Alex Heidemann’s long stride took him far in the sports of cross country and track & field; so far that he ran undefeated in cross country dual meets, won league and district championships as well as state medals in both sports, broke school records, and earned the title of Bethlehem Press’s Male Athlete of the Year from Freedom High School, 2021-2022.

It’s safe to say that Heidemann was a target throughout the fall cross country season, but he was a gracious target.

“Alex is competitive, but not to a fault,” said Freedom cross country coach Bob Thear. “He doesn’t have to win every practice, for example, but once the starting gun goes off, he doesn’t want to lose.”

And he didn’t, finishing first overall in all five Eastern Pennsylvania Conference dual meets before being crowned EPC cross country champion on Oct. 19 (16:51.00).

Heidemann led for most of that race at DeSales University, slowly gapping the other competitors.

“Once I hit the third mile, once I got to the top of the hill, I let it go and let my long stride take me home,” said the EPC MVP and Patriot team MVP.

Heidemann repeated his first-place finish a week later at the District XI Cross Country Championships (16:28.60), although in quite a different race because this time, Heidemann was gapped for the first time all season.

“With a mile to go, [Southern Lehigh’s Dominik Lisicky] had me by 10 seconds,” said Heidemann on Oct. 28. “I genuinely was running for second place at that point, and then we got to the hills, and my natural stride let me gain some ground on him, and once we came out of the forest with 400 meters to go...I just went for it, and I got him,..I was so relieved and so ecstatic that I got him.”

It was arguably the most intense race of his senior year, if not for Heidemann, then for Coach Thear and assistant coach Devon Harris, who could only watch, and encourage, and hope during the last quarter mile.

While Thear brought the insight, first-hand experience, and strategy to Heidemann’s races, the 10-year head coach put Heidemann’s accomplishments into perspective when he said that his mother could’ve coached Heidemann, and he still would’ve been a champion.

“Alex is good at taking what went well and applying it in his next race, going forward,” said Thear. “I just gave him some extra things that made him better and that helped him perform at a higher level.”

In this case, going forward meant competing at the highest level, the PIAA State Cross Country Championships in Hershey where Heidemann exceeded expectations when he crossed the finish line as the 10th-place state medalist (16:25.70), the highest finish ever for a male Freedom runner.

“Devon and I thought he would finish somewhere between 15 and 20, and if he ran a really great race, 10 to 15,” said Thear, who had the thrill and honor of placing the state medal on Heidemann. “I gave Alex a big hug and told him I was proud of him. I was so happy that he was being rewarded for all his hard work and dedication.”

Heidemann continued to achieve great things in track & field this past spring; namely, the 800, 1600, and 3200 meter runs.

First, the Patriot senior captured gold medals in each of those events at the EPC Track and Field Championships. Second, Heidemann clinched the 1600 meter run gold medal and the 800 meter run silver medal at the District XI Track and Field Championships. Third, Heidemann won the 800 meter run sixth-place medal at the PIAA State Track and Field Championships.

Heidemann finished fourth in his heat and said that having a detailed plan of what to do in every situation with Coach Thear was very helpful to his race.

“Once I had 300 to go, I opened my stride and put myself in a position to kick,” Heidemann said. “With 200 meters to go, it was just about emptying the tank and going for it. It’s a great way to end my career. It’s a really good feeling.”

Heidemann set a school record that day with a time of 1:54.06 in an event that meant a lot to him all season.

“I usually value it as the level of competition and the effort I had to put in to earn it, and the general race overall, and my time,” he said after winning the 800 at conference championships. “I kind of blew my expectation away with my time.”

Heidemann’s other school records set this season include a time of 4:17.37 in the 1600 meter run at the Shippensburg Invitational and a time of 15:37 at the Paul Short Invitational 5k hosted by Lehigh University where he will continue his academic and athletic careers.

“Alex is the most successful athlete I’ve coached thus far,” said Thear. “It was great. I enjoyed the ride and the success he had.”