The History of EASD Cross Country Team.
In 1957, the track & field program was started by Coach Richard Wolf. In 1966, Coach Wolf started the XC program. Richard Wolf was the coach of both boy’s and girl’s programs into the late 70’s.
In XC, Coach Wolf had the kids run 5 to 10 miles every day. The teams went to XC camps pre-season in the 1970’s. When runners reported to practice in August, they were expected to be able to run 8 miles the first day, so summer training was required. The following is some early history.
1968 – Jim Hiestand was 5th in the county meet with Don Keener 11th.
1969 – At the county meet, Don Keener was 6th. Hempfield won the team title with 71 points while E-town was second with 92 points. During league dual meet competition, E-town was 10-2 finishing second in the league. At the district 3 meet in class B, Don Keener was 23rd and Dick Wolf was 31st.
1970 - The school’s first state meet qualifier was junior Dick Wolf when he finished in 8th place at the district 3 meet in Class B. Wolf then placed 17th at the state meet for also the school’s first state meet medalist. No other male to-date (as of 2026) has medaled in the state meet. Only the top three teams and individual finishers in the top ten at districts qualified for states in the 1970’s/80’s.
1971 - The school moved up to Class A. Dick Wolf placed 5th in district 3 to qualify for states. Again, at that time, only individual placers in the top ten and the top three teams qualified for states. Dennis Hossler, a junior, placed 7th at the district meet to also qualify for states. At states, Wolf finished 43rd and Hossler finished 67th. Wolf graduated as a three-time county meet medalist, a two-time state meet qualifier with two district top ten finishes, and a state medalist. Thus, E-town had two individual state meet qualifiers in 1971.
1972 – Dennis Hossler won the Lancaster County league title, finished 3rd at districts, and then finished 68th at the state meet. Dennis then graduated as county champ, the only county champ to-date in 2024, and a two-time state meet qualifier. He is the highest placing district 3 male finisher to-date with also two top ten district finishes.
1976 – Chris Eberly qualified for states finishing 8th in the district. He finished 101st at the state meet.
Since 1976, only one boy has finished in the top ten at districts, that being Chris Scharf in 9th place in 2017. No boy has finished higher at the state meet than 31st, this by junior Nate Kreider in 2010. Kreider then qualified for states as a senior, where he finished 110th. Kreider qualified for states three times individually, with qualification now going to the top 25 individuals in the district. The next highest finisher at states was Dustin Horning at 45th in 2008 (12th at district 3 meet).
In 2023, the boys team qualified for states finishing 3rd in the district. They were 2nd in the county, equaling the best boys team performance in history at the county or league meet. They then finished 15th at states in class AAA. Leading finishers from this team in 2024 were as follows:
Jaycen Conrad – 11th in county, 13th at districts, 107th at states.
Jackson Kay – 19th in county, 17th at districts, 97th at states.
PIAA District 3 - Top Individual Results
Place Runner Year
3rd Dennis Hossler – Class A 1972
5th Dick Wolf Jr – Class A 1971
7th Dennis Hossler – Class A 1971
8th Dick Wolf Jr. – Class B 1970
8th Chris Eberly – Class A 1975
9th Chris Scharf – Class AAA 2017
12th Dustin Horning – Class AAA 2008
PIAA States - Top Individual Results
Place Runner Year
17th Dick Wolf Jr. – Class B 1970
31st Nate Kreider – Class AAA 2010
43rd Dick Wolf Jr. – Class A 1971
45th Dustin Horning – Class AAA 2008
65th Chris Scharf – Class AAA 2017
67th Dennis Hossler – Class A 1971
68th Dennis Hossler – Class A 1972
75th Josh Gunnett – Class AAA 2006
77th Ryan Faus – Class AAA 2006
88th Charles Scharf – Class AAA 2017
97th Jackson Kay - Class AAA 2023