JEFFERSON TWP — Owen Venesky has run in the shadows of some very talented Knoch High School runners.

Now, it's his turn to lead the pack.

Venesky placed fourth in the 3,200-meter run at last Thursday's WPIAL Class AAA Track and Field Championships at Baldwin with a time of 9:37.9, about seven seconds behind champion Cam Stauffer of Seneca Valley.

Venesky, a senior, is on the trail of the Knights' record holder, Kevin Doyle, who ran a 9:36.6 in 1997. Venesky's best last season in the event was 10:14.0.

"We have a great tradition since I've gotten here with distance runners," said Knights' coach Wess Brahler, who also serves as the school's cross country coach.

"Artie Black, Kyle Reeping, Ben Hutterer, Brian Tackett ... Owen's been with all those guys. He's watched them work hard and took their lead and it's finally paid off," Brahler added.

Brahler added that being a strong distance runner takes time as well as a year-round commitment, something Venesky has certainly done.

"He's built his mileage up," said Brahler. "He's a smart, intelligent runner. He understands why we run what we do, why you have your long run on the weekends."

Said Venesky, "After cross country season, one of my friends in college (Hutterer) got into my head that it'll take a lot of running. I needed to get my miles up.

"I topped out at 65 a couple weeks there. I had my base mileage and all the racing I did in season. That helped out a lot, too," Venesky added.

A key to Venesky's success has been his strong finishes in the second half of the race, including Thursday's WPIAL final.

"When we went through the mile, I was with the chase pack," said Venesky. "There were two and I was in the back of that, hanging on.

"Cam made his move with three laps to go and everyone came back. I was just thinking about medaling (in the top eight). With about 500 (meters) to go, I figured I'd just go for it. Everyone else just came back.

"It's pretty exciting just to be around other good runners in the area and see how you stack up against them," Venesky added.

And Venesky's not done yet. With one more race in his high school career, Doyle's record is out there, something to shoot for as well as a possible state medal.

"He finally broke through and I don't think he's run his best race yet," said Brahler. "I think he'll do it on Saturday.

"Look at T.J. Hobart and Cam Stauffer. He'll talk about them, but what about Owen Venesky? I think they'll be talking about Owen Venesky.

"'They're talking about you like you do about them.' He's finally reaping from all the work he's put in," Brahler added.

The early list of state qualifiers has Venesky, who is headed to Edinboro University to run cross country and track next year, rated 15th in the 3,200, but Brahler believes Venesky could work his way up a bit.

"Last year, eighth place and up was 9:24 or better," said Brahler. "Obviously, he'll go for the school record and his fastest time, but hopefully that list will get shorter if some drop out for other races.

"We have a race plan in place and Owen's executed the plan so far. We'll go out, work hard and have fun."