Sophomore leads MHS to sweep of tri-meet
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Lara Shegoski has always spent her fall seasons playing soccer, but she also started running at the age of 8.
”I remember my first race,” said the Montgomery High School sophomore. “I was going to do the one-mile ramble, but my dad was running late and we missed it. I refused to run without him, so that’s how I ended up running the 5k.”
Shegoski showed early talent in running an 8-minute mile at the Turkey Trot in Franklin Township at the age of 8. It’s in the genes, as her father, Marc Shegoski, was on the distance medley relay that still holds the Franklin High record, then ran in college before representing adidas as a miler.
Father and daughter have continued to run occasional road races, but this year Shegoski made the switch from soccer to cross country. After playing on the MHS freshman soccer team last fall, she has moved into the top three for the Cougar girls’ cross country squad that is considered Top 10 in the state.
”She is very good,” said MHS girls’ coach Jim Goodfriend. “She’s a heck of a third girl. We’re about ninth in the state. She’s one of the reasons.
”She’s a great kid and works hard. She’s a great addition to our team. She fits right in.”
Without its top two runners, Amanda Herrmann and Jillian Prentice, Shegoski made her cross country 5k debut in fine fashion by leading MHS to a sweep of Franklin and Immaculata at Montgomery Park on Wednesday.
”I never raced 5k in cross country and I didn’t know what to expect,” Shegoski said. “Jill and Amanda didn’t race either and usually I use them to see how I’m doing. It was a new experience to go by myself.”
Shegoski was second overall for the girls in 19:34 behind Immaculata’s Erin James, who ran 19:21. The MHS boys split their tri-meet.
”During track, I fell back in love with running,” said Shegoski, who was part of the Cougars’ 4×400 relay that reached the Group IV state meet and one of the team’s top half-milers. “I got to states with the 4×400 and that was fun. It made me want to keep running.
”It’s a different adjustment from the track. This was the first time I raced a 5k in cross country. I’m used to going out hard and going as fast as I can the whole time. It’s different.”
Inexperience in cross country is the only thing against Shegoski, who continues to play soccer outside of school. With each race, she figures to get a little better.
”She ran 20 seconds faster than she did in the time trial there,” Goodfriend said. “It was not bad. I just don’t like losing to anybody on our home course. She ran well though.
”She’s a good half-miler. She’s also a good miler. She runs close to 5:24. She’s in really good shape.”
Shegoski got her first taste of cross country racing Saturday at the inaugural Knight Invitational. She came in third overall in the sophomore class race over the two-mile circuit course.
”It helped being in a class race,” she said. “I could tell exactly where I was. I did cross country in sixth grade, and it was good to see how the start goes again and how the race goes.”
Shegoski has been helped in her transition to cross country by having two of the state’s better runners in Herrmann and Prentice. She spent some of the summer training with Herrmann and has fit in nicely behind the top pair to form a top three that is hard to beat.
”She helps us tremendously,” Goodfriend said. “She runs with the other two, and she can keep up for the first couple miles, just not for the last mile now.
”She’s improved. She has a great work ethic. She’s worked hard all summer and it’s paid off. And she likes to win.”
Shegoski was on the track team with Herrmann and Prentice, but while they devoted themselves to the longer distance events, she stuck with the shorter, faster races. She has followed their lead in her development in trying to become a stronger cross country runner.
”It helps to have them,” Shegoski said. “I can see how much more I need to push if I want to stay near them or see them. Hopefully by the end of the year, that space will be smaller between them and me.
”It helps a lot during training,” she added. “If they weren’t there, I wouldn’t be running as hard. It’s good to have them around.”
And without Shegoski, the Cougars might not be as good. She is happy to have joined such a strong group that is considered among the best in the state.
”I think it’s kind of cool,” Shegoski said. “It turns out that we got Laura Noisten and Katherine Manfredi out too, so our top seven is solid. I don’t know much about other teams. We’re supposed to be good.”
Shegoski figures to be a force for the Cougars if she can utilize her half-mile speed at the finish to cross country races. A healthy finish is all that she is looking for in her first season of cross country. She isn’t accustomed to this much running, but after a strong debut 5k on Wednesday, she is looking forward to a big year.
”I didn’t have much kick at the end of the race, but it was good to see how hard to run,” she said. “I’ll have to figure out how hard I can run that first mile.
”I should have a good kick. I don’t know if I knew how to use it. When we start doing more speed work in the middle of the season, hopefully that will help me with it.”
The finish is something to work on. Right now, the MHS cross country team is just happy that Lara Shegoski gave it a start.