By Mike White
Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — Jackson High School girls’ cross-country coach Glenda Calabro knew Jen Clausen was an experienced runner. She just didn’t expect the freshman standout to be as dominant as she has been at this point in the season.
Clausen demonstrated mid-season form by winning the varsity A Division of the Shore Coaches Invitational Saturday at Holmdel Park.
Unfortunately, Clausen’s first-place finish wasn’t enough to propel the Lady Jaguars to the team title. Jackson finished third with a total of 65 points.
"She ran a great race," Calabro said. "She is such a great competitor. It doesn’t matter who we are racing against. She treats each race the same. She is a very focused athlete."
Toms River East won the event with 51 points, and Shawnee placed runner-up with 55.
Calabro was pleased with her team’s efforts.
"Finishing third is the highest we’ve ever placed in this event," Calabro said. "With the team that we have this year, we expect to have a chance at winning events like this. We only finished 14 points back, and that is not a whole lot for a meet like this. I think it was a good day for all our girls."
Clausen covered the 3.1-mile course in a time of 19:23. She easily outdistanced the rest of the field, with her closest competitor 45 seconds back.
"She battled through the first half of the race," Calabro said. "It was very close until about the halfway point, then she just pulled away. Once she made her move, there wasn’t anybody who could catch her. She finished well ahead of the second-place runner. It was a very strong performance."
The course at Holmdel Park is hilly. The 5,000-meter layout didn’t faze Clausen at all, Calabro said. She was comfortable running up and down hills.
"A course’s layout doesn’t matter to her," Calabro said. "She runs the same regardless of where the race takes place. She is experienced even though she is young."
Clausen was 12 seconds faster than when she ran the course in late August.
"She was going full out," Calabro said. "She runs to win every time she steps to the starting line."
Jackson’s Jenna Pendergast placed fifth overall with a time of 20:24. Her time was 30 seconds better than the last time she ran Holmdel Park.
"That’s a significant drop in time," Calabro said. "She ran an awesome race. She was focused and ready to compete."
Megan Smith placed 24th overall in a time of 21:44. Teammate Meghan Faughnan was 25th in 21:45, while Lindsay Smith was 29th (21:58).
The Jags are 1-2 overall in dual meets this season. Jackson’s two losses come by a combined 12 points. The Jags squared off against Toms River South Tuesday at Ocean County College.
"We need to run the rest of the season the way we did at the Shore Coaches Invitational," Calabro said. "If we run the kind of times we did there, then we can compete with a lot of different teams. The A South Division is very competitive. We have a couple of teams that ranked in the top 10 of the state."
Jackson boys place seventh
Paul Bahamondes led the Jags by placing 14th in a time of 17:04. Jackson compiled a total of 235 points to place seventh in the event.