Levitt caps senior year by helping Tartans
By: Justin Feil
For the fourth straight year, the Stuart Country Day cross country team made sure it didn’t come back empty-handed from Blair Academy, site of the Prep B Championships.
Sasha Levitt has been around for all four championships, but this one felt just a little better.
"It feels the best this year because I actually played a major part in it," said the Stuart senior. "Every year it feels great. It’s kind of nerve-wracking because it’s come to be expected. My senior year, to lose, it would be horrible. That’s what made me most nervous. There was a lot of pressure on us."
The Tartans took three of the top four spots to eclipse the challenge from Ranney, 44-55, Wednesday on the hilly Blair course. Senior Laura Brienza was second overall, covering the 5k course in 21 minutes, 32 seconds. Nicole Huber, a sophomore, was just one second behind in third place. Levitt was fourth overall in her best race of the year.
"It was my last race and I just wanted to give it all I have. I went all out," Levitt said. "It was kind of odd. I could see Laura and Nicole for a while, which never happens. I was eighth at first. Then people said, now you’re seventh; give it all you got. Then it was, you’re fourth. And I just sprinted.
"It was pretty amazing. I never thought it would end like this. Everyone told me I could do it. I never believed them."
Levitt’s finish was critical to the team. She beat by three seconds the Ranney duo of Laura Smith and Shannon Gelson. Ranney also had the ninth finisher, but Carrie Heckel was 10th for the Tartans. The Tartans add the Prep B title to the Patriot Conference crown they won earlier this year for the seventh straight time. Such success, on top of the Tartans’ impressive fifth-place showing at the Mercer County Championships last Friday, actually made Levitt sweat out being the favorite.
"Everyone was saying that," said the Pennington resident who also plays squash and runs track for Stuart. "You always feel some sort of doubt. Right after the race, we still weren’t sure we had won. We found out and we were really happy."
It was quite a comeback for Levitt, who wasn’t able to run in the second half of last year after a severe ankle sprain. She was the Tartan’s sixth finisher as a sophomore at the Prep B meet. She came into this season hoping to be a steady contributor, which she was as the Tartans’ third finisher throughout the year.
"My coach told me I should be in the Top 7 this year," Levitt recalled. "I didn’t really believe him. Last year, after I sprained my ankle, I wasn’t in the best of shape. I couldn’t run as fast. This year, I got gradually more competitive."
Wednesday, she covered a Blair course that is among the toughest in the state in 22:55. It was the fourth win for the Tartans, but first under head coach Robert Abdullah, who took over midseason for Tom Harrington.
"Our coach had us running a lot of hills," Levitt said. "We would surge up them and then go another 10 seconds. I felt more prepared for them."
Levitt made sure she took care of business in her final scholastic cross country race. Levitt, Brienza and Stuart’s seventh finisher Wednesday, Natalie Verhagen, are the lone seniors who will graduate from this year’s Top 7. Levitt was happy to go out a winner, particularly with a surprisingly high finish in the state finale.
"I did not really expect to finish right after Laura and Nicole," she said. "I thought maybe I’d get in the Top 10, maybe ninth or 10th. I never thought I’d be that high."
Princeton Day School’s Julia Salem finished a strong seventh to lead her team to a seventh-place team finish in the Prep B meet. Morgan Barth improved by 30 seconds over last year’s finish for Hun but the Raiders did not score as a team in the Prep A race.
On the boys’ side, Princeton Day School finished fifth out of 11 teams in Prep B while Hun finished fourth out of six teams in the boys’ Prep A.
"It was a little disappointing," said PDS head coach Eamon Downey. "We were hit with some surprises. Pingry ran in the B race and they’re very good. Montclair Kimberley was also pretty solid. I thought we had a chance even with them, but we ended up in fifth place. Our front two ran well."
The Panthers were led by Jeff Moll, the senior, who was eighth while freshman Erik Lefebvre was 13th. The Panthers hope to return to contend for the title next year.
"We’re losing a lot of seniors," Downey said. "There’s no question that will make a difference. I’m sort of optimistic. Besides the seniors, we have bunch of good freshmen who will improve over the summer. We could end up having a pretty good next year.
"I think we had a good season. The highlight was winning the conference meet. If we run our ‘A’ race, I think we would have been third."
The Hun boys were happy to be able to beat Lawrenceville and Peddie in the A division. The Raiders were led by sophomore Jeremy Mantell, who was 20th overall. Will Christiansen was 22nd.
"We’re really happy with it," said Hun head coach Geoff Evans, whose team competes in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship on Wednesday. "Jeremy ran well. We put everyone in position that they could get the number of points we needed to beat Lawrenceville."

