Knights junior confident entering second season
By: Justin Feil
John LiPuma brings a toughness to the West Windsor-Plainsboro North boys’ cross country team.
It has nothing to do with his previous athletic experiences with the Knights. As a freshman, he played football in the fall and basketball in the winter. He gave them both up to become a year-round distance runner at WW-P North last year.
"It wasn’t that tough," LiPuma said. "I kind of just did football because my friends were doing it. The harder one was basketball in the winter. I was really into it. I kind of found a new love in cross country and track."
LiPuma got over the heartbreak of losing basketball and made big strides in track last year. He came back after a strong summer of training ready to build on his first season of cross country. The Knight junior last year found a different sort of pain than he had dealt with on the football field.
"With cross country, you bring the pain on yourself," LiPuma said. "It’s a different kind of toughness. You have to embrace it. You know it’s going to hurt. If you bring the pain on yourself, the reward is going to be great. And no one else is crazy enough to do it."
Crazy is what he hears from his old football and basketball teammates. But he has garnered respect among his new cross country and track team members while developing into a valuable contributor. LiPuma was the Knights’ second finisher, 10th overall, behind fourth-place Sean McNulty as WW-P North finished second in Division II at the Briarwood Invitational on Saturday. Tyler Corkdale was 19th, A.J. Reichert was 22nd and Colin Chudzik rounded out North’s top five in 24th place.
"John definitely brings a toughness to our team," said Knights head coach Brian Gould. "When he was a freshman, he was a skinny, slow kid with bad form. You watch him now and you’d never believe it. He’s gotten stronger and faster. He runs with better economy. He’s also becoming a good leader. He’s speaking up more. I couldn’t ask for anything more from him in everything he does, the way he races, the way he trains and speaks up."
LiPuma is part of a Knights team that has opened the season in promising fashion. After tuning up with the Triple Threat Invitational, WW-P North opened its dual meet season last Tuesday with wins over WW-P South and Hamilton. The Knights resume Colonial Valley Conference action against Notre Dame and Steinert 4 p.m. today at Washington Crossing.
"I think we’re running well," LiPuma said. "We’ve come a long way since the summer and I think we have a ways to go also.
"I was hoping to run maybe a little faster (Saturday). We put in a lot of miles. Hopefully by the end of the year, we’re going to be peaking."
Even in his first season, LiPuma impressed by helping the Knights finish fourth at the Mercer County Championships. He’s feels better prepared for his second season.
"This is a big difference because I got in a lot more miles this summer," LiPuma said. "And I did everything at a lot faster pace. Going into my sophomore year, that was my first year and I didn’t really get as much in at that pace.
"I would definitely like to place a lot higher in counties, probably in the Top 5 or 10," he added. "I finished 21st last year, which was OK for my first year. Sean and I have been putting in a lot of miles. If all goes well, I could possibly do that."
Gould believes that LiPuma is just beginning to reach his potential. LiPuma learned plenty in his first year, particularly figuring out how hard he could push start to finish. Even if it wasn’t pretty at times last year, Gould could appreciate the effort and saw something in LiPuma that looked promising.
"He’s tough as nails," Gould said. "He’s a warrior on the track or wherever he’s racing. He came around last year at the end with a couple nice races. He’s the kind of kid that can amaze you. It shouldn’t surprise you, but then it does.
"He had just snuck under 4:40 a couple times (in the mile on the track) and he came out at counties and ran 4:33 and was right in it. He’s a big risk taker. He’s so tough. He’s got something special that you can’t teach. He gets out there and fights start to finish. He really makes our team tough."
LiPuma is helped by a team that has taken a step toward being tougher overall this year. He needs to look only in front of him at McNulty to get some motivation to work even harder.
"It helps a lot to have him," LiPuma said. "He knows so much about the sport. He’s been in it for three years. This is my second year. He knows all abut the ups and downs and how to carry yourself. We train together. We feed off each other. When we do workouts, it’s good to know there’s someone else out there."
The Knights’ new standards should help them push themselves even harder this year. Gould has already seen evidence of it, even as WW-P North was putting together some of its most impressive results in program history, including a second-place finish Saturday behind Pennsylvania power Strath Haven.
"This is our third year going down there," Gould said. "This is our best finish. This is the first time we’ve actually been in the top three. It was a pretty good time in terms of times and places, but a lot of the guys themselves were coming up talking to me and feeling they didn’t have their best race and their best day.
"Over summer time, there’s been a different attitude and perception. With the exception of Sean, who was in the first group that missed a turn, everybody improved from last year. Still the guys were disappointed. They felt they could have run a little faster. A lot of them got that second-place ache. It’s nice to finish up that high, but second place can be a tough spot to finish. They’re hungry for more."
LiPuma is looking for more in his second season of cross country. He’s adjusting to others expecting that of him as well.
"We have Colin and Sean, they’re our senior captains," LiPuma said. "That was something I didn’t realize until later this year that even though I’m not a captain, people look up to you. They expect you to act a certain way and run a certain way. There is a little more pressure.
"Last year, I was kind of happy to be running solid times. I beat some guys on my team that I never beat before. I used to think running 18 minutes at Washington Crossing was a big deal. Now, I go out there and I feel a lot more confident now. I expect to finish top two, top five in the race."
To accomplish those goals, John LiPuma just has to put together consistent races with consistent effort. It will take being a little tougher this year, but that he can do.