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PHS Girls' Cross Country Ready to Battle the Elite

By Bill Alden

The Princeton High girls' cross country team suffered a major setback before the 2004 season even started.

In August, the program learned that its top returning veteran, Eleanora Spinazzi, had moved out of the school district and would be running for Montgomery High this year rather than PHS.

While Little Tiger head coach John Woodside is sorry that he won't have the talented Spinazzi in the fold this season, he isn't about to worry about what might have been.

"We can't lament that too much, we wish her great luck," said Woodside, referring to Spinazzi's transfer. "I think our girls aren't dwelling on the past. We have a terrific group of girls. This is who we are going to battle with and we will be very competitive. There will be a lot of challenges this fall and the girls want to do well."

PHS faced a key challenge out of the gate this fall when it took on powerful WW/P-S and Hamilton in the season-opening meet on September 14 at Veterans Park. PHS breezed past Hamilton (15-50) but fell to WW/P-S (22-35). In their next meet, the Little Tigers topped Steinert 24-35 on September 21 at Washington Crossing Park.

Woodside is looking to Susanne Hansen to help the team overcome the challenges it will face this season. "Susanne is clearly our best runner," asserted Woodside of his talented sophomore who was the the top PHS runner in the Steinert match-up as she covered the 3.1 mile course in 21:10. "She is really pushing herself."

The Little Tigers are also looking for two seniors, Sara Hastings and Caroline Sholl, to provide leadership. "Sara is strong, she should be very good for us this fall," said Woodside, whose team went 11-0 in 2003, winning the Group III Central Jersey crown and finishing second at the Mercer County Championships.

"Caroline only had six practices before our first meet. She is not in racing shape yet, she will get much closer to Susanne."

Woodside has high hopes for two sophomores, Sheena Pradhan and Elian Ritts, and freshman Lena Frey. "Pradhan ran track last spring and has really broken out this fall," added Woodside, whose team competes in the Shore Coaches meet at Holmdel on October 2 before taking on Trenton, Ewing, and WW/P-N in a quad meet on October 5 at Washington Crossing Park."Eliana Ritts will be a top-five runner for us. Frey looks like she will be making moves soon."

In Woodside's view, the way his runners battled WW/P-S bodes well for PHS' chances in the big meets later this season. "The CVC is very strong, WW/P-S is very deep and Hopewell Valley is back," asserted Woodside.

"I'm proud of the way we went after WW/P-S. They have a lot of depth and the girls went out and challenged them. We may not be ready to beat them now but we will be very formidable when we peak late in the season."