All-Delco Boys Track And Field: In long awaited season, Eric Albright reaches new heights

CONCORD — Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was nothing compared to competing in the PIAA Track & Field Championships.

Just ask Garnet Valley’s Eric Albright. He’s done both.

Albright climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world, with family and friends in July 2019, the summer before his junior year.

“That was a ton of fun, probably one of the best things I’ve ever done and maybe will ever do,” Albright said. “It’s such a bucket list item. I was so lucky to experience it.”

He’s also competed in the state meet twice, once as a sophomore and again this season as a senior, and came away with a medal each time. He took fifth in the 800-meter run as a sophomore in 2019 and fourth in the event on a cold and rainy day in Shippensburg this year.

Of the two, the state meet was tougher, even though his events took less than two minutes each. Winding his way up and down the 19,000-foot mountain in Eastern Tanzania took about 10 days.

“It was more of a hike but it sounds cooler when you say you climbed Mount Kilimanjaro,” Albright said. “There is one section, called the Barranco Wall, which is sort of a traversal. It’s not exactly a hike, but the rest of it is days of hiking. And I got to do it with friends and family and that made it more enjoyable. Competing in the state meet was really tough.”

Albright is not about to turn in his track spikes for a pair of hiking boots. He’s headed to the University of Maryland where he will continue his track career. And he will do so as a two-time All-Delco and the 2021 Daily Times Athlete of the Year in boys track.

Joining Albright on the All-Delco team are Chris Belz and Max Dooley (Radnor), Patrick Donaher and Chris Sims (The Haverford School), Bryce Cooper and Michael Woolery (Episcopal Academy), Daniel Munro and Joe Talone (Penncrest), Josiah Bronkema (Delco Christian), Zaquan Bruton (Chichester), Enrico Faccio (Strath Haven), Walton Garnett (Chester), Nathan Nguyen (Marple Newtown), Eric Willis (Academy Park) and George Okyne (Upper Darby).

Albright and Bruton are the only repeat selections from 2019, the last time the team was chosen, with the 2020 spring season cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cooper, Donaher, Fazzio, Munro, Nguyen and Willis are juniors. Garnett is the lone sophomore and Woolery the only freshman. The team was selected by the Daily Times sports staff after consultation with county coaches.

After losing his junior season to the coronavirus pandemic, Albright had a senior year to remember. He was ranked first in the county in the 400, 800 and 1,600. He won the District 1 Class 3A and the Delco Championship in the 800 and finished fourth in the event at the PIAA championships. He closed out his career with five school records (400, 1,600, 4 x 400, 4 x 800, DMR).

“This was my time to show what I could do,” said Albright, who also played soccer for the Jaguars. “I was proud, but I felt I could do more. Junior year I was expecting to have a really good year. It stunk that it got canceled but I tried to work through it. I trained for most of the summer and was super excited to get back into it this year. I heard that spring was going to happen I was super happy that we could at least get training in with the team. I was so tired of doing things alone. I wanted to get with people and have races and compete and just have all the events that come along with track.

“So this year was a year of redemption, I suppose, and a year of appreciation of what high school track is.”

What he treasured most was the camaraderie of his teammates. His love of the team aspect of the sport dates back to his freshman year in 2018 when Chris Rudawsky, Sean Garrett, Cameron Strickland and Cameron Beale, among other veterans, welcomed Albright with open arms.

“It was my first time running track in the spring,” Albright said. “I was running good times but I was a little scared that I would be kind of an outcast because nobody knew me from before. But some of the older guys, the juniors and seniors, took me under their wing and I really started to love the team and the sport because of it. I just embraced the team and the sport because I had such fun training with them.”

Training under the guidance of an Olympian, assistant coach Vicki (Huber) Rudawsky was enjoyable, too.

“She’s amazing,” Albright said. “She’ll pull out her training books from when she was training for the Olympics. She was doing a certain workout and now I’m doing that workout. I’m getting great training and great advice from her because she knows. She’s done it before at such a high level. She understands. She’s not just someone who has coached for a long time; she has coached and competed for a long time.”

Albright is looking to put the knowledge he gleaned from Rudawsky and others into his next adventure when he enrolls at Maryland, where he will major in mechanical engineering.

“I’m super excited,” Albright said. “I think it’s going to be perfect for me. They have great coaches and a great program that’s improving. I can’t wait to get down there.”