ALLENTOWN: Murphy, Redbirds ready to run

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   It may be a new date and a new course, but the goal remains the same for Heather Murphy.
   The Allentown High School senior is determined to help her Redbirds girls cross country team reach its first Group III state meet. To do so, they will have to finish in the top five at the Central Jersey Group III meet that has been moved from Thompson Park to Delsea High School and back one week to this Saturday in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
   The Redbirds came up just one place short — sixth overall — at last year’s CJ III meet, and Murphy has been thinking about her final chance at sectionals since that day.
   ”Longer than that, all of high school,” Murphy said. “It’s the most important race I’m going to run at Allentown High School. It personally means a lot to me, and as a team it means a lot as well.”
   Murphy, one of three senior captains along with Juliet Scesney and Anna Travers, is confident under pressure, which is a good thing since she’s soaking it up.
   ”I put our whole season basically is measured by this race on Saturday,” she said. “It was unfortunate that we had the hurricane, but everyone else in New Jersey had to deal with it as well, so we’re going up against the people that had to deal with it as well as us.”
   Murphy and her teammates kept in contact via text messaging, and they tried to keep running after Sandy passed. Murphy met up with AHS frontrunner Alexandra Tendler for her runs, and the team got together for a hard workout one day.
   ”It was difficult for us to meet up at the high school,” Murphy said. “We were able to text each other and make sure everyone was still running. Just three days off could destroy five months of training.”
   And many more years of dreaming. Murphy didn’t come to cross country until her sophomore year, but she made a quick impact behind standout Caroline Ticse. Murphy remains a strong No. 2 on her best days, and she finished her regular season by breaking 20 minutes at Mercer County Park in the Colonial Valley Conference division meet. She also placed 21st at the Mercer County Championships.
   ”This year, I’m faster than I’ve ever been during cross country season,” Murphy said. “I was really happy to make improvements from sophomore and junior year. I’ve been training since the end of June, so it’s a lot of hard work. I broke 20 minutes the other day. It’s the first time I ever broke 20 minutes. It was a very big deal.”
   The Redbirds have been breaking records all year. When Ticse was setting individual records, the team was starting to improve, and now there is the depth they need to compete in sectionals. They showed it in a sixth-place finish at the Mercer County meet.
   ”We were happy,” said AHS girls coach Ray Britton. “The girls, that was the best performance of Allentown at counties. We were pretty happy. Everyone ran their best times. As a coach, I couldn’t ask for anything more than that. It’s still a young program. I think the whole girls program has only been in existence for five years. For a program getting off the ground, we had a nice performance.”
   The standards have increased drastically in the last three seasons. Murphy was disappointed that the Redbirds didn’t fulfill her career-long goal of making sectionals last year, and it set the bar for this year’s goals.
   ”They were higher because last year we missed qualifying for groups by seconds,” she said. “It was devastating to me. As captain, I knew we had to change and be more focused and make sure everyone was ready to race on Saturday.”
   She’s been happy to see the progress of the program in her tenure, and she’ll be happier still if she can leave Allentown with a bit of history. She wasn’t sure it would happen after Ticse graduated and left a void at the top.
   ”Personally I was very unsure of what potential we had in the future,” Murphy said. “Caroline was so talented and she was also a great friend to have on the team. Everyone stepped up last year. It was amazing to see. A lot of our sophomores and juniors, they’re very fast. They filled in the gaps. We’re a more tightly packed team this year.”
   It has paid off in the regular season with more wins than ever, and a higher finish at Mercer Counties.
   ”Last year we were the best cross country team that Allentown has ever had,” Murphy said. “Now this year, we’re the best. We’re moving up. It’s really awesome.”
   Murphy gets some of the credit for the improvement. She has helped to raise expectations and the younger Redbirds have followed her lead.
   ”We have really good leadership this year, the best we’ve had,” Britton said. “The kids are unbelievably dedicated. I didn’t have to tell them, but just about every kid ran every day last week during the storm. That’s great that you don’t even have to tell them. It’s a real nice group of kids.
   ”Heather, she’s the driving force. She did not run her freshman year. She was a soccer player. She ran every year after that. She’s just a great kid to have on your team. Next year, she’s going to be hard to replace. I’m going to enjoy her while I can.”
   The seniors will be leading the Redbirds to a new course site for sectionals. They are determined not to let the change affect them.
   ”It kind of threw me off course at first,” Murphy said. “I had always pictured this race at Thompson Park. I’ve run there dozens of time. I’m unsure what to expect. I think it almost gives an advantage to me and my team, because I think it’s like a fresh start.”
   The Redbirds feel primed and ready to go after an historical achievement. It will take a good race, but that’s what Murphy and the Allentown girls team has been waiting for all season.
   ”We do have a chance,” Britton said. “It’s not going to be an easy chance. Now that it’s moved to Delsea, I don’t know. We haven’t run that course. They’re very positive about it.”
   Said Murphy: “I think we’re exactly where we need to be because we placed at the division championship better than last year, we placed better at counties this year than last year. I’m hoping at sectionals, everyone will perform the way they’ve been and we can advance to groups.”