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Shields ends great year with tough race

MHS junior survives Holmdel elements

by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
   Although she wasn’t feeling her best, Casey Shields managed to survive the State Group 1 race and improve on her previous Holmdel Park time by nearly four minutes.
   The Manville High junior, the first female cross country runner in school history to qualify for the State Group 1 Championships, finished 78th in a time of 24:13.92. Shields was hoping to go faster but the primary objective in last Saturday’s race was to overcome her fear of the daunting state championship course. She accomplished that but was still disappointed with her finishing time.
   ”It was not a good day,” Shields said afterward. “That time is not good at all for me. It’s such a bummer.”
   Shields entered the race with a few nagging health issues. She’s been running with a stress fracture in her left foot and was also suffering from an upset stomach. Even with those factors working against her, Shields found a way to finish the grueling course.
   Holmdel offers many more challenges than any other course the Mustangs run. There are hills, turns and rugged terrain. It’s not the flat lands of Manville.
   Many runners fear Holmdel and Shields used to be one of them. Now, she’s gotten over that mental barrier.
    “I was mentally prepared for the course and I got over my fear,” she said. “It just wasn’t a good day for me to have a bad day.”
   Shields didn’t have any grand illusions of qualifying for the Meet of Champions. It would have taken an enormous improvement over anything she had ever achieved to place in the top 10 and qualify. That gives her something to shoot for next year.
   ”She would have needed to run her fastest race by a lot to get to the Meet of Champions,” MHS head coach Jim O’Connor said. “She’s excited about getting to where she did and now the idea is to take another step next year. Casey worked very hard and she had a great season.”
   While she would have liked to finish somewhere in the 22-23 minute range, Shields was proud of the improvement she made at Holmdel. Two years ago as a freshman running in the Central Jersey Group 1 meet, she went out too hard and struggled to finish in 28:10. She took a smarter approach this time and cut nearly four minutes off her previous Holmdel Park performance.
   ”I knew the points to watch out for,” Shields said. “I wanted to take it slow and get a feel for the course. I want to be better prepared for the next time. I want to run it to my full potential next year.”
   Shields viewed last Saturday’s race as a building block for her senior season. She worked hard to accomplish her pre-season goal, which was to place in the top 10 in Central Jersey Group 1 to reach the state meet. Next year, she plans to take it one step further and compete in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
   ”I definitely put my foot in the door,” Shields said. “I’ll be ready for next year. I definitely want to come back next season and take it by storm.”