Boys and girls cross country
By: Mike Molaro
One of the priorities of Lawrence High School boys cross country head coach Bob Chandler this season is to instill a "pack mentality" in his squad.
The Cardinals must be listening closely because they followed instructions perfectly in their season opener on Sept. 8 by defeating Allentown, 25-32, and West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 25-34. Lawrence on Tuesday defeated McCorristin, 15-46, and gave highly-regarded Hopewell Valley a battle before falling, 25-30.
The Cardinal girls squad opened its season on Sept. 8 by knocking off Allentown, 16-42, and West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 15-50, before losing to powerful HoVal, 15-50, on Tuesday.
All meets were at Veterans Park in Hamilton Township.
Although they didn’t have anyone in the top five, the Cardinal boys (3-1) took the next five spots to secure the victory. Leading the way were seniors Chris Carroll (18:03) and Aaron Beaber (18:16), followed by senior Bryan Ovalle (18:36), sophomore Nate Johns (18:37), and senior Ben Willis (18:40).
"Having those five guys go 6-through-10 and separated by only 37 seconds was huge for us," said Chandler. "It was nice to see them do that. As a coach, you stand on the sideline and count your first five guys and see if you won or lost. When your five guys come through that close together, it’s great to see. It’s nice to see them bunched together. We’ll be tough to beat if we keep this up."
Against the Iron Mikes and Bulldogs, Beaber placed second in 17:31 while Carroll was fifth (18:11), Ovalle finished sixth (18:20), Johns was seventh (18:20), Willis finished 10th (19:03), and senior Richard Duke was 11th (19:10). Freshman Greg DiTullio broke the 20-minute mark in only his second varsity race with a clocking of 19:59.
"In this race, we started with a nice pack but we broke it up," Chandler added. "HoVal is the type of team that can set the pace in races. It’s tough for our guys who are not used to it to stay in the pack. We got out of our game plan a little bit. It was a very strong effort today. I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made in such a short time.
"I’m happy with where we are right now and with the 3-1 record. We need our 4-5-6 guys to come through for us each race. That will be our key this season."
Seniors Colleen Goodwin (22:41) and Emily Senerth (23:19) finished first and second, respectively, against Allentown and WW-P South while senior Beth Anne Steube was fourth (23:39), freshman Katharina Zeschky was fifth (23:41), sophomore Katie Tenaglia was seventh (24:11), and senior Jackie Chew finished eighth (24:19) as the Cardinals (2-1) took six of the top eight spots.
"Emily (Senerth) went out first and Colleen (Goodwin) made her move at the one-mile mark and took control," said girls head coach Gary Dura. "It was a positive to see us take 1-2. It was also a positive to see what Katharina (Zeschky) and Katie (Tenaglia) did in their first races. The times were pretty good considering it was a hot day and the first race of the season."
Against HoVal, the top Cardinal finishers were Goodwin (22:33), Senerth (22:53), Steube (23:19), Zeschky (23:27), Tenaglia (24:14), sophomore Miriam Kochman (24:57), Chew (25:14), and senior Patty Reccoppa (25:28).
"HoVal is a very strong team," Dura added. "They’re probably the best in Mercer County. Our top five girls improved on their times on the course from the first meet. We are down right now as Jackie (Chew) is hurting with a foot problem and (junior) Carolyn Pearson is still out with a knee injury. This puts a lot of pressure on Katharina and Katie to do well.
"Our biggest opponent right now in the Colonial Division is Steinert. We see them in the last regular-season meet of the season. My biggest concern right now is to stay healthy. Hopefully, by the end of the season we’ll be healthy and ready to roll."