MONTGOMERY: Morrissey eyes big finish

Cougar boys ready for sectional XC race

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Jack Morrissey isn’t letting anything stand in his way of finishing his season strong.
   He moved his off day back due to Hurricane Sandy, but otherwise wouldn’t let the devastating storm affect his training.
   Morrissey is still building up to the Central Jersey Group IV state cross country meet, the last sectional for the Montgomery High School senior.
   ”It’s my last year, so I really want to do well and I really want to have a good last season,” Morrissey said. “I’ve worked so hard over the past four years. I want it to pay off. I want to see the results of all that work.”
   The Cougars will be part of a loaded sectional field that includes other area teams West Windsor-Plainsboro North and West Windsor-Plainsboro South. Princeton High School will compete in the CJ III meet. The Central Jersey sectionals had to be pushed back one week and relocated from Thompson Park to Delsea High School, site of the South Jersey sectional as well.
   ”You make your schedule during the year so you can run at Thompson Park once and see the course,” said MHS boys coach Tim Bartholomew. “Now you go into the race blind.”
   Morrissey comes off a promising finish at the Skyland Conference Championships. With top runner Andy Adamovics shelved by a leg injury, Morrissey was the top Cougar finisher in a new personal record 16:51. It was more than a minute faster than he did at last year’s conference meet.
   ”I felt good,” said Morrissey, who placed 33rd this year. “We hadn’t really tapered for that race, so I feel like I’ll be able to do a lot better at sectionals. I’m really training to peak on Saturday.
   ”I think it’s all about Saturday for me really,” he added. “I was running the times I ran at conferences way earlier in the season. Even though it’s been a long time since then, I’ve put in a lot of work and I’m prepared to run a lot faster time.”
   Morrissey has seen gradual improvement over his career. He took up running in seventh grade.
   ”I ran in middle school,” Morrissey said. “I was pretty average back then.”
   Morrissey is well above average these days. It’s been steady progress up for him.
   ”He’s the kid you want on your team,” Bartholomew said. “He’s one of the hardest working kids. He listens to what you say. He’s not going to not run when you tell him to just because they have the summer off or a day off. He’s not the kind of kid that you tell to do 50 miles and he does 100.
   ”He’s really come along as a runner. He’s always had the potential. He’s a product of working hard, not that he’s not talented. With that combination of talent and working so hard, he’s able to stay in the mix. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
   Morrissey would like to continue running in college at the right school, but academics are his first priority. He’s not thinking beyond this season anyway. He has come into his last scholastic year intent on making the most of it. He is wiser, no longer going out too fast to start races.
   ”Definitely since a few years ago, I know a lot more about my strategy,” Morrissey said. “I don’t start sprinting at the start of every race. I know who I should be near and try to stay near them and get them at the end of the race.”
   His experience shows in every part of his running, and it’s provided a perfect example for the up-and-coming Cougars.
   ”I’m a lot more focused this year,” Morrissey said. “I’ve been a lot more specific about my training. I think a lot more about each run I do.
   ”We really had a much better team this year, and I think the team will do really well as well.”
   Aside from Adamovics and Morrissey and fellow senior Steve Altieri, the Cougars are young. They are also promising.
   ”We’re way ahead of where we were last year,” Morrissey said. “We’ve got young guys running the times that I was running almost last year.
   ”We’re doing stuff differently this year. We’re all working harder. There’s a lot more self motivation from the runners.”
   It has paid off for many of them. Rahul Ramesh ran a big personal record 17:34 at the Skyland meet to finish behind Morrissey.
   ”I have a terrific and young group,” Bartholomew said. “This year, I’ve seen more kids, more than 60 percent of the kids, have broken 20 minutes. I had more kids than ever breaking into 17 minutes and 18 minutes. The only bummer is every other team is doing the same thing. Competition is getting better and better. You think you’ll be good this year and there are four or five teams that are even better than they’ve been.”
   The Cougars hope to have their fastest runner available, but Adamovics missed the Skyland meet with the scare of a stress fracture. He’s been cleared and did resume practicing this week, but is questionable for the sectional meet.
   ”We’re not sure about Saturday,” Bartholomew said. “We’re taking it day by day. We’ll take his health into account. He wants to run. We gave it a test (Tuesday) and he looked all right.”
   Without him, the Cougars still have a senior leading the way in Morrissey. He’s been focusing more intently than ever on running his own race, and Saturday he hopes to see that dedication pay off.
   ”I’m looking to make a big PR really and maybe have a chance to advance to groups,” he said. “I’m really focusing on the time and we’ll see what happens in the race.”