Winning never grows old. Winning on a historic cross-country course twice is even more gratifying.
Red Bank Regional High School’s Lauren Sapone experienced the triumph at the famed Van Cortlandt Park 2.5-mile course in the Bronx, New York, Oct. 10 when she won the Manhattan Invitational Varsity C race in 14:49.2.
“I wanted to have another win [at Van Cortlandt Park],” she said. “It’s a tough course, and I love it.”
Unlike her 2014 triumph on the venerable course, Sapone won this race going away with no one to push her. Still, she achieved her second goal of running faster than she did last year (14:58.8).
The experiences of 2014 and 2015 couldn’t have been more different.
“Last year, I didn’t think it was a possibility for me to win,” she said, noting that she ran with the leaders and was able to outkick them at the end.
This year, the Buccaneers’ harrier had no one to chase. Her goal was to get to the front early and make her move around the halfway point. When she did, no one went with her, and she had a solo run to the finish line and a second straight win at at Van Cortlandt Park.
Sapone’s time was the 22nd fastest of the day.
Red Bank Regional’s girls finished third (150) thanks to a strong 16th-place finish from Charlotte Cochrane (15:59.2). Completing the Buccaneers’ scoring were Heather O’Donnell (16:37.3), Laura Nagle (16:56.9) and Bridget Kelly (17:06.3), who finished 32nd, 47th and 54th, respectively.
On Oct. 20 at Holmdel Park, Sapone hoped to add a Monmouth County championship to her high school achievements. She’s finished second the last two years to Holmdel High School’s Marin Warner.
Warner has since graduated (University of Pennsylvania), and that has left the field open for Sapone. But she is taking nothing for granted. “There’s a lot of good competition [in the county],” Sapone said.
Noting that last year the final mile was her fastest of the race, she’ll look to push the pace a little harder earlier this time around.
Besides her Van Cortlandt Park win, Sapone had an even bigger victory. Last week, she committed to Dartmouth College to continue her education and running career.
Nationally ranked Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) was a prohibitive favorite to repeat as county champions.
The Colts were third at Van Cortlandt Park in the Eastern States Championship race.
Blaise Ferro led CBA in 12th place in 12:31.3. Drake Anzano (13:06.2), Jon Dooling (13:07.4), Nick Trigani (13:08.1) and Brian Hill (13:14.1) went 42nd, 45th, 47th and 59th to give CBA a 205-point total.
Ocean Township High School’s Elliot Gindi was runner–up in the Varsity D race at the Manhattan Invitational, posting a time of 12:50.9 and putting him well under the magic sub-13:00. Gindi was beaten by another Shore Conference runner, Jackson Memorial High School’s Ryan Rafferty, who clocked 12:48.9.