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PHS senior Vasseur off to running start

Little Tigers sweep opening quad-meet

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Chris Vasseur couldn’t have planned a better start to his senior year.
   On a Princeton High School boys’ cross country team that is thin on varsity experience, Vasseur is being counted on for leadership as a co-captains with fellow senior Aaron Deutsch.
   Vasseur opened the season by finishing second overall to lead the Little Tigers to a sweep of Nottingham, Steinert and Trenton on Tuesday.
   ”It was definitely a good start to the season,” Vasseur said. “We definitely have a lot more work to do. It was great to come out and get three wins to boost our confidence and start off sharp.”
   It was quite a jump for Vasseur, who competed for one of the last three spots in the top seven last year. Vasseur was at the front for PHS on Tuesday.
   ”He’s a whole different runner from last year,” said PHS head coach John Woodside. “He’s at a different level mentally. He has trained so much better and so much more consistently. We’ve stepped up his mileage. He’s running with a lot of confidence now. And if he’s running with somebody, you know he’s going to be really tough. To beat him, you’re going to have to do something special.
   ”I love the way he and Aaron are leading the team. Aaron was captain last year. This is more familiar territory for him. Chris is helping lead the team. I think they make a good tandem. They help each other out front there during the race.”
   Vasseur is hoping to stay at the front for the Little Tigers, who will be relying on a strong pack this season after losing their top three runners from a year ago. They will be counting on contributions from plenty of new faces.
   ”When we started, there were a lot of questions,” said Vasseur, whose brother Tim is a freshman for the Little Tigers. “There are a lot of new guys who haven’t raced at the varsity level. We made progress in spring track, but it’s different in cross country with the distance and everything. We worked to get into shape so we could get a good start. I think people have responded well.”
   After Vasseur, Deutsch was third and Colby Hering, another senior, was seventh overall.
   ”That was a real good surprise,” Woodside said. “Damien Nagle was solid as our fourth. Fifth was Alaistair Jones, who ran 18:26, which was personal record. Our sixth and seventh men were Jeremy Bregman and Ajamu Kambon.
   ”Aaron Thomas was hurt. Another guy was hurt, so we had some guys out. We’ll be even stronger next week.”
   Establishing a strong starting point was crucial for PHS. Vasseur is already well ahead of last year’s pace. He ran a 20-second personal best Tuesday.
   ”It’s really good to start off and see I’m already better than last year,” he said. “I’m trying to set high goals to make sure I can drop even more. It’s been good to start off strong already and be in the best shape of life right now.”
   Vasseur feels as though he is a more important part of the cross country team this year. Last year was his first season running in the fall, though he has done winter track his first three years and spring track the last two seasons.
   ”I trained really hard all summer,” Vasseur said. “I knew I’d be up there. If I don’t run well, it’s going to hurt the team. It’s a whole new experience being counted on. I’ve gained confidence. I know I can go out and get it done every day.
   ”I definitely think there’s a lot more pressure,” he added. “I also think I’ll be able to respond well to it and run well. As long as I run well and go to the front, we’ll be fine. And we have a lot of other great guys, so if I’m not running well they can pick me up.”
   The Little Tigers were plenty encouraged by their first race. They answered any early doubt they had going into the first big race for many on the team.
   ”The great thing about it is that meet I felt like we ran up to our capabilities and all the guys ran solidly,” Woodside said. “Some guys ran even better than I thought. In the first meet, you’re sort of on egg shells. You don’t know what to expect. You haven’t been tested yet. It’s one of those things where you hope it works.
   ”We know next week will be a much tougher challenge,” he added. “We have Notre Dame. We’ll be ready to compete. They felt it was a solid start.”
   For Chris Vasseur, it was perfect.