BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer
BRONX, N.Y. — A week removed from taking a fall that cost her a chance to win the NJSIAA Meet Of Champions, Jackson High School sophomore Jen Clausen rebounded to put forth one of her best efforts of the 2003 season.
Clausen shook off both the physical and mental effects of last week’s disappointing sixth-finish at the MOC at Holmdel Park to finish seventh overall at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships Northeast Regional last Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park in New York.
Clausen covered the hilly layout to complete the 5K event in a time of 18:26. Even Clausen was impressed with her time, considering she had never competed on the course before.
"I was real excited about the way that I ran," Clausen said. "I had never seen the course before and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I stayed focused and went out and ran my race. There were parts of the course that were very hilly. But I stayed focused, and competing with all those runners sparked my motivation to do well."
Clausen’s time was good enough to qualify her for the cross-country national championships, scheduled for Dec. 13 in San Diego.
"I’m really looking forward to competing in that event," Clausen said. "It is going to be loaded with a lot of talented runners. Only the top runners get an invitation to go there."
Just a week ago, Clausen fell when she locked legs with another runner at the Meet of Champions, a race she marked on her schedule since early in the season. But Clausen showed no signs of discomfort or lack of focus as she blazed across the upper-Manhattan circuit.
Clausen did get a preview of the layout before the scheduled 11 a.m. race time. Runners walked the course earlier to get a sense of what they were up against.
"When we got there, the conditions were cold and windy," Clausen said. "I wasn’t looking forward to running in those kinds of conditions. But as the morning wore on, temperatures rose and the wind stopped. By the time the race kicked off, it was perfect for running."
In fact, Clausen felt Van Cortlandt was a more difficult course to navigate than Holmdel Park. She finished just one second shy of her best time of 18:25 recorded earlier this season.
"I nearly equaled my best time that I ran at Holmdel," she said. "It was a very challenging layout. There were plenty of hills and sharp turns. It starts in a wide open field and goes through the woods. Once you hit that wooded section, it’s nothing but hills. You have to be careful about going out too fast."
The next two weeks will be spent training for the race in southern California. Clausen has never traveled outside the east coast and is anxious to run abroad.
"I’ve never been on a plane before," she said. "This is going to be a great trip. No matter how well I do there, it is an honor just to be selected. This whole season has been great. This is a great way to end it."