Font ResizeMaybe he wasn't ready for it, but in everything that Beegle accomplished during his previous three years at Gettysburg High as a cross country runner -- qualifying for the PIAA Class AAA Championship each year -- he couldn't say he was a leader or that he wasn't in it for a unilateral purpose.
The fact is he was in it for himself -- to a certain extent.
And yet, when he thought about his career, about what the wins and the times and the records meant to him as he was about to venture into his senior campaign, he came to the conclusion it wasn't much of anything if there was no team experience attached to it.
So even with everything at stake this season, with Beegle hoping to have his best season to date by earning a medal at states, he made sure never to lose focus about becoming a leader and about becoming a part of the team.
"Most of my high school career, I lacked being part of a real team that does things together," said Beegle, the All-Area Boys' Cross Country Runner of the Year. "I really wanted to leave knowing that next year they could come back and have a good team and have good relationships."
Beegle stepped up in big meets, finishing 16th in the PIAA Class AAA meet for his first career state medal, fourth in the District 3 meet and winning the Mid-Penn championship.
But during the regular season he was an in-house
The Warriors finished 2-3 in the Mid-Penn Capital this year, which was good for fourth. However, Beegle, along with head coach Jack Harbaugh, help mold three freshmen -- Jimmy Robinson, Tom Buxton and Aaron Waybright -- into serious runners.
"He's the best team captain we've ever had," Harbaugh said. "It's really hard for a dominant runner to be a good captain because he has to think so much about this own racing. Lots of times, people have expectations on those kids. That's what they focus on, their racing.
"But Mike had time for the younger kids and, when he leaves us, he'll leave us with a lot of talent ready to be developed."
Beegle, who is undecided on his college choice, but says he wants to continue running at the next level, was that rare athlete who not only got better physically, but mentally as well.
Always an intelligent and savvy harrier, the senior knew success wasn't solely predicated on physical skills. He needed an emotional component that would allow him to progress on another level. In this case, it was becoming a leader.
"The expression 'Always leave it better than when you found it,'" Beegle said, "this was the season. I'll watch them the next couple of years to see what they're up to."
Still, that isn't to say Beegle lacked the physical gifts. From his freshman to senior years, Beegle progressively got stronger and endured more mileage.
It was the only way, Harbaugh says, Beegle could have been able to do as well as he did this year, when he ran a 16-minute, 29-second race to finish his career. He cut 15 seconds off his time from districts.
From his worst perfomance at the state level during his sophomore year, when he ran 17:36, to his best this season, Beegle cut over a minute off his time.
Perhaps his best race came at Big Spring during the Mid-Penn Championship, when Harbaugh said Beegle put everything -- the physical maturity, the intelligence, the game plan -- together at once.
"I think that's the meet where things really came together for him," Harbaugh said.
Like a jungle cat hunting its prey, Beegle picked off Milton Hershey's Brett Kubiak and Carlisle's John Pope at the two-mile mark, imposing one of the strongest kicks he's ever shown in a strong wind. He glided into the finish, muddied from the swash created from the heavy rain.
"That was proabbly one of my favorite races," Beegle said.
Beegle held the three fastest Hanover area times this season. The area's best, 16:13, came in September during the Carlisle Invitational.
cmull@eveningsun.com
