To talk to him and feel his energy and passion gives you a good idea why Scotty Zoscin is such a successful athlete.

Zoscin exudes a will to win at no matter what he is doing.

At one of the smallest schools in the state, this three-sport athlete has found a way to not just compete — but to excel.

The Weatherly junior turned in an exceptional fall sports season, earning the 2019 Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Boys Cross Country Athlete of the Year award.

Weatherly coach Paul Schertrumpf knew Zoscin was ready for a special season from the first day he walked onto the cross country course in August.

He was obviously right.

“Scotty worked very hard all summer,” the now-retired Schertrumpf said. “He had goals, and he was going to do everything in his power to attain them.”

Although Zoscin displayed his passion and talent for cross country from back in his junior high days, it was actually a different sport that got him started with cross country.

“I just wanted to get in shape for basketball season,” Zoscin said about his reason for initially joining the Wrecker cross country team.

But once he got a taste of competing, the desire to keep his legs ready for the hardwood season was replaced by his drive to be the best.

The Weatherly flash began to run in junior high at the start of his seventh grade year. After he did better than expected in his first year, he began formulating plans and goals for the sport.

“When I was in the lower grades, I thought I did pretty good,” he said. “By the time I was a freshman, I felt I could compete and maybe win. I had a goal in mind and that was to eventually win a District 11 gold medal.”

After finishing third in 2018 at the District 11 Class 1A meet, Zoscin knew he was getting close.

“I got the biggest kick in the butt after my sophomore year,” Zoscin said. “I realized I was so close, but needed to still be better if I wanted to win a gold medal, and I let that feeling motivate me.

“I knew I was getting close to attaining that goal and I dedicated myself to reaching it. This past summer, I worked harder than I ever had, and it all paid off.”

While the District 11 victory was huge, it was spurred on by a slight disappointment a week earlier when Zoscin finished second at the Schuylkill League meet.

The league title was a lofty goal, since Zoscin had to beat out top runners from schools with much higher enrollments than Weatherly. But his strong showing motivated him even more for districts.

The D-11 meet was held at DeSales University, where the top runners converge to compete against other runners from schools of similar sizes.

Zoscin’s main competitor in Class 1A was Mahanoy Area’s Cole Streisel.

“Cole is such a great competitor and we’re very good friends,” Zoscin said. “Going into that meet, I knew that he was going to push me.”

Zoscin raced home in a time of 17:40.30 to easily defeat the Mahanoy Area runner, who finished in 18:01.20.

The district title qualified Zoscin for the PIAA State Meet in Hershey.

When he arrived at the state meet, Zoscin wasn’t sure what it would be like, but the experience was something he will learn from and channel it into next fall.

“You know you run in packs, and it can get a little congested,” he said. “I started out pretty good, in a pack of 30, then all of a sudden one runner in front of us slips and falls. The next thing it’s like chain-reaction, the guy in front of me falls, then I fall, and there’s like 10 of us trying to get back up and run.

“It was scary at first, but when I think back it’s funny. You know it reminded me of the movie The Lion King when he was getting trampled on and here I am trying to get up as runners are trampling on all of us.”

Medals at the league and district meet, and a chance to go against the best runners in the state is a long way to come for someone who didn’t have a typical runners’ build when he was young.

“I was a chubby kid,” he said. “I ate a lot of butter cake that my mom made and I love eggnog, too. That made me pretty chubby. But when I started to see how much weight I was gaining, I knew I had to cut back.”

That diet and the exercise he paired with it has spurred his interest in being a possible dietitian.

“I really am into watching my diet, and I think that’s what I would really like to do when I go to college,” he said.

But that step is still over a year away. He is currently staying busy on the basketball court and he still has the 2020 cross country season to build on this year’s accomplishments.

He also has a reminder of how special the 2019 season was.

“The Athlete of the Year Award was a perfect way to end the season,” he said.