1962 also saw the beginning of athletic excellence in cross country when the yellowjackets won both the blue hen conference and state championships for the first time in school history. led by a trio of phenoms, jake correll (the machine), sami bandak (the spark plug) and jonathan owens (the big o), newark defeated brandywine high school 23-32 for the conference crown and earned the state title by 76-77 over salesianum.