Stanley steams to Cougars top

Improved sophomore sees bright future for boys’ XC

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Mike Stanley sees potential in the Montgomery High School boys’ cross country team.
   ”I think next year we could be a really good team,” said the Cougars sophomore. “We just have to put in maybe more work in during the summer. We have a lot of good new additions.”
   Stanley speaks from personal experience. Last year, he was a new addition to the Cougars, and he was entirely new to the sport. He blindly took up running, which he had considered a good stress reliever and found some success on courses entirely unfamiliar to him.
   ”Last year, I was a lot faster than I thought I would be,” Stanley said. “I thought I’d be in the back huffing and puffing.
   ”I saw I was getting pretty good times. With more training and more determination, I thought I could probably do a lot better than these times, which I have achieved this year.”
   Stanley has flown to the front for MHS with a year of seasoning and a better summer of preparation. He was the Cougars’ second finisher, behind Ray Romano, in a loss to Somerville in the regular-season finale Wednesday. It was just the third time this season he finished second for MHS. He has been their top finisher five other times, not bad for someone who began last year in the ninth spot before finishing the season as the Cougars’ sixth.
   ”He’s the most consistent runner on our team,” said MHS head coach Jen Riddell, whose 2-4 team will compete in the Somerset County Championships on Wednesday. “He really stepped it up this year. He seems to really enjoy the sport also. He speaks really positively about it. He’s always talking to his teammates and trying to get them pumped up in a competitive mode. I think he has a great work ethic, and you can see it’s paying off.”
   Said Stanley: “I think the biggest difference between last year and this year is my summer training. I didn’t do much before last year. This year, I tried to do more before the season got started.”
   Stanley has no plans of slowing down following this year’s breakout season. While he won’t run for the school team in the winter or spring due to commitments to the MHS jazz band, Stanley does plan to continue his training. He knows how much his attitude helped him after last year.
   ”I think just wanting to be better at it,” he said. “If anything, you want to improve yourself. I just wanted to be better and get better times.
   ”I didn’t expect to get the times I’m getting. I expected to be better, but not the times I’m getting. I’m pleased with what I’m accomplishing this year.”
   The Cougar season isn’t over and they are hoping for a strong showing down the stretch. After the county meet, they have their conference meet and then sectionals.
   ”Last year, at counties we were eighth out of 14,” Riddell said. “I think we should be in the top half. We were 12th out of 22 in the conference last year. I want to be top half. We have to get ourselves on the other side and the boys, I’d like to see them a little more self confident. They have to get more competitive during training and on meet days.
   ”We’re young and I think we’re starting to instill that philosophy. I feel like we did more this year in regards to mileage and workouts. I’m going to keep plugging at it, and hopefully the boys do too.”
   All they have to do is follow the lead of Mike Stanley.
   ”Just the fact we have so many young people, it leaves a lot of room for our team to grow,” he said. “I hope we can do that. We definitely have a lot of room to grow.”