Sentinel file photo by MIKE GOSS
Midd-West’s Ben Hummel finishes strong at his second PIAA Cross Country Championships in as many seasons.
Midd-West harrier a two-time state qualifier in XC
MIDDLEBURG – After a decorated high school career in cross country, it’s hard to imagine Midd-West High School standout Ben Hummel competing in any other sport.
The fact of the matter is the Mustang senior had to choose between soccer and cross country when he reached the high school ranks.
Until a friend introduced him to cross country in eighth grade, Hummel had exclusively played soccer – as a defender. The idea of competing in a more individualized sport like cross country intrigued Hummel, so he tried a change of sports scenery and joined the junior high cross country team.
One season of running was enough to get him hooked.
It also created a dilemma when Hummel became a freshman in high school the following year. Since both were fall sports, he had to opt to participate in either cross country or soccer.
Eventually, he opted to hang up his soccer cleats and switch to cross country. Four years later, it looks like Hummel made the right decision. As a senior, he came home from the recent PIAA Class 2A Cross Country Championships with a fifth-place medal.
Looking back, Hummel said the individualized nature of cross country was the determining factor for him.
“When I used to play soccer, I played defense,” Ben explained. “If we didn’t score, we didn’t win. There was nothing I could do about it, playing defense.
“Ever since I started running, I felt like I’m competing against myself,” Ben added. “I had to answer to me about how I did. I think that also pushed me to where I am today.”
Last year’s trip to states also proved to be a learning experience for him. Just competing in that race wasn’t enough, he longed for a medal.
“I always knew he could do well at states – that he could medal,” Midd-West head coach Jennifer Hummel said. “Anything can happen, but realistically I thought he could be up there in contention. For him to do as well as he did, I didn’t know if he could believe in himself.”
But if that happened, coach and runner saw the sky as the limit.
“As long as he didn’t get injured, I knew he could make school history,” Jennifer added.
Now, even though it’s been more than a week since he brought a medal home to Snyder County, the reality has not fully set in.
“A little bit,” Ben said. “I’m still relishing in the thought of it.
Ben, who will continue his running career at Shippensburg University, moved through the field after sitting in 12th place at the midpoint.
“I had a planned idea of where I was ranked at, just to run,” he added. “I was feeling good throughout the race and moving up past people. I ended up at the finish line coming across about where I thought I’d be.”
Ben certainly has received plenty of notoriety since the race with announcements and signs at school and congratulations from fellow students, faculty, staff and administrators as well as on social media.
“Ben has a lot of self-motivation,” Jennifer said. “He is always working to see how he can make himself better and see what he can do to better himself the next time.”
This was also not Hummel’s first medal on a big stage. At last spring’s PIAA Track and Field Championships, Ben was part of the boys 4×800 relay team that struck gold at Seth Grove Stadium in Shippensburg.
The Mustangs’ foursome ran a 7:54.27 to win the Class 2A race by more than five seconds over Notre Dame-Green Pond. Midd-West and Notre Dame-Green Ford were neck-and-neck after the first leg, but things changed when Ben took the baton.
His 1:54.93 split was about 10 seconds faster than that of the Crusaders. From there, Midd-West cruised to a first-place finish during the final two legs.
The Mustangs’ first-place showing improved upon the eighth-place medal the quartet received last season. There, Midd-West ran an 8:07.42.
“Eighth never feels good,” Ben told reporters that day at states. “This year, we knew we’d all be back, and we just kept fighting. We knew that (this) year that this was going to be a gold right here. We just kept telling ourselves, ‘We don’t want to end up like last year.’ So, we just kept fighting, and we got a better result.”
The same was true in cross country. Just making the state field wasn’t enough for Ben. He wanted to wear a state medal around his neck.
For now, Ben is still reveling in his achievements in cross country.
He certainly won’t take the winter months off as he competes in winter track.
“His determination and wanting it also helped,” Jennifer said. “He set goals to make it back to states and medal, I think he exceeded those goals.”
Along the way, Ben also ran a school-record time of 15:59 at the District 4 Class 2A Championships. Not only did it achieve a goal of a sub-16-minute time, but it punched his ticket to Chocolatetown to run at the Parkview Course.
“I’m just proud of him,” said Jennifer, who is also Ben’s aunt. “He’s worked hard and he’s had a fun career to watch.”
With his cross country days behind him, Ben reflected back on the decision he made as a freshman.
“I’m really proud of what I accomplished and I’ve worked hard,” he said. “It’s been rewarding, and it was the best decision I could have made,” he said. “Cross country has led me to places I never dreamed of.”
