Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week

WW-P North’s Scott happy with running start

By: Justin Feil
   Brian Scott was pleased with the way that last year went for the West Windsor-Plainsboro High North boys’ cross country team.
   "We were pretty happy about it," the Knight senior said. "We were one of the only teams in the school that had a winning record. We thought we had a good team coming into this year.
   "We have six out of seven of our runners that are experienced guys. We only have one new runner who hasn’t done cross country. I think that will help us."
   More than that, thinks WW-P North head coach Bill Mealy, is the kind of leadership that the Knights get from Scott and fellow senior captain Mark Collins. They’ve led the way to an impressive start.
   After finishing sixth individually in leading WW-P North to a fifth-place Division II finish at the Briarwood Invitational in Philadelphia in the season opener, Scott kicked off his in-state running with an even stronger start.
   The senior was the top finisher in a 21-40 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro South and 15-42 win over Lawrence on Thursday at Mercer County Park. He came back Saturday to place fourth individually at the Battle of Monmouth Class Meet to help the Knight seniors place second overall.
   Brian Scott is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
   "I see him being stronger at the end of races than he’s been in the past," said Mealy, whose team is 3-1 after beating Ewing and losing to Notre Dame on Tuesday. Scott was first overall in 16:32. "I expect him to take a run at being No. 1 in the county. I just want him to take it one at a time."
   The second-year Knight head coach relies on Scott for more than just a top finisher at each meet. Behind the scenes, he’s just as valuable.
   "He leads by example, but he suggests things to me," said Mealy whose team faces Steinert and Trenton at Veterans’ Park on Tuesday. "He and Mark wanted more mileage, and we’ve adjusted our workouts somewhat. As a captain, he can give me an idea of what we can do, whether we should do more or if it’s too much. He works really hard and he’s a great person to be around."
   Scott made it easy to be near him this summer by organizing some of the team runs.
   "We kind of luck out because we live really close to each other," Scott said. "One of them is a sophomore and we brought him out. It helps on the days we don’t have official practice."
   Still, Scott’s running ability can make it pretty tough to keep up. Scott finished Thursday’s tri-meet (Mercer County meet contender Allentown was there as well, but didn’t score against the Knights) in 16 minutes, 40 seconds. He ran the Briarwood Invitational in 17:09 and the Battle of Monmouth in 17:21.
   "I thought it was really good competition (at Briarwood) and we weren’t even in the championship race," Scott said. "I felt pretty good about that. I had a good time, so no complaints. I thought I could have been faster (Thursday), but I was pretty happy that we won two.
   "I think I’m right on track for what I expect. I’m getting there."
   Scott would like to live up to the high expectations he’s set for his final year of high school running with WW-P North. He still has the Mercer County meet and the sectional and group meets late in the year to prove he’s among the state’s best runners and to lead the Knights to another big year.
   "I think everybody’s happy about what’s happened so far," Scott said. "They’re hoping to work their way up and we’ll see how we do."