By JOHN ANDERSON
Dean Giopulos has coached track and field at Wellsville for 42 years. He ran in high school for Wellsville and in college.
After a long season, sectionals, state qualifiers and states, it was finally time to talk about Xavier Scott, the most decorated senior on a highly decorated team in a highlight decorated program.
A reporter starts to ask a question. “Where does Xavier Sco … “
Giopulos interrupts the question with a fast and stern answer. He knew the question, he knew the answer.
“Xavier Scott is the best ever,” Giopulos said.
He holds school records, Section V and New York State records. Despite how great his career is, he almost had a failure in states as an asterisk to his accomplishments.
A CRASH AND NO FALL
Scott was at the blocks ready to make school and New York state history in the 100 high hurdles. After all, the senior was at states for the third time, and ready to defend his title from 2025.
The gun went off and the runners ran the 13.72 meters (45 feet) before jumping the 10 hurdles. Xavier Scott, who is known as X, has one weakness — that first 45 feet. He’s usually last before the first hurdle. But then he always wins.
Always.
Maybe the slow start was in his head at states, so he got out of the blocks and was in first place before the first hurdle. Faster than ever.
It doesn’t matter the sport, baseball, basketball, soccer, track — when you make a play, it’s all muscle memory. You throw to ball over to first in your sleep. The timing is there. For Xavier, he may have messed up that internal clock.
Suddenly, the first hurdle was there. And Xavier hit it hard. He squarley hit the hurdle with his right leg. The hurdle went straight down. A hurdle weighs around 25 pounds. Hitting it square is enough to cause 90 percent of athletes to fall and crash to the ground. Xavier cleared it with his left leg and he planted his left leg, regaining balance and continuing on as his left leg hit the ground.
In the next 13 seconds, not only did he avoid a crash, he won the race and his second straight state title with a time of 14.31 — the all-time New York State and Federation Class C record. And it’s not even his best. Scott ran a 14.10 in the sectional finals. But the 14.31 is the fastest anyone has ever run it in a state meet.
“It’s a very weird concept, your mind switches from on the track to off the track, to on the blocks and from when the gun goes off. It’s a mindset that’s unexplainable,” Scott said. “I was seeded .6 of a second ahead of second place. There was confidence, but there was also anxiety. I knew the kid in third place had almost beat me and the kid in second was ahead of him and consistent all year. So in the prelims, there was a lot of anxiety. Once I got to the track, there was a calmness. I didn’t want to just practice to win ,but practice to dominate. But then you leave the track and that anxiety comes back.”
The athlete who is called the best ever was worried he would lose that moniker with one mistake.
“Going into finals, I knew I could jog and win, but also worry about all the factors that go into a race. You false start you are completely DQ’d (disqualified), if you hit another kid you DQ’d and if you fall on a hurdle, you are just done, everyone is ahead of you,” Scott said. “With that in mind, I knew you had to be perfect doing hurdles, there is no room for error on the hurdles. My anxiety was going through the roof. I had been beaten in the state finals in indoor, I missed the finals by .01 of a second in my first year of indoor, so all that is going through my mind.”
Giopulos also says Scott has to deal with the pressure of the bullseye on his back. He felt that pressure.
“Everyone there knew who I was,” Xavier said. “I had raced them before, or just knew them through other events or coaches. So I knew I had to get out fast. They said on your marks, I did my walk up and got my fast twitch ready. My heart was pounding, I was so worried about a false start … They said get set,” Scott recalled. “That is the longest .3 seconds of every race. The world goes silent until you hear a bang and you have to react. If you don’t react fast, you are behind in the biggest race of your life. I came out the best I ever came out, but then I hit the first hurdle as hard as I have ever hit a hurdle in my life. I hit it so hard I almost front-flipped through it. But then I knew I had to pick up the pace, pick up my strides.”
He continued, “I trained for this all year. However, a different kind of calm sat in. There were no sounds, I was in my favorite place and muscle memory kicked in. Up down, pull my trail leg through. And on the 9th hurdle I heard a long ‘bang’ and everyone yelling, I had hit the ninth hurdle with my calf, I slid across the hurdle and that slows you down. I glanced at the clock and saw 11.8. I got over the last hurdle and saw 12.4 or 12.9, I knew I had lost a lot of time and kicked it in and ran a 14.31.”
Giopulos added, “In states, it was more like relief when he won. You know how bad he wanted it. Everyone in that race was gunning to beat him. He hit the first hurdle as hard as you could hit a hurdle. Most people? It would have knocked them out of the race. His form and his strength is so elite, he was still able to get ahead by the second hurdle. That would have destroyed 9 out of 10 hurdlers.”
Standing with Giopulos at states were senior Jack Davis and former Wellsville assistant coach Isaiah Brooks.
“Jack was screaming ‘oh no, oh my gosh’ when Xavier hit that first hurdle, but suddenly, he cleared the second and third hurdle,” Giopulos said. “At that point, I knew it was over. As soon as he cleared the first three, I knew he had it.”
THIS SEASON WAS FOR THE PROGRAM
Winning states for the second time in two years came two week after scoring an incredible 32 points in all of his events in the Section V championships to help Wellsville win a team title by 31 points over Bath-Haverling,152-121 It was the first time in 10 years the Lions had won a team title.
But Scott said the season would be empty without winning a Section V title with his teammates for the school. Scott said he was humbled in the off-season when he was invited to several national meets as a top 100 recruit in the nation.
“The standard there was high. There were four Olympians there. There were reigning champions who had standards that seemed unachievable. But they were my age and I thought ‘why can’t I do this?’ But I went from the best in the state to a nobody. I lost it all going to nationals. I finished 48th out of 137. I know I could’ve done better, even my fastest time would have moved me up 20 places. So coming off that, I set my goals higher, I knew I had to do better.”
He won three sectional titles in indoor track and then focused on the outdoor season. During his travels to nationals and meeting other high school athletes from around the nation, he saw the larger programs and schools had large coaching staffs with coaches who specialize in specific events.
It gave him a better appreciation for Wellsville.
“We have a large team. But we are a small school with volunteer coaches who have to work with so many kids,” Scott said. “I saw how the largest schools had more coaches, more specialists. But we probably have one of the best programs in the state for what we have to work with. Sometimes we dont have enough hurdles. If a coach gets sick, you might have one coach working with 90 kids. The work ethic Coach G and Coach Peacock have is unrivaled.”
And as much as other athletes from around the country pushed Scott to have his record season, no one pushed him harder than the boys and girls in the Wellsville track and field program.
“Without having a lot of these kids as I had on this team, I would not be as good as I did. Without people like Jack Davis putting in the emotional strength and work into every event — he was an inspiration. I never felt I could give up because he NEVER gave up and worked so hard. His personality — you see it in other sports — but he’s also a result of Coach G and Coach Peacock, who expect you to do your best each meet.”
Scott continues about his other teammates.
“Then there’s Collin Perkins, he leads the team by example. In meets like sectional Hornell Invitationals, he does what he needs to do every time without having to be asked. In the steeplechase, Bath-Haverling put up a ridiculous amount of points because only points from six kids count. And they placed a lot. The mile is coming up and Bath-Haverling has the top five runners and Collin wasn’t even in the top six. He was not in the discussion. I told him if he knocked one kid out of the top six, we would win sectionals. He went out and knocked two kids out and did more than anyone could have asked from him.”
Scott knows speed. And he knows David Clark has it. He brags about David and many more that helped him win that coveted Section V team title.
“David Clark is one of the fastest 100 and 200 runners on the team. Brennen Geffers, his first year coming out, ran the first leg of the 4 by 100 relay. Blake Kalkoff comes out as a first-year-senior and is amazing in every event. Then along comes Trenton Green, another first year senior! He’s putting up points in hurdles and high jump. And then we had more with NIck G.T. and Jack Cicirello, who learned the 200 in half a season and put up a point in an event and sport he had never done before,” Scott says. “And it’s more than them — There were so many of my teammates who scored big points and everyone collectively brought up the energy — it was unrivaled.”
There was also the emotional support of being with your team.
“Track is an individual sport, you are trying to win over your own teammates. And in practice, you are in groups with the girls in the same events. But in sectionals, and on this day, even though we were competing in the same events and against each other, it brought us together! And the girls were right there with us, their support watching and cheering, The drama dissipated. Everyone from Wellsville wanted to win as a team and see each person persevere and get through the event. At our meets, there is a feeling of peace. Everyone wants what’s best for the team and the person,” Scott said.
GROWING PAINS
It’s statements like this that make Giopulos smile. Xavier Scott is a different person from his 8th-grade year, he’s a different person from his junior year.
“From 8th-grade, to see where he was then, and to see him as an athlete and a person now, it really has been so fulfilling to watch him become the young man he is,” Giopulos said. “I’m really fortunate he’s trusted me. I’ve been able to get on him and he responds in a positive way. It’s not always a love-fest, but he has given me and his teammates everything he has. He is a generational talent. He was one of the five fastest times in Section V history and Section V has had some exceptional sprinters. He is in glorified air. He has the fastest time ever in the states for Class C’s. He would have placed and may have been able to win the long jump or 100 at states, but he chose to concentrate on the 100 highs and I think he made the right decision. But he also would have done really, really well there.”
ENTER COACH BROOKS
Giopulos credits Coach Brooks for putting Scott on the path for success.
“When X was in 9th grade, Isaiah Brooks started coaching with me and Isaiah made him a hurdler. When you have a college All-American like Coach Brooks on your coaching staff in the hurdles, you let him teach a kid everything he knows,” Giopulos said. “Isaiah played a huge role in Xavier’s development. When he left Wellsville X’s junior year, X had to get readjusted to me. And my goal was to make him faster. I was not going to make him a better hurdler. He and his mom (Josie Virkus) went all over to track invitationals and reached out and enlisted in help for someone who specializes in hurdling. X is invested in learning this. He is a student of his body, of nutrition, and he is a student of what he loves to do the most. There are a lot of people who played a role in his arrival as an elite athlete.”
“I met Rashard Johnson, who was showcasing track and field athletes for Primetime 585 and on their podcast,” Scott said. “Coach Johnson reached out to an old friend of his, coach Richard O’Reilly in New York City. I had heard of him because he helped a high school runner get to 13.80. And now I had a chance to work with him! So every week for two to three days, I went to New York City with my mom and worked with Coach O’Reilly to get my form better and improve in all events.”
Everything came together.
“I was still in touch with Coach Brooks, updating him on my season, and I was working with Coach O and having Coach G helping me on a daily basis,” Scott said. “It put me in a better place than ever before going into my senior year.”
A better place than he was when he started modified track and field in 7th grade and pulled up to varsity in 8th-grade.
“I felt like a natural, but I gave off an arrogant vibe, I was cocky and egotistical. I was the fastest kid, I was in 8th grade and I didn’t work as hard as I could. I qualified for sectionals in 8th grade that was good enough for me. Going into my freshman year I was still lazy. That’s when I met with Coach Brooks who was a new gym teacher and I heard he was an All-American in college, but that meant nothing to me. He did hurdles. I just sprinted and did some jumping,” Scott remembered. “I was 6-foot then and Coach Brooks told Coach G he wanted to work with me. I was hard-headed and didn’t want to at first. But he was knowledgeable and I got to know him. He was matching my energy and taught me a new lesson — get in the weight room going into ninth grade and commit to the sport.”
With a laugh, Xavier says, “I’m sure coach G would tell you I was very difficult to work with in junior high. My ego was inflated and didn’t feel I had to work any harder. But Coach Brooks made me show up in the weight room. He told me, ‘You might be the best here, but why not be the best in Section V? and why stop there and be mediocre? Why not be the best ever?’ And Coach (John) Valentine was the same way, I’m sure he had a lot of problems with me when I was young, I spent all my energy and time on everything BUT the sport.”
Scott tried other sports, he played football, soccer and volleyball. But then the focus went to track. As a freshman, Scott ran a 15.92 in the 110 hurdles in the state qualifiers.
“I remember this most because I got hit in the sternum going over the first hurdle. I lost my wind and placed third. That made me realize, there is more to work for. I’m a freshman at states and can be better. I shouldn’t be in this position to get hit or get winded,” Scott said. “First I worked on my dedication. Coach G started saying things to me and I realized I had to listen to all my coaches. When they wanted me to do something, no matter how tired I was, I had to get it done.”
He added, “As a sophomore, I ran at sectionals, I ran a 15.23, setting the school record at the time and got me to states. Now I was nervous, I was a sophomore and had so much work to do. Coach Brooks said ‘take in the moment, see the competition, use it to get better in the future.’ “
Scott made the finals after the prelims and in a rain and storm, ran a 15.43, good enough for fourth place.
“Going into my junior year, I felt I worked so much harder. I worked over the summer with Coach Brooks on hurdles, had fun playing volleyball, then went into track and field more focused. I worked six days a week. If we didn’t have practice, I went out and did hurdles or went and pushed my body to be faster,” Scott said.
In sectionals, he was seeded third and ran a 14.43 at state qualifiers, a day after spraining his ankle.
“I wanted to push myself, in track, everyone is in pain and has mental anguish. Everyone has pushed themselves farther than ever in track physically and mentally. That 14.43 qualified me for the New Balance Nationals, and its title is ‘the fastest party on the planet.’ The following week, I was on the Section V bus to Middletown. We were the last to be picked up and one of my friends said I was seeded No. 1. A new level of anxiety set in. And the person seeded behind me was someone who had beaten me.”
In prelims, he ran a 14.41, his best all season and a Class C state record, and then a 14.43 to win the state championship by .36 of a second.
“It was surreal, it was amazing because going into it, I had no expectations and then I came up on top. And in front of a crowd at such a massive level and I was at the top of the state and not many ahead of me at all. I was also the first boys state champion in track and field in school history and only second to Brian Gray from 1989 (wrestling) to win a state title,” Scott said.
Scott started putting up personal bests that were better than his state times and he said the work had paid off.
SPRING DAY SUCCESS
Scott had some ups and downs this past season, but then came Spring Day on Saturday, May 16 at the John J. Rigas Track and Field Complex in Wellsville. The longest tenured event in the state. Because of the Super 8 track invitational the night before in Salamanca, Scott had limited sleep. The track and field seniors were honored in the morning before events started. Despite this, Scott tied his personal best and school record in the 110 hurdles, then had to turn around and run the 100’s.
“I got out of the blocks the best I ever have and I broke Coach G’s record. From there, I broke my record in the long jump. For the first time ever, I got an MVP award,” Scott said.
What made X’s record day fulfilling for Giolpulos was the 100 meter dash.
Before his record-setting 11-flat at sectionals, there was Spring Day, Wellsvil’s crown jewel of track and field events. X ran an 11.12. That broke the record set in 1977 by his coach, a converted time from yards to meters. Coach Giopulos ran a 10-flat in yards, but his time in meters was 11.14. The previous record was held by John Giopulos, Dean’s father in 1946 of 10.2 100 yards dash, or 11.36.
“Brent Roberts (a 2013 graduate) ran 11.15, but because of the nature of it, and conversions, it’s too close to say he didn’t have it, so we were tied for the school record,” Giopulos said. “And it’s so cool Brent came to our Super 8 meet in Salamanca to see Xavier run. It is a special moment. I’ve had tremendous kids and I’ve wanted someone to break my record. I know how I felt when I broke my dad’s record. And I’ve seen every record but one get broken during my time at Wellsville. The celebration with their teammates and families is special and a special thing to be a part of it. Being my record made it extra special.”
Then came the sectional finals on May 29 in Bath. That’s where everything comes full circle. Xavier Scott knew the Section V MVP award would go to someone who was in more field or track specific events. He would not win the MVP of sectionals because he did track and field events. It didn’t matter — he wanted Wellsville to win a team title.
And he ran faster than ever, an 11-flat. 11.00.
“That’s one of the rare times I saw him show a lot of emotion. He screamed. He knew what he did,” Giopulos said. “Unless something crazy happened, X was going to win the 110 highs, he was going to win the long jump, but there were questions around the 100’s. He might not have gone in as the top seed, but he sure left as one!”
It was only a year ago Giopulos was talking about J.J. Howard, now a basketball and track standout at Alfred State College.
“J.J. Howard was the best field athlete I ever had and X broke his record in the long jump. Xavier has the 100 meter dash record and the 110 meter highs. And his time is like a second and a half faster than anyone has run the hurdles,” Giopulos said. “That is a huge, huge margin. To give you an idea, he is finishing more than a hurdle ahead of kids. That is a long way. I remember when I was running and trying to break my dad’s record and 2-10th of a second seemed like an eternity. And he broke mine at Spring Day by 2-100th of a second and then a full 10th of a second ahead of that. And that’s his third best event! He’s the best, He’s just the best.”
Giopulos said Scott has learned how to be confident and not cocky.
“He’s gone to the Nike Nationals, New Balance Nationals, the Adidas Nationals — he has gone to a lot of big meets and that helped him prepare for the big stage. He’s not shy about competition, he welcomes it. He also has that confidence,” Giopulos said. “He carries himself well, he is strong physically and strong mentally. You are not the type of athlete he is without having both of those strengths.”
Scott is now competing in the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia where he is one of the top 82 athletes in the nation. He will go to the top junior college in the country, Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. After those two years, he will decide on a college at the Division I level. He has his sights set on Manhattan University in the Bronx. Before all of this, he still has his high school graduation party.
“He will go to college and the best is yet to come,” Giopulos said. “He’s going to get faster, he’s going to be in the weight room more, he will be with coaches who are invested in him. No question, the best is yet to come for Xavier Scott.”
