I t’s a new year, but Red Bank Catholic High School’s girls cross country team remains one of the state’s best.
The Caseys have lost Non-Public A and Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Region champion Molly McNamara and Hannah Eckstein, but they return a solid cast that gives the team its usual depth.
“It should be interesting,” RBC head coach Rob DeFilippis said of the 2011 season. “We should be pretty competitive on the girls side.”
With seniors Liana Marzano, Lindsey Bellaran and Mary Kate Byrne back, the team is very solid up front. They finished 12-13-18 when the Caseys won last year’s Non-Public Astate championship meet. All three have run 5,000 meters under 19:00.
Katerina Saling, a sophomore who competed at the NP-A and the Meet of Champions (where RBC was third), is also back.
Mary Kate Dooley, Kassi Chrysanthopoulis and Ashleigh Handchen, all veterans of last year’s squad, are also returning. Dooley and Chrysanthopoulis are juniors and Handchen is a senior.
Molly McNamara and Hannah Eckstein have moved on (McNamara to Stanford University and Eckstein to Johns Hopkins), but their freshman sisters, Mary Kate McNamara and Grace Eckstein, have come on board and are expected to contribute this year.
Once again, DeFilippis has a very deep squad.
Just how good this Casey team will be depends on the pack behind their first three. If they step up, the Caseys will have another powerhouse team.
The girls, ranked No. 4 in the state in preseason, began their 2011 season at the Thompson Park Class Meet in Jamesburg,
Bellaran ran third in the Senior Race (20:17) while Chrysanthopoulis was seventh in the Junior Race (21:07) and Saling was 10th in the Sophomore Race.
In her RBC debut, Mary Kate McNamara was runner-up to Holmdel’s Marin Warner in the 3K race (14:52.10-15:57.43). Erin Mills was fourth for the Caseys (16:04.93), and Grace Eckstein was sixth (16:14.98) as the Caseys won the frosh championship. Emily Rienzo (16:21.24) and Lauren Zapcic (16:56.31) completed the championship team, finishing seventh and 10th overall.
On Saturday, Sept. 24, RBC is going to the Six FlagsWild Safari Invitational in Jackson. Voorhees, the top-ranked girls team in the state, will be there as will New York state power Pearl River.
Junior Rob Napolitano gives RBC’s boys one of the conference’s best runners. Described by DeFilippis as the “total package,” he is one of the area runners who can turn a 400 in 50.4 and still handle the challenge of 5,000meters. He will be a player at the Monmouth County and Shore Conference meets, where he was sixth and ninth, respectively, last year. His Holmdel Park personal best is 16:29. DeFilippis believes Napolitano can break 16:00 or come close to it this fall.
Napolitano began his season impressively at Thompson Park, winning the Junior Race. His 16:46 held up as the fastest of the three divisions.
Seniors Charles Rooney and Ryan Denver are seasoned veterans. In the Senior Race in Jamesburg, Rooney ran third (17:14) and Denver was 11th (18:06).
Junior Nick Landolfi and sophomore Kyle Bogert are being looked to this year to form the pack behind Napolitano, Rooney and Denver. At Thompson Park, Landolfi was 16th in his class race (18:04).
Finding runners to step up and add depth to the Caseys’ lineup will be what DeFilippis looks for this year.
Key dates this year include the Monmouth County Championships (Oct. 18) and Shore Conference meet (Oct. 29), both at Holmdel Park. The Casey girls are the defending champions at both meets. The State Group meet, back at Holmdel, is Nov. 12, and the Meet of Champions is Nov. 19 at Holmdel.