By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The runners names have changed from year to year, but the results continue to be the same.
The Stuart Country Day School cross-country team ran its winning streak to 20 straight meets when the Tartans topped Princeton Day School on Sept. 19. Stuart has not lost a dual meet since falling to Lawrenceville in the opener of the 2014 season.
“We have had some good runners,” Stuart coach Len Klepack said. “It started with Emily Morgan, who was a second team All-Prep in 2014. Lindsay Craig was a junior that year and she was a first team All-Prep. We had runners like Jennifer Walsh and Casey Nelson the last four years. Casey was part of that streak and holds most of our school records.”
This year’s Stuart team is made up of a group of runners who have been a part of the overall success of the last three years and have now moved to the front of the pack.
Senior Sonia Mohandas is the captain this season. She is joined at the top of the Stuart lineup by juniors Allie Rounds and Grace Sheppard.
“This year we are solid,” Klepack said. “Our leaders are Sonia Mohandas, who is a senior, Alli Rounds who is a junior and Grace Sheppard, another junior. Those are our three top runners. We have a transfer in her first year with cross-country, Miranda Maley, and we have a sprinter/ triple jumper who has become part of our top five Alexandra Ottomanelli. They are strong additions to that top three.
“One of our senior captains, Allie Burgess, has been hurt and she will help us later on. Her sister, Melanie, is a freshman who will be top seven. We are solid without a superstar like a Casey. But we have girls capable of being an All-State selection in that group.”
Stuart ran as a team in the Carnegie Center 5k last Saturday in Princeton. The race was a benefit for the Parkinson’s Alliance and has become a tradition for the team to attend. The winning on the course has helped continue the growth of a program that continues to gain momentum going forward.
“When I first started we didn’t have five runners,” said Klepack, who has been the Tartans’ coach since 2009. “Now we are consistent and that is the good thing. The program is starting a tradition and the winning streak is something they can be proud of going back to 2014. It started with Emily and Jennifer and Lindsay and there have been others that have helped it build.
“We have some good young runners. Sheppard and Rounds are back and Miranda and Alex are also back. We feel we will only get stronger. The leader and the motivator has been Mohandis. She has been on the team all four years. The girls are staying four years and that gives you continuity.”
The Tartans have their biggest test in the streak on the horizon with a meet on Oct. 2 against Pennington at Rosedale Park in Pennington. Whether or not the win streak continues through that meet, Stuart has certainly established itself as a program with a strong tradition of success.
“We have been consistent and those girls from the past have set a tradition for the other girls to follow,” Klepack said. “Sonia has done a great job motivating the team. We have been fortunate that we have had a solid group for four years. We are very competitive against the teams we go against. We’re solid and this year I would say we are deeper than we have been in the past.
“I think we will continue to grow as a program, We have always had an excellent middle school program. There are some quality middle school runners again this year.”
