Locals in state sectionals on Saturday
By: Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The poster boy for the West Windsor-Plainsboro South boys’ cross country team’s improvement is Jeff McKee.
He has made a quantum leap in performance from his sophomore to junior year, one that he hopes will continue when the Pirates run in the Central Jersey Group IV state meet at Thompson Park on Saturday.
”Expectations have changed quite a bit,” said McKee, who was third for the Pirates, 57th overall, at last year’s sectional meet as his team finished 10th out of 18 teams. He was disappointed to run 16:44 for 18th place as last week’s Mercer County Championships, but his time was a 32-second improvement over the year before.
”The big difference is last year it was mostly junk mileage I did,” McKee said. “I was running for a long time but it wasn’t geared for anything. Now I’m more focused. I’m getting in fast stuff as well as longer. We’re training smarter more than harder.”
Last year was McKee’s first season of cross country, though he had run winter and spring track as a freshman. He gave up soccer to join cross country and by sectionals last year, he was the Pirates’ No. 3 finisher.
”I was sort of feeling my way through it,” he said. “Summer training, I was not sure what I was doing. Summer training this year, I knew more what I was doing for the fall.”
McKee peaked at 85 miles per week over the summer. The highest mileage runner for the Pirates along with state standout Brian Leung, McKee’s mileage has paid benefits. It was during the summer that he began noticing a change in his fitness level. His improvement along with that of Sam Macaluso and Kevin Foy has helped push the Pirates toward their second big goal of the year after finishing second at the county meet.
”Giving (WW-P) North a good shot was one,” said Pirates head coach Kurt Wayton. “We didn’t make Groups last year. Our other goal is to make it back to states. I think that’s reasonable. If we have a perfect race and a few things go wrong for some other teams, we’re a black sheep for winning sectionals. There’s no way we should be in this position.
”I told Jeff, if you run the same race and we as a team run the same race, then we’re looking real good. It’s almost laughable that we’re ranked 12th in the state. Not that it’s a weak year. It’s just these are ordinary guys that worked their butts off from June on.”
The Pirates along with Montgomery High School will compete in the CJ IV meet. In the Central Jersey Group III meet, also at Thompson Park on Saturday, the boys’ and girls’ teams from Princeton High and WW-P North will compete.
”Coach always says right now you can’t do anything to make the season better,” McKee said. “You can only screw it up. He talks about protecting the journey, protecting what we’ve done. We’ve started tapering, getting ready for counties and sectionals. We’re cutting back. We’re getting ready to run fast.
”We’re obviously going to try to win it,” he added. “It’s more about going out and racing tough and having the opportunity to win it. We’d like to prove to Jackson, Old Bridge and other teams that we are competition and they should be scared of us.”
Wayton wasn’t sure that would happen before the season began, but he was optimistic. His returning runners have built on their modest track success.
”A lot of kids responded to the training,” Wayton said. “I’m surprised, but I’m also enthused. Here’s a group of kids totally unheralded and they have taken it day by day and gotten better. I can’t think of many teams that have put in as many miles as they have.”
Those miles have the Pirates feeling strong about their chances at the end of the season. For McKee, Saturday’s sectionals provide a chance to put the county race behind him and again run with Macaluso and Foy.
”We’ve been a tight pack the entire season,” McKee said. “I like to stay up with them and hopefully one of these times, get in front of them. We’ve a little bit of a competition going. I’m losing by a little bit. But we have a couple more races. When you get up with them, it takes the pressure off you. Counties was a step backwards, but I plan on being there.”
McKee’s development has helped put pressure on his teammates to continue to improve as well. They have shown they have talent beyond Leung. Earlier this season, without the two-time county champion, WW-P South finished second at the Cherokee Challenge. It was an eye-opener, and the surprises haven’t stopped yet. McKee came into the season with a personal record of 4:54 on the track.
”I think he went 4:47 in a workout last week,” Wayton said, “and you don’t do speed in cross country. I think he was surprised about it. He’s a poster boy for what you can do. He listens and has faith.”
He has faith that the Pirates can put together a couple more weeks of solid efforts, beginning with a big one Saturday that could propel them into the Group IV state meet on Nov. 11.