By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Casey Nelson’s steady improvement with the Stuart Country Day School cross country team fueled her to work even harder to see what more she could do this year.
“Last year, the practices during the season helped me increase my speed the most,” Nelson said. “I didn’t start out that fast but they helped me improve over the season so I decided to keep them going so I’d be at a better position at the start of this year.”
The Montgomery resident put in more training during the offseason and has developed into the top runner in her junior year for a Tartans team that is enjoying its best season on record as they head into the Prep B championships Wednesday.
“Our team was undefeated in the dual meet season,” Nelson said. “Having an undefeated dual meet seasons helps when we go to these bigger meets because it builds our confidence and lets us know what we’re capable of doing.”
On Saturday at Branch Brook Park in Newark, Nelson won the junior class race at the Essex County Coaches Association Class Invitational in 20:27, 23 seconds better than Montclair Kimberley’s Caylie Privitere.
“It was pretty cool,” Nelson said. “I’ve never really won a big race like that before with that many people. It was a big accomplishment in my season.”
Nelson has been improving throughout this season. She was 30 seconds faster at the Essex County race than she was one month earlier at the Thompson Park Class Meet. Running a great time was a bonus. She was running to win but didn’t know how the competition would be.
“I was running with two other girls for the first half,” Nelson said. “After the first half, I was feeling pretty good so I decided to pull ahead and see what I could do.
“It was pretty good especially since it wasn’t a course I hadn’t run before and didn’t know what to expect.”
Allie Burgess medaled in the sophomore race, and juniors Milan Kainer and Tina Lu along with freshman Sharon Song ran season-best times. They are all part of a team that has made history for the Tartans with a 10-0 regular season. Stuart capped its perfect run with a sweep of Pennington and Blair last week. Both Nelson and senior co-captain Lindsay Craig ran personal-best times with Nelson earning the Rosedale Park course record. Sophomore Sonia Mohandas, freshman Grace Sheppard, Burgess, senior Isabella Kopits, and freshman Allie Rounds all recorded top-10 performance list for the Rosedale course in an encouraging finish to the dual meet season. Sophomore Diana Tian, freshman Sara Deczynski, Kainer, Lu and Song all ran well. Injured senior co-captain Jen Walsh and junior Jada Postadan gave instrumental support during the record-setting season.
“Some of the kids matured a lot better and we had one or two freshmen that did well,” said Stuart head coach Len Klepack. “Our expectations were similar to last year. We ran better than we have ever in the past.”
Nelson and Craig set the pace for the Tartans. They established a strong work ethic and led the way for Stuart all season.
“Casey and Lindsay Craig have been our leaders all year,” Klepack said. “Casey put in good summer mileage. She showed if you prepare properly over the summer, you’ll move to a new level. And Casey moved to a new level because of her preparation over the summer.
“Lindsay Craig has been our leader the last three years. She had another good year. Then we had a couple surprises. Grace Shepherd had a very good cross country season. She’s a very good lacrosse player and came out her freshman year. She improved every meet and she moved up to one of our top three girls.”
But no cross country team would be good enough to win if it didn’t have depth. Stuart has had strong front-runners in the past, and this season their depth made a big difference.
“Sonia Mohandas was good last year,” Klepack began. “She had an injury and came back and got stronger each meet. She was in that third and fourth position. The other person that improved a great deal was a sophomore, Allie Burgess. She’s been finishing in the top five. Another girl that is coming back from injury and also make the state team, Allie Rounds, she was a very good eighth grader last year and she’s coming back from injury. She has a good future.”
There could be more help on the way like Rounds, who came out of Stuart’s middle school program.
“The middle school team is undefeated,” Klepack said. “They’re very good. They’re coached by Harper Collins. She does a super job. She has a very good team this year.”
The improvements across the board by the Tartans helped to soften the blow of losing Walsh to injury.
“She had a hairline fracture,” Klepack said. “She’s one of our captains who kept supporting the team even though she couldn’t run. She was a good runner for three years, but this year wasn’t able to compete.”
Others had to step up this season, and Nelson was happy to see how the team responded to the early adversity.
“I was a bit worried the team wouldn’t be able to pull it off, but the younger members stepped up and pulled it off,” Nelson said. “It was an unexpected success.”
The Tartans’ confidence grew throughout the season as they started to realize the potential of this year’s group. Nelson could feel changes in her own potential as she got into her training over the summer.
“I put in a lot more work in over the summer,” she said. “I did group runs at the Pacers Running Store in Princeton over the summer with some other members which really helped. There were people from other teams there too.
“I noticed a change in the pace I was able to run over the summer,” she added. “I didn’t realize how much. It was a nice surprise.”
Nelson has been pleasantly surprised with each step in her career. She started running for the Stuart middle school team in sixth grade for fun. She started to get more serious about it in high school and took a big step this year. Now she’s hoping to help the team compete for a better finish at the Prep B meet at Blair. Last year, the Tartans were fifth.
“I think we could be better than that this year,” Nelson said. “Within our team, our top five runners are better than they were last year so hopefully we’ll be able to increase our place at the state meet.”
It will be the final race of the season for the Tartans and for Craig and Kopits, two seniors who have been on the team for four years.
“Of all the girls I’ve seen, Lindsay has had one of the best careers,” Klepack said. “She still holds four course records for Stuart. She holds our home course record.”
The Tartans are looking for a big finish to a year that’s already had a lot of highlights. A strong showing at the Prep B race would be fitting.
“It’s a challenging course,” Klepack said. “That’s good. That’s the way cross country should be. Our goal is to be one of the top five teams this year. We’re really proud. Historically, the team has never gone undefeated in dual meets. Somebody like Casey having a win in a race with 70 girls, that’s pretty good also.”
Nelson and the Tartans have been preparing since the summer for the chance to show their speed, and they will have another chance as they take on the best in the state.
Said Nelson: “It definitely feels good to see the work you put in actually translates to something.”
