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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Stuart Cross Country's Solid Start Portends Another Championship Fall
By Bill Alden
For Stuart Country Day cross country coach Tom Harrington, early season races aren't that big a deal.
The seventh-year head coach sees the first part of the season as a means to sharpen his runners for the main events at the end of the season.
Harrington's formula has worked like a charm as the Tartans have won two straight state Prep B titles and six straight Patriot Conference crowns.
This fall, however, in what is a scary prospect for Stuart's foes, the Tartans have demonstrated in their first two meets that they have a chance to be a dominant team.
In the highly competitive Mount St. Dominic Invitational in Lincoln Park on September 11, Stuart placed ninth of 16 teams. Then on September 15, the Tartans breezed past Moorestown Friends 18-49 in their first dual meet of the season, taking eight of the first nine spots.
Harrington likes what he's seen in the early going. "We train through the dual meets at the beginning of the year," said Harrington, whose program has the Prep B title in four of the last six years. "We are a little ahead of schedule, particularly our front three."
Stuart's pacesetter so far has been senior star Emily Driscoll, who placed eighth in the individual standings in the Mount St. Dominic meet, covering the 3.5 mile course in a time of 21:17.67 and was the top runner in the Moorestown Friends race with a time of 20:17 over the 3.1 mile course.
"Emily worked all summer with a personal trainer and she really improved her strength and flexibility," said Harrington. "She wants to run at the next level. This is the best shape she has been in at the beginning of the season."
The Tartans' No. 2 runner, junior Laura Brienza, has also gotten off to a solid start. In the Mount St. Dominic meet, Brienza was 30th in 23:08.58 while in the Moorestown Friends race she was second in a time of 21:40.
"Laura is looking good," added Harrington. "She wants this year to be special. She's putting a lot of pressure on herself to do well. She's very hard-working and very independent."
The other runner making up Start's top trio, senior Catherine Currie, took a different path this summer in her training. "She travelled a lot this summer," said Harrington, referring to Currie, who ran 25:14.97 in finishing 57th in the Mount St. Dominic event and then was fourth in the Moorestown Friends meet in a time of 21:58. "She ran wherever she went, including China."
The key to Stuart's ultimate success this fall will be the performance of its runners in spots four through seven. "It's a matter of the pack of five girls getting within a minute or so of the top three," explained Harrington, who has also coached Stuart's track team to three straight Prep B titles. "We need the pack to run as tight as possible, not just in meets but in practice."
So far this fall, Stuart's second pack has included freshman Nicole Huber, seniors Caroline Cancelosi, and Saskia Van Nieuwenhuse together with juniors Sasha Levitt and Elizabeth Cancelosi.
The precocious Huber has already made her presence felt by running a 26:07.82 for 69th place in the Mount St. Dominic meet and taking fifth in the dual meet with Moorestown Friends in a time of 24:51.
"The team is very excited about Nicole," said Harrington. "She has been the leader of the second pack. Caroline Cancelosi has a little hip injury and she will be doing better."
Harrington expects his team to keep getting better as it continues on its road to the Patriot Conference meet on October 13 and the state prep B meet on November 1.
"My expectation is to win the Patriot Conference and Prep B, we have no goals other than that," asserted Harrington, whose team has a meet with Pennington at Rosedale on September 29. "I'm excited about the possibilities."
