Loss doesn’t deter LHS

CROSS COUNTRY

By: Tim Falls
   The loss to Allentown stung.
   Especially considering how close the Lawrence High School boys cross country team had come to winning.
   Allentown edged the Cardinals, 27-29, on Sept. 26 and Lawrence fared no better in losses to Hopewell Valley, Notre Dame and West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Tuesday at Mercer County Park.
   "We geared up for Allentown," said Lawrence coach Dave O’Neal. "That was a big meet. We lost, 27-29, and it was probably the best dual meet we’ve had in all my years of coaching."
   Hopewell, Notre Dame and WW-P South swept Lawrence, 15-50, but O’Neal pretty much expected as much from some of the top teams in the Colonial Valley Conference.
   O’Neal said those three programs aren’t the type of teams Lawrence can compete against yet.
   The Lawrence coach has high hopes for his program, but has realistic expectations when it comes to the dual meets.
   Kevin Raymond led Lawrence in the meet on Tuesday with a 24th place finish in 18 minutes, four seconds. Hopewell Valley’s Matt Hilderbrandt led the race with a first-place time of 16:03.
   Mike Scott and John Stever finished 31st and 32nd, respectively as Lawrence’s second and third runners, while Joe Tissot took 40th and Ben Muzi placed 49th.
   While Lawrence could handle the loss to an undefeated team like Hopewell (7-0), the Cardinals wanted the win over Allentown.
   "We’ve got work to do," said O’Neal. "Our goal is to be the sixth team in the county. Losing to Allentown shows we have our work cut out for us."
   Hopewell may vie for first at the Mercer County Championships on Oct. 27, but Lawrence’s quest for a sixth-place finish will require just as much effort.
   "We were eighth last year," said O’Neal. "We’re a better team and we want to show it by taking sixth."
   The loss to Allentown hurt the Cardinals, because in O’Neal’s opinion teams like the Red Birds and Steinert will be after that sixth-place team finish.
   Even though O’Neal would have preferred the Cardinals to be on the winning side of the 27-29 score, he said it was a great race for both teams.
   David Azer finished fourth overall in the loss to Allentown while racing in field heavily loaded with Notre Dame’s runners. Kevin Raymond took ninth in the race.
   "David and Kevin went one-two against Allentown," said O’Neal. "They’ve really stepped up."
   Azer and Raymond had to increase their pace to account for the loss of Lawrence’s former lead runner, Brendan O’Brien, who is out for the season with an injury.
   Likewise, O’Neal gave credit to a lot of runners, especially the younger ones, who improved in the meet against Allentown.
   O’Neal said Marcin Truszkowski came through for the team in his first cross country race.
   "He came up big," said O’Neal. "He made it closer than it would have been."
   O’Neal said Justin Wisnewski also had a big improvement in the race.
   Following the meet with Allentown, Wisnewski won the freshman race at the South Jersey Hall of Fame Meet at Gloucester County Community College.
   Lawrence may not be in the running for first-place, but, without a doubt, the Cardinals are making gains.
   "The team’s progressing well," said O’Neal. "We’re coming along."