselves.”

The record-setting performance at Crystal Springs led to a challenging few weeks, both physically and emotionally, for Bellarmine Prep after Peattie, Welsh, Theocheung and the Topper twins joined forces to achieve a career highlight.

“When we set the course record, we said, ‘If this season were over now, we would be thrilled,’” Nolan Topper said. “We said, ‘If this was the cap off, it would be the best of the best.’”

Bellarmine Prep followed its memorable effort at Crystal Springs by winning its seventh consecutive Central Coast Section title Nov. 16, then achieving the third state podium finish in program history – including the first since 1994 – by placing third behind Great Oak and Jesuit in the Division 1 championship at Woodward Park in Fresno, with Peattie (15:06.8) placing fourth and Topper (15:08.4) taking sixth on the 5-kilometer course.

“I am incredibly proud of these guys for working so hard this year, leading the team on a truly historic run this season. It has been a rollercoaster for sure,” McCrystle said. “The highlight of the season in every way was the record run at Crystal, but in many ways it presented the team with big challenges. Three of the runners got pretty sick right after, including Nolan, and missed a week of training, and then CCS was very anticlimactic and hard to get up for, which was then followed by a real let down at state.

“To not get second, and to have three guys just not run like they could have, really hurt, and was especially hard for Colin, Nolan, and Galen, who ran even better than they had at Crystal on the record day. But, in a way, I think it motivated Colin, Nolan and Galen at the Foot Locker Regional.”

Galen Topper, who finished 25th at the state final in 15:31.5, wasn’t able to get out fast enough Saturday on the regional road course and found himself in a large pack in the first half of the race, before rallying to place 27th in 15:22.6.

But having three athletes run under 15:30 at Mt. SAC showcased Bellarmine Prep’s sustained fitness level three months after the team’s season opener.

“I surprised myself,” Nolan Topper said. “(Coach McCrystle) has done a really good job this year and last year to peak us. He actually changed up his training for us. He trained us a little bit easier at the start of the season and we worked it up by the end. Instead of running a lot of hard stuff at the start, he doesn’t want to burn us out, so we’ve been running all these hard workouts at the end and training for these big meets.”

It has also been a benefit for both Bellarmine Prep qualifiers to have such a strong training group to continue to challenge them in preparation for the biggest opportunity of their prep careers.

“Luckily they are still fresh, fresh enough to have one more great race left in their legs. Training this week has been very strong,” McCrystle said. “Nolan has been closing the gap on Colin all season. Colin is perhaps the best natural leader I have ever coached. He treats the slowest runner on the team like he is on the varsity top seven, and he treats the top seven guys like his peers, friends and colleagues, all the while, pushing them to be their best. Nolan has been driven to succeed by Colin in ways that he does not understand. To see them both debriefing the (regional) race was wonderful, as their coach.”

Peattie and Topper will have one more opportunity to do so in San Diego, joining Jack Spamer and Zachary Stewart of Brighton MI, along with Creed Thompson and Davin Thompson of Skyridge UT as the only pairs of teammates to qualify for Saturday’s national final. Spamer and Stewart became the third set of Michigan boys teammates to advance, along with Abdul Alzindani and Steve Schell of Dearbon Fordson in 1994, as well as Dathan Ritzenhein and Jason Hartmann of Rockford in 1998.

“I’m super excited, not just to race, but to meet these guys from all across the country and make a ton of friends,” Peattie said. “It’s going to be a fun week and I’m really excited.”