IN STRIDE: Princeton High boys’ cross country runner Tucker Zullo, left, takes off at the start of a 2017 race.Last Friday at the Mercer County championship meet, senior Zullo placed fifth individually with classmate Jackson McCarthy right behind him in sixth as PHS took fourth in the team standings. The Little Tigers will look for another big effort as they compete in the state sectional meet slated for November 3 at Thompson Park in Jamesburg. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Tucker Zullo had a simple race plan as he toed the starting line for Princeton High boys’ cross country team at the Mercer County championship meet last Friday.

“It was run hard, run fast,” said senior star Zullo. “I knew that Jackson [McCarthy] and I wanted to be together the whole race.”

Zullo executed that plan he took fifth, clocking a time of 16:12 over the 5,000-meter in Washington Crossing Park with classmate McCarthy just behind in sixth at 16:14 helping PHS take fourth in the team standings of the meet won by WW/P-South.

“As a senior coming in the top 5 in the county in one of the toughest counties in the east coast, I am really happy right now” said a grinning Zullo.

“It was awesome. I was shooting for 16 flat so I am happy with that time. I have no complaints.”

As a freshman, Zullo had no idea that he could ever produce that kind of performance.

“I had no motive of running in high school and then I met with coach [Jim] Smirk my spring track season,” said Zullo.

“I fell in love with what his vision was for the program and ever since then, it had been cross country, winter track, and spring track.”

Last fall, Zullo started to realize Smirk’s vision. “My junior year was a breakthrough, I got so much confidence,” said Zullo

“It was at sectionals; I ran 16:18 and I was our fourth man for that day and that pushed me over the top. I was feeling great then and I am just trying to keep that success rolling through senior year.”

The influence of former PHS star and current Penn sophomore runner Alex Roth has been a key factor in his success.

“I call Alex almost everyday; I talk to him about his life in college and my life in high school,” said Zullo.

“He has been one of my best friends for years now and I have learned so much from him the last two years. I am going to keep it going.”

PHS junior Tyler Fu, who took 36th at the country meet with a time of 17:27, has learned a lot from running behind Zullo and McCarthy.

“As long as I had my eyes on Jackson and Tucker, I felt confident and I was in the right state of mind,” said Fu

“I am the kind of runner who feels a lot better in a race. I tend to feel pretty nauseous before a race but once I am in it and once the adrenaline gets going, I start to feel a lot better.”

 Fu had to draw on some extra adrenaline to make it to the finish, as he hurt his ankle in the latter stages of the race.

“I had to pull myself together and I am not going to stop here,” said Fu.

“I decided that even though my good race went out the window, that doesn’t mean that all of my races have to go out the window. I just collected myself again and then just tried to finish it as best I could.”

In Fu’s view, he has a lot of good racing ahead. “I see myself progressively getting better in terms of my times and my place,” said Fu.

“I have been bouncing ideas off my teammates and it is just about getting a lot of feedback and passing it around and learning how to fine-tune myself into the best runner I can be.”

PHS head coach Jim Smirk wasn’t surprised to see Zullo and McCarthy placed together in the front of the pack.

“They have been training together consistently for two years now, there is a lot of trust there with those guys,” said Smirk.

“I thought they executed really well. I was pleased that Tucker recognized that the race went out slow and knew it was going to get real fast in the second half. He prepared himself mentally for that moment and absolutely took advantage of it.”

Smirk was pleased with how McCarthy stayed in the moment last Friday.

“He had a couple of races where he slipped focus wise,” said Smirk. “To his credit, he is a really strong athlete, not just a great runner, and he was able to make those adjustments. The kids from south really came after him late, in terms of their one-two going after Jackson. He was able to really focus on being successful in that moment and that is a tough thing.”

Fu’s toughness this fall has impressed Smirk. “As a staff and as a team, we are thrilled with the emergence of Tyler Fu,” added Smirk.

“He has been strong, aggressive, and fast. He is doing all of the right things and we are glad that he is making that step forward.”

Sophomore Jacob Bornstein, who took 39th in 17:29, has emerged as a steadying influence for the Little Tigers.

“He just settles us down, it is amazing that a kid who is a sophomore can contribute that way and really quiet down the nerves and just do good, hard work,” said Smirk.

“He is not necessarily the fastest kid out there, but he gives good, hard work the entire time and as a result, we are a better team for it.”

With the state sectional meet slated for November 3 at Thompson Park in Jamesburg, Smirk is confident that his team will run hard.

“Maybe we are not the fastest on paper, but when you get shoved around a little bit, we are the ones that tend to stay in there and make sure that we stick it,” said Smirk.

In Smirk’s view, Zullo’s progress epitomizes the squad’s mentality.

“Tucker wants to show people that if you work hard and you focus on the things that are important and you do them to the best of your ability you have the opportunity to be as successful as you want to be,” said Smirk. 

“That is what we see out of him day in, day out. He is a blast to work with as an athlete.”

Zullo, for his part, is looking for a successful finish this fall.

“It is all just stay focused on the goal and make sure that when it comes to November, I am ready to go,” said Zullo.

“I feel like I have done a good job. There has been no tapering;we have just kept going 60 miles a week. I am feeling good.”