Lape brothers pace Spartans

Jake and Rick are twins who have a strong sense of competition.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- Their love affair with running started with the Peace Race in sixth grade, continued during middle school and reached a turning point in eighth grade, when Jake and Rick Lape -- along with Adam Haushalter -- snuck into varsity indoor track practices.
Boardman High coach Dave Pavlansky would be working with the sprinters when he'd look up to find those three running with the distance guys.
Did he let them run?
"I looked the other way," Pavlansky said, smiling.
Two years later, the Lapes have developed into the school's best cross country runners, becoming the first Spartans to advance to the Division I regional meet since Tom Albani did it from 1999-2001.
"I expected them to be two of the best runners on the team," Pavlansky said. "But they've went way beyond my expectations. The only trouble now is you hope they don't get a big head. I want them to finish in the elite class of seniors.
"They don't have a sophomore state meet."
Family tradition
The Lapes come from a running family of six sisters, an older brother who now helps coach at Boardman Glenwood Middle School and a marathon-running father.
"It's a family thing," Rick Lape said.
Jake, who finished seventh at last week's district meet at Malone College, has emerged as the better runner between the two, but only by a few seconds. On any given day, Rick can catch him.
"He always paces me," Rick said. "I usually stay a little behind him and once I see a little distance, I know I need to pick it up."
They've been competing with each other their entire lives -- for time on the phone, girls, races, whatever -- and running has brought out the best in both.
"It really drives both of us," said Jake. "I never want to lose to my younger brother."
How much younger is he?
"Thirteen minutes," he said.
Top competition
Because Boardman is in both the Suburban League and the Federal League, the Lapes consistently run against some of the best runners in the state. Pavlansky said they're already the hardest workers on the team -- "I'm always trying to do more than [Jake] does," Rick said -- and they're not satisfied with just being good.
"It's like Jake and I talked about, we're already running in the regional and we still have two years," said Rick, who finished 15th at the district meet.
"Hopefully we can be two of the top guys in the state in two years," Jake added.
That drive pushes Boardman's upperclassmen to run harder -- "No senior ever wants to lose to a sophomore," Pavlansky said -- and it also sets a good example for the school's younger runners.
"Those guys in seventh-eighth grade still remember [the Lapes] from middle school," Pavlansky said. "They look up to them."
Albani, an All-Ohioan his senior year, was the area's last Div. I boy to advance to the state meet, making it his final two years. The Lapes have to run the races of their lives to make it to Columbus this season, but, even if they don't, their future is bright.
"They're a good example of what you can achieve if you decide you want to do the work and you spend the time it takes," Pavlansky said.
scalzo@vindy.com