By: centraljersey.com
Doug Wallack will have a chance Saturday to erase his last memory from racing at Holmdel Park.
The Pirates run at the Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel, where they hope also to cap their season at the Meet of Champions.
Wallack was a junior when the West Windsor-Plainsboro South boys cross country team finished seventh at the Group IV state meet to miss even a chance at a wild card spot for the MOC. Wallack was the Pirates’ fourth finisher that day, in 76th overall in 17:33.
"We had Sam Macaluso and Brian Schoepfer in the top 20 and the rest of us dropped the ball, so we didn’t make it out of groups," Wallack said. "That’s the bare minimum – that we make it to the Meet of Champions this year." Wallack is hoping that he can be a bigger help for the Pirates. He and Schoepfer are the South seniors with the most experience in the top seven.
"Throughout high school, I’ve been putting the work in," Wallack said. "Whether the race isn’t going my way or what, I haven’t quite got the results coming my way. I think I have some sort of breakthrough coming."
Wallack and the Pirates are looking at their first race at Holmdel as a chance to test where they stand right now. WW-P South graduated four of their seven Group IV finishers, but have been encouraged by their early season results. Sophomores Jacob and Daniel Riff have looked strong, along with juniors A.J. Chavez and Dan Sheldon.
"We want to get out smart in good position, hang tough, and at the end get in position to kick and beat some people down the home stretch," Wallack said. "As long as we do that, the times will follow. It’s about the character aspect of it. Our top five, we want to be sub-17. We’d like to all hit around 16:40. We want to break our school record for Holmdel, 16:48, which was set in 2007."
The idea that this group could be approaching records this weekend only recently hatched. The Pirates had their Tuesday dual meet postponed, but have Saturday to test their sharpness.
"I see a lot of our kids getting in their groove," said Pirate boys head coach Kurt Wayton. "Schoepfer is coming back strong (from injury). We won’t see his best, but he’ll be in our top 3. The rest of the guys look awesome.
"We’ve had consistent daily practices. Something we changed this year, I don’t think we had the best summer, so instead of working out hard two or three times a week, we’ve worked out semi-hard five to six days a week. Every day, we’ll do something hard, something specific. I think it’s more aggressive, and a little more risky."
The Pirates are experimenting with this training pattern, something that Wallack is hoping pays off in his final scholastic cross country season. "I’ve been a part of previous experiments," he said. "This one seems to be going fine."
Wallack needed something to change as he looks to find his potential in cross country.
"I’ve always been stronger in track," he said. "My cross times, they’ve lagged behind significantly."
Said Wayton: "He’s always been right on the verge. He’s been in our top seven. Indoors, he had a good season and ran 4:30. He didn’t get into the same kind of groove outdoors. In cross country, he was in our top seven. He’s been a good runner and he’s contributed. He hasn’t found his way into our elite level. It’s been tough (for anyone) to do that. He’s a very good runner. For most teams, he’d be the top runner or near the top."
Wallack hit a weekly mileage high in the 70s over the summer while preparing for his last year with the Pirates. He has sustained his mileage since the season began, keeping in the 60s through the first three weeks of the season, all with the idea it will pay off in November.
"I’d like for my times to get down significantly, low 16s hopefully," Wallack said. "My main goal is for the team to qualify for Meet of Champs. It was a shock last year when we didn’t." Wallack is preparing to do all that he can individually to help push the team to the MOC. The team aspect is his biggest draw to the cross country season, and Wayton is confident that he’ll bring his best to the Pirates this fall.
"He’s had some injuries in the past," Wayton said. "He’s had some rough spots. He’s been close to doing some great things. At this point for him, it’s put up or shut up. Doug’s never been a kid that shuts up. He’ll put up."
Wallack is feeling confident after already training on the Holmdel course a number of times this year. He will be joined for the Shore Coaches Invitational by a group that doesn’t have much big-meet experience yet.
"We have two seniors, a couple sophomores and three juniors, one which never ran cross country before," Wayton said. "There are question marks. The kids that are out there are tough and enthusiastic."
WW-P South is looking forward to its first race of the year at Holmdel Park, as it tries to set itself up for a promising end to the season on the same course.
"We’re a pretty young team but we have some good guys out here," Wallack said. "And Saturday should be a nice chance to see what we’ve set ourselves up for training-wise."

