SHOWING HEART: Princeton High girls’ cross country star Annefleur Hartmanshenn gets off to a fast start in a recent race. Last Saturday, senior star Hartmanshenn placed 15th in the Central Group 4 sectional meet to help PHS take second in the team standings. PHS is next in action when it competes in the state Group 4 meet on November 12 at Holmdel Park. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Coming into the Central Group 4 sectional meet last Saturday, the runners on the Princeton High girls’ cross country team had a chip on their shoulders.

“We felt we had run pretty well at counties and maybe we didn’t quite get the acknowledgment for how well we ran, not getting ranked on NJ.com,” said PHS head coach Jim Smirk, whose girls’ team placed second at the Mercer County Championships on October 28.

“If you look at the times there, they were not pedestrian, they were cooking. The girls were really good about it; if people don’t think we are as good as we are, then we will just go out there and run better. That is what they did, they went out and raced.”

The Little Tigers ran very well in the sectional meet at Thompson Park in Jamesburg, battling at the head of the pack in an incredibly tight race, taking second with 95 points, just two behind champion Hillsborough. WW/P-S was four points behind PHS in third with South Brunswick one point behind the Pirates in fourth as seven points separated the top four teams.

Senior Annie Walker set the pace for PHS, taking ninth individually in a time of 19:28.30 over the 5,000-meter course. Senior Izzy Trenholm was 11th with junior Chloe Taylor taking 12th and senior Annefleur Hartmanshenn finishing 15th.

“It was exciting,” said Smirk. “Annie and Chloe had good days, they were in the wheelhouse; Izzy ran great and she was right in there.”

Smirk credited Hartmanshenn with producing a special effort in the race. “Annefleur picked up 24 spots in the last mile and a half and she wasn’t running poorly in the first half,” said Smirk.

“She was running a very consistent race but then she really found another level and when you can do that to a field that is as deep, that is great. These are not athletes who fold in the last mile of a race so what she did was game changing, she put us in the conversation.”

With all of his runners on their game last Saturday, Smirk can live with just falling short of the title.

“I have to give it to Juliet Malkowski, our fifth runner,” said Smirk of the junior who placed 48th.

“We have really been trying to figure it out and she ran a season’s best and a personal best on that course. We came up two points shy. When your entire team goes and tries to run a season’s best when it counts the most and you are only two points shy, you say alright, that is good.”

Looking ahead to the state Group 4 meet on November 12 at Holmdel Park, Smirk is confident that his team will come up with another very good effort.

“I think that however well we ran up front with our top four, there is more there,” said Smirk.

“I actually don’t think Thompson Park is our best course, we struggle there a little bit. We are often a touch too conservative early and that shows late. I think Holmdel is a better course for us. We have traditionally run better there and we are looking to continue that tradition.”