Allentown High senior claims Mercer County cross country championship.
By: Kyle Moylan
HAMILTON He may not live, work or go to school in Mercer County, but Scott Vorwerk is its cross country champion.
"I have never understood why we run in the Mercer meet, but I’m glad I won the race," the Allentown High School senior said minutes after he took care of the field over the 3.1-mile Veterans Park course on Tuesday afternoon.
Vorwerk not only won the Mercer County championship, he did it with relative ease. Vorwerk’s time of 16:10.9 gave him a comfortable margin of victory over West Windsor-Plains-boro North’s Brian Scott (16:15.9) and Hopewell Valley’s Joe Davidson (16:19.6).
"The top three kids were about dead even at the two-mile mark," Allentown Coach Doug Hunt recalled. "Brian Scott was in first and he (Vorwerk) was tied with Davidson, running right along side of him. I then saw Scott take that little glance. It was like he was telling them, ‘I’m going. Anyone who wants to come with me can come along.’ He just put them away."
Vorwerk had been trying to pace himself over the first mile or so, but he was feeling strong and was going at a faster pace than expected. And even after he finished the race, Vorwerk appeared to have plenty in reserve.
When Hightstown’s Chris Repka won the championship last year, he collapsed shortly after the race and had trouble moving for about an hour. Only a minute after his win, Vorwerk was accepting high-fives, hugs and chatting with people.
When it comes to cross country, Vorwerk always seems to go against the norm.
Vorwerk only started running cross country last year. In his first Mercer County Championship Meet, he placed fourth.
"I had no idea what to expect when I started running last season," Vorwerk said. "In my first scrimmage against Steinert last year, I placed first. I was amazed. I wish I had picked the right sport my freshman year. Back then I played soccer."
It’s understandable why Vorwerk wasn’t steered toward cross county, though. At a glance, he doesn’t look like a runner. He is not long and lean; he is compact and muscular. Even Coach Hunt has been surprised by his talented runner.
"He has the wrong build, but the right attitude," Coach Hunt said. "You can’t break the kid in practice. You just can’t break him.
"His winning the (Mercer County title) is just not supposed to happen. It was a good run. That’s the fastest I’ve run in years trying to see him at the different spots on the course."
Vorwerk has certainly made the most out of his short time running for the Allentown cross country team. He already has the school mark on all the Mercer County courses. This Saturday in the Group II sectionals, Vorwerk would like to break the school record of 17:06 set by Tim Yankoski in 1974 on the Holmdel course.
If Vorwerk does it, it’s probably because he doesn’t know enough not to. No one told him second-year runners from Monmouth aren’t supposed to be Mercer County champions. No one told him he had the wrong build to run cross country. Well, if they did, he never paid attention to them. Heck, Vorwerk is in the very small minority of runners who race without wearing socks.
"That’s a big joke with the parents and the other guys on the team," Vorwerk smiled. "No socks makes you lighter. I just put a lot of powder on my feet. They tell me every time I take a step it looks like my feet are smoking."
Second-year runner. A wrestler’s build. No socks. Monmouth resident. All of this didn’t matter. Scott Vorwerk "smoked" the field at the Mercer meet.
NOTES: Allentown was fourth as a team in the Mercer Championships with 145 points, placing behind Notre Dame (39), Hopewell (101) and Steinert (124).
The top 25 runners in the race received medals. In addition to Vorwerk, Pat Mazzella (18th in a time of 17:08) and Brian Mayer (25th in a time of 17:21.3) also earned medals for Allentown. Four other runners competed in the race for Allentown. They were Matt Vogios (32nd), Kevin Gomba (69th), Joe Zdunek (97th) and Chris Crane (108th).
Allentown will compete in the Group II sectionals this Saturday at Holmdel. The top five teams will advance to the overall Group II state championships. Allentown has only made the group finals twice in the history of the school, with one of those times being last year.

