Cross country teams advance
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
A special day got even better for Conor Murphy when he found out he wasn’t celebrating his sectional success alone.
The senior harrier’s day began with him becoming the school’s first male winner of a sectional cross country title when he ran 16:17 to claim the Central Jersey Group III gold Saturday at Thompson Park.
He’s not the only AHS athlete moving on as his teammates ran well enough to score 160 points, good for the fifth and final spot to advance to the Group III state meet. Sixth-place Hightstown trailed with 189 points.
Then, the Redbird girls rode that momentum to a fourth-place finish with 133 points, three points ahead of Hopewell Valley in the CJ III girls state meet.
”It was a historic day for Allentown,” Murphy said. “It was pretty great. I’ve been wanting to win this race since last year. For me to win and both the guys team and girls team to qualify for states, it was a really great day.”
Murphy had run fourth last year when Allentown placed eighth as a team, but this year they are heading to the Group III level together.
”That’s real big,” said AHS boys coach Brian Harshman. “I reached out to the old coach, and he’s pretty sure it’s been more 15 years since the boys advanced. It’s the first time in over 15 years for the boys to advance, and only the second time that the girls advanced. The first time was 2012. It’s the first time that the boys and girls got through together in the same year.”
Behind Murphy for the Redbirds was fellow senior Andrew Fortier in 21st in 17:29, junior first-year cross country runner Hunter Mulryne in 41st in 18:21, another senior, Vincenzo Ferriola in 48th in 18:36, then a pair of sophomores — Nathaniel Byrnes in 49th in 18:38 and Matthew Kaminstein in 67th in 19:12. Freshman Matthew Gregor placed 74th in 19:39 in his first trip to the sectionals.
”I think we knew going into it, we had a good chance of advancing,” Fortier said. “We all knew we had to run well and we did that. This was the first time that both the boys and girls advanced from Allentown.
”We knew it would be cool if the boys and girls went to groups. We were really happy about it. We knew we had to all run well and now we have to run even better next week.”
That will be tough for Fortier, who had what Harshman termed “his best cross country race ever.” He wanted to extend his final scholastic season Saturday.
”I think that’s motivation for me, Conor and Vincenzo — the seniors in the top seven — to keep pushing and make it as far as possible,” Fortier said.
Progress is undeniable. The trio of Redbird boys runners have been model examples.
”When you look back over where our kids placed in the sectional meet last year vs. where they placed last year,” Harshman said, “as a team and as individuals, Conor, Andrew and Vincenzo were back, and they were all much improved over last year. That’s the thing that’s really encouraging.”
Allentown feels it has the potential for an even better race overall. The group meets are hosted by Holmdel Park.
”I know that the team is capable of better,” Harshman said. “That’s the beautiful thing about our sport — there’s always the next meet and the chance to improve. I think this team can run a lot better.”
The Redbird girls were first and foremost happy enough to field a team. Injuries had prevented them from a consistent team and steady training.
”We’re having a lot of trouble, after counties especially,” said Michele Foley, a senior with the Redbirds. “It’s a lot of little things — hips, knees, ankles. Everything was looking a little unsure. Everyone had something bothering them. We were really worried. There was so much that could go wrong. We were saying, you can push past this pain for 20-some minutes and feel good the rest of your lives.”
The AHS girls took it to heart. Senior Mimi Crawford was 13th in 20:22, Foley came in 22nd in 21:01, sophomore Sara Gutter ran to 32nd in 21:40 with fellow sophomore Jesse Bragger just behind in 33rd in 21:41, and junior Samantha Tendler rounded out the scoring in 51st in 22:56. Sophomore Joanna Ricci was the only other Redbirds athlete to line up for the race and she placed 71st in 25:00.
”I’m happy with my success, but I’m more happy that I could help the team advance,” said Crawford, who has been Allentown’s top runner all season. “That was really the whole purpose of my race. I did my part, and everyone did their part. That’s the most important thing to help us advance.”
The Redbird girls weren’t even on the radar when it came to pre-race predictions on the top five to advance. They ended up one place ahead of the final qualifier, which wasn’t a surprise to them after a strong regular season when they went 10-3.
”The dual meets helped us a lot,” Crawford said. “It helped us work on our strategy. We a lot of time ran as a team and as a pack. It showed everyone we can run together. Winning the dual meets boosted our confidence and morale. We ran against some of the teams from our sectional in dual meets. It was good to know where we stood against them.”
Allentown made its own confidence, and even with some injuries, the Redbirds seniors tried to push away any insecurities about their chances at advancing beyond sectionals.
”Throughout the season, we were pushing that and trying to get everyone pumped up and confident,” Foley said. “When we were there, we were saying, we can do this.
”To get there, it’s such a great feeling. As a senior, I didn’t want it to be my last race. It’s so exciting. I’m so happy about it. That team goal to make it to groups helped everyone push through. It really paid off for us.”
The sectional race is helping put a successful cap to what has been a solid season. The Redbirds did all that they could to keep the season alive.
”Some kids had to push and run through some injuries, but they really showed up when it counted,” said Redbirds girls coach Mike Gaeta. “Especially our two seniors, Michele Foley and Mimi Crawford. The girls rallied for those two. It was important for them to make it on to groups. They pushed through and went through the pain and ran their hearts out.
”It was real close. I had a feeling we were getting fourth or fifth place. We were neck and neck with the Hopewell girls. As it turned out, we just beat Hopewell out by three points.”
The Redbirds are spending this week gearing up for the races when they will be an even bigger underdog, though Murphy is a notable exception on the boys side. He’s hoping to be a contender for the individual crown at the Group III state level.
”It’s going to be a competitive race, but my goal is to try to run my personal best time for Holmdel and place as high as I can,” Murphy said. “There will be a lot of great runners pushing me the whole time. I’m looking forward to it.”
Above it all, the Redbird teams are thrilled that they have the chance to train together and to compete for one more week.
”That’s been a team goal for both of us since the beginning of the summer,” Murphy said. “We put the work in and it really paid off. It was a really great day.”