caption: ENCORE PERFORMANCE: Princeton Day School boys’ cross country head coach Eamon Downey, fifth from left, holds the trophy the team earned for winning its second straight Prep B championship meet. The squad included Adam Fisch, Meade Atkeson, Nick Rehmus, Jonas Kaufman, Paul Quigley, Jacob Kaufman, Parker Russo, and assistant coach Dave Freedholm.

Sparked by Senior Stars, Strong Work Ethic, PDS Boys’ Cross Country Wins Prep B Again

Bill Alden

Eamon Downey knew that his Princeton Day School boys’ cross country faced some roadblocks as it looked to win its second straight Prep B championship meet.

“We had lost to Oratory Prep in our division of the Shore Invitational,” said longtime head coach Downey, who has been guiding the Panther program since the 1970s.

“We knew that Tom Fleming’s Montclair-Kimberley team had improved. We were cautiously optimistic. We knew we could win but nobody was going to hand it to us.”

As the race started at Blair Academy, Downey was feeling some butterflies. “I was very nervous,” said Downey. “I thought it would come down to a few points. I saw a blur when the runners went by and I was thinking we might be second.”

As it turned out, that blur was PDS blitzing the field as the Panthers cruised to victory, outscoring runner-up Oratory Prep 44-67 in their encore performance as state champions.

PDS senior star Adam Fisch set the pace for the Panthers, taking first in the individual standings as he covered the 3.1 mile course in a time of 17:27.

Fisch’s classmates, Meade Atkeson and Nick Rehmus were next for the Panthers as they finished fourth and seventh, respectively. Sophomore Jonas Kaufman took 13th while junior Paul Quigley was 19th.

“The guys really did well to win by that margin,” said Downey. “We did rise to the occasion, everyone ran well. All elements came together for us.”

Fisch certainly rose to the occasion as he culminated his sparkling PDS career on a high note.

“Adam has had a tremendous impact on the program,” said Downey. “He truly loves the sport and he is an insatiable worker. He trains year round; he runs indoor and outdoor track even though we don’t have a team. He knows the history of track and running. He trains so hard. We do repeat 400s and he will do two or three more than I have planned.”

The Panthers have also gotten some good running from their other senior stars, Atkeson and Rehmus.

“They always show up with their best race,” asserted Downey. “I don’t remember either one of them having a bad race in the past few years.”

It has been years since the PDS program has accomplished the Prep title repeat.

“In this world, it is tough to repeat,” said Downey. “The last time we did it was in 1990s. At our level we don’t get big numbers; we don’t have 60 kids out like the big public kids. I hope and pray that they do some work over the summer and this group and these guys did.”

The Panther senior contingent gave the team numbers and hard work. “The senior class has been a big group,” said Downey.

“We had 11 as freshmen and lost a few but then added Nick who transferred from Virginia. We ended up with seven or eight kids which is a large number for us. They all seem to buy into the work ethic and wanting to make something good happen for them.”

And they made something very good happen in their final race for the Panthers.

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