Joe McKenney has been a major player in the Union County cross country scene for such a long time it seems inconceivable that the Cranford star still has his senior year ahead of him but that’s the reality when you win the county cross country championship and are a first team all state selection in track as a sophomore.
McKenney, who has run 4:21 for 1600 meters and 9:20 for 3200 meters, is hoping to bounce back from what was by his lofty standards a disappointing junior year last season and lead a very young Cougar team which will be coached by former star Tim Styler, who replaces Ray White after 37 successful seasons.
“He’s hungry for a really good senior season and if he stays healthy he should get back to where he wants to be,” said Styler.
“Joe sets an excellent example for our younger runners with his strong work ethic and they all look up to Joe for what he’s accomplished.”
“This is my senior year and I have the most experience, so I feel like I should be the leader this year,” said McKenney.
Although many of his performances would have been good enough to win the conference and county titles in most years, McKenney was unfortunate to be competing against Westfield’s Jeffrey Perrella, one of the state’s top three runners.
“I just had a lot of things go wrong last year. It wasn’t just one thing but a combination of things and once Jeff started beating me, I lost confidence,” recalled McKenney.
McKenney is the only remaining member from the Cougar team of 2004 that won the school’s first Group II championship in the school’s storied history. That team also featured Josh Hanke and Kevin Brown, who both graduated in 2006 and with McKenney formed the heart of last year’s team.
Styler realizes that this is a rebuilding season but is expecting improvement as the season progresses.
“Our kids worked hard during the summer and have put in quality miles since the end of the school year. We expect to see the results of that work as the season goes along,” said Styler.
After opening against Rahway this past Tuesday, the Cougars will be tested at the Cherokee Challenge tomorrow.
“It's a two mile race which will be a good early season indicator on our fitness,” said Styler.
With the move to the Mountain Valley Conference(MVC), Cranford will be facing almost a completely different set of teams from the last few years. Even local rivals Westfield and Scotch Plains Fanwood have been dropped but Styler expects no drop off in competition.
Union Catholic and Roselle Catholic are expected to be two of the top teams in the county this year and Styler thinks they match up well with Westfield and Scotch Plains.
Styler is also pleased that the MVC championships are a week earlier than the Watchung Conference.
“I like the earlier date because it allows us to get some quality workouts and
race less. Many people don't understand all the racing takes its toll. I
am a firm believer in "making deposits in the training bank" in order to
have enough quality that we can withdraw at the end of October and
especially the three consecutive weekends in November for the state meets,” said Styler, who still holds numerous school records in cross country and track .
“Last year we had some growing pains, with a lot of first and second year Cross
Country runners who needed time to mature,” noted Styler.
“When you go from being amongst the top teams in the state with a number of All Americans on your roster and having to step right up and fill those roles as underclassmen it's a challenge. I think this year these boys are ready to reclaim the tradition.,” added Styler.
