Pone 2nd in CJ Group I

By: Sean Moylan
   For the second year in a row, Amanda Pone "is" the Bordentown Regional High School girls’ varsity cross country team.
   Yet with her second-place finish in the Central Jersey Group I Sectional Meet at Holmdel on Saturday, Pone probably has some coaches wishing they could exchange their full 10 to 20 girl teams for her.
   Pone’s stellar 21:45 time qualified her for this Saturday’s upcoming Group II State Meet at Holmdel.
   "It was actually interesting because the first place runner was 40 seconds ahead of me and the next runner was 50 seconds behind me," said Pone, who is no stranger to running long distances by herself. "You just have to stay motivated."
   Pone was motivated enough to bolt out of the woods with a high leg kick and sprint to the finish line, though there was not another runner in sight. The Scotties’ senior star had gotten this far in past, but the second-place finish at Sectionals was a career best. This year, however, she wont be satisfied unless she makes the Meet of Champions.
   Independent cross-country runners cannot be successful without the support of their families and a volunteer head coach. In Pone’s case that coach is Dave Misselhorn, who coaches girls’ varsity track for Bordentown in the spring.
   "I go to meets with my mom and dad and Dave Misselhorn," said Pone, who has been doing speed work with Misselhorn in recent weeks. Currently she is running 35 miles a week, usually 6 to 8 miles at a time. Because she is a one-girl team many meets are not open to Pone. Nonetheless, she has to stay sharp regardless. Last month when The Race for the Cure, an event in which Pone has supported and excelled in for years, was cancelled, she simply turned her attention to the next day’s Divisional Meet where she placed third with a 21:07 mark on New Egypt’s flat course. If anything, she’s an extremely focused and determined young athlete.
   This winter she’ll compete in the distance medley relay, the 4×400, the 4×800 and the individual 1600 and 3200 races. And in the spring she’ll be looking to break personal best times in the 1600 (6:01) and the 3200 (12:38). While Pone is good friends with most of the athletes on Bordentown’s spring track team, her first love remains cross country.
   "I think I peak at cross country. I’m more of a distance runner. It relaxes me," said Pone. Hopefully this year Amanda Pone will relax herself right into the Meet of Champions.