LHS boys, girls cross country teams aiming to improve

By Tim Falls
   After lacking the numbers to field a full team for several years, the Lawrence High school girls cross country squad was finally able to score last season and won four meets.
   This year, the Cardinals aim to improve on the 4-8 record from last season. Likewise, the Lawrence boys cross country team has been training to better its 4-9 record from last season.
   Tim Collins is now the Lawrence cross country coach, while Katelee Zapolski is the assistant coach. Collins, who is now a teacher at the high school after moving from the middle school, is also the head girls track coach. Zapolski, a teacher at Ben Franklin, is a graduate of Lawrence High School. Zapolski was an All CVC field hockey player for the Cardinals and was a runner on the Lawrence track team.
   Zapolski still holds the freshman girls’ 800-meter record and was part of the record-setting 4×800 Cardinal relay.
   Collins said he was encouraged by the dedication by his runners this season, noting the Cardinals’ summer training was the most productive it has been in Collins’ time with the team as an assistant coach.
   ”More boys and girls came to preseason practices in better shape than in previous years,” said Collins in an e-mailed response.
   Leading the Lawrence girls this season will be sophomore Andrea Tunnard, who was the Cardinal’s top runner last year as a freshman.
   Lawrence junior Natalie Falk and senior Laura Brehm, the Cardinal captains, will race with Tunnard as the top three.
   Lawrence also has senior Nicole Kelliher, a four-year starter, sophomores Stuti Tank and Marissa Polo, and freshmen Elizabeth Marsh and Lydia Falk. Collins said the top Cardinal girls are running five miles during practices now and will be up to six or seven miles soon.
   Lawrence competes against perennial powerhouses like Hopewell Valley and West Windsor-Plainsboro South in their first Colonial Valley Conference meet. The Cardinals start the season with a two-mile Knight Invitational held at West Windsor-Plainsboro North on Saturday.
   Collins said the early schedule will be a challenge for the Cardinals, but he expects constant improvement.
   ”Our schedule has our toughest opponents early in the season so our record will not be very pretty in the beginning,” said Collins, “but as the season goes on, I expect our record to improve dramatically and for us to have the best girls cross country team we’ve had in 10 years.”
   The Lawrence boys are led by senior captain Marcin Truszkowski, who was the Cardinals’ top runner last year until suffering an injury.
   Senior captain Scott Figatner and junior Rafal Truszkowski, along with Truszkowski, have returned strong and are running eight miles at practices.
   Lawrence also has junior Justin Wisniewski, whom Collins expects to be part of the Cardinals’ top pack, as well as junior Kyle Bennett, sophomores Solomon Park, Ethan Schindel and Roy Lin, and freshmen Abel McDaniel, Nic Trani and Tristan Jordon.
   Collins said he’s hoping Lawrence will finish as one of the top five teams in the Mercer County Championships and finish the CVC season with an over .500 record.
   Collins added that his big concern is keeping all his runners healthy since the loss of even one runner on either team would be hard to replace.
   ”We have to walk a delicate line between pushing ourselves to run long and far,” said Collins, “but not injure ourselves with wear and tear.”
   To avoid overuse injuries, the Cardinals will bike and work out in the pool at times during the season, he said.
   ”This is the hardest-working group of boys and girls we’ve had in the program in years,” said Collins.”
   ”Many of the runners met twice a week over the summer to train together and the team gets along very well. I’m extremely excited about this season and I know that Lawrence is going to be very proud of these runners by the end of the season.”