Utilizing Depth, Will, and Chemistry, PDS Boys’ Cross Country Wins Prep B

Bill Alden

It wasn’t a victory but it was a harbinger of good things to come for the Princeton Day School boys’ cross country team.

Opening its season by competing in the prestigious Newark Invitational in mid-September, the Panthers placed fourth and, in the process, impressed longtime head coach Eamon Downey.

“Looking at the way we were working out and the way we did in the Newark meet, we showed signs early of being good,” said Downey, who has been coaching the PDS program since 1970s.

The Panthers kept rolling through the fall, losing only one dual meet and cruising to the team title in the Patriot Conference championship meet. In a fitting culmination to its superb season, PDS won the state Prep B championship meet earlier this month, dethroning defending champion Newark Academy.

Noting that the program hadn’t won the prep B title since 1992, Downey was justifiably proud of the achievement.

“It means a lot; if you are going to win you have to have the horses,” said downey. “There were years when things went well from a coaching standpoint and we trained well but we went against a team that was better like a Pingry or a Newark.”

The Panthers had a thoroughbred in junior star Adam Fisch, who won the individual title in the Patriot meet and took second in the Prep B competition.

“Adam lives and breathes training; he gets on websites to learn more about training,” said Downey.

“He is very knowledgeable about the sport. He was up to 50-60 miles a week this summer. He was running more than any of our other runners.”

Downey had two solid veteran runners to push Fisch at the head of the pack in senior Charlie Behling and junior Meade Atkinson. Behling and Atkinson took second and third, respectively, at the Patriot Conference meet and were fifth and third, respectively, in the Prep B competition.

“Charlie tends to get injured a lot but when he is at the starting line, he is there to race,” said Downey.

“He always shows up on race day. Meade is kind of quiet; he is a solid kid. He is very consistent; never runs a disappointing race. He doesn’t bowl you over in training but he is there on race day. At the preps, he ran his fastest time of the year on a tough Blair course. We had the right chemistry between Adam, Charlie, and Meade.”

The Panthers added some newcomers who helped the team’s chemistry and depth in Nick Rehmus and former football player Spencer Pretekrum.

“Nick Rehmus came from Virginia and he said ‘I think I can run around 19’ and he ended up being a few ticks over 18,” said Downey. “Spencer was running in the low 18s. It is a very good group of runners. When you have five guys in the 18s, you are going to be a good team at the Prep B level.”

The PDS runners, though, were determined to be the best team at the Prep B level.

“The boys really wanted it,” said Downey, noting that several of his athletes ran through illness at the meet. “We hadn’t won it in a while and they decided they were going to make it happen.”

All in all, it was a smooth ride for the Panthers. “This year, things came together,” asserted Downey.

“We didn’t have any letdowns. It was a good consistent season. What happened at the preps was the culmination of things.”

Return to Previous Sports Story | Return to Top | Go to Calendar