2007 Cranford Girls XC Proeview

For the past four years Laura Gallo was a model of consistency for the Cranford Girls Cross Country team, leading them to two Union County titles, two Watchung Conference titles and a Mountain Valley title. Gallo was a three time county champion and second team all state selection last year and was the leader of an outstanding senior class that also included solid contributors like Joy Hanke, Hannah Van Why and Caitlin Curtis.

But all good things come to an end and third year coach Tim Styler is fortunate to have two key members of the team, senior Erin Hannon and junior Joy Hanke, back to lead a young but talented Cougar team.

“It's not every year when you have a front runner like Laura. She was a
consistent number one over the past few years and when you can count on
finishing with a lead runner in the single digits it helps that ever
important team score. Erin Hannen and Joy Hanke are now going to have
to lead this team while the freshman will be challenging for top honors each meet,” said Styler, who is an expert at getting the team to peak for championship meets.

.Last year at the county meet, despite having their entire team returning from the 2005 championship group, the Cougars were considered underdogs to Summit but led by Gallo, who broke away from the pack in the second mile and breezed in a personal best 19:07, the Cougars defended their title with a 44-65 victory. Always the consummate team player, Gallo, now a freshman at Georgetown, seemed more pleased than the performances of her team mates than her own.

Hanke was fourteenth in 20:42 and has been a scoring member of both Union County championship teams. Hannen ran a personal best (21:16) and enters the season ready to take a leadership role.

“Erin and Joy are our two leaders. They are ready to be in the front of the
conference races and county and then lead us into the state meets,” said Styler.

Styler has a young team with freshmen Alisa Commerato, Julia Langone,
Bridget and Veronica Miller and junior Polly Powasnik.

The Cougars opened their invitational season on September 8 at the Cherokee Challenge.

"This will be the first test for the kids as it is a challenging 2 milecourse. We will get to evaluate where everyone is at early in the season as well as getting to see the South Jersey competition. A lot of the top teams in the state this year are hailing from the south. This gives our kids a chance to run against the best and against their own class,” said Styler.

Styler is confident that the Cougars are well on their way to building a new powerhouse.

“So far we are looking fairly fit. Obviously most of our summer is spent
getting a base. We started some threshold work recently and incorporated other lactate workouts into the training such as tempo runs of four miles,” said Styler.

“You can’t expect every season to be like the last two but we are going to be a much improved team by the end of the year.”

Doliber leads deep talented 2007 SPF Harriers

When the 2006-7 cross country and track season commenced, Patrick Doliber of Scotch Plains Fanwood was not one of the leading names in Union County and among a group of underclassmen vying for second place behind senior Adam Biner, the team’s unquestioned leader. Now, fast-forward a year later. Biner has graduated and Doliber enters this season as one of the favorites to win what should be a wide-open Union County championship race this year. His emergence once again shows how unpredictable high school track can be from one year to the next.

Biner had a memorable senior year. He won the Watchung Conference meet in a personal best time of 17:09 after being hospitalized and missing three days of practice. “Adam really showed what he was made of out there,” said Koegel.

“We have had many champions since I have been here but this one was pretty special.”

Fifth in the conference race, Doliber kept improving and really hit his stride when he won the Union County indoor 3200 meter title and cracked the coveted 10 minute barrier for 3200 meters when he won the Watchung Conference outdoor 3200 meter title in 9:53.8. Doliber later dropped his time to 9:52.08 when he finished sixth at the sections, qualifying for the state championships.

“I knew if I kept working hard and listening to my coach, my times would eventually start to improve. Breaking 10 was important because I knew it was within my reach,” said Doliber, who had run 10:17 indoors.

Doliber leads one of the deepest and most talented Scotch Plains Fanwood Boy’s teams since the 2001 squad that featured Brian Kopnicki, Mike Dixon, Zack McGuire and Bob Wallden. Senior Dan Sapienza and junior Martin Sweeney, who both missed much of last season with injuries, pushed Doliber last spring in the 3200 and had times of 10:12 and 10:16 respectively. Senior Mike Ragan excelled in the 800 (2:02) and 1600 (4:37) and is also in the front pack

Two other experienced seniors, Adam Horowitz and Greg Bencivengo have each won three letters and will give Koegel the depth and flexibility he has rarely enjoyed in his nine years at the school. Horowitz missed much of last season with injuries. Bencivengo had a breakthrough season in outdoor track, smashing his personal best in the mile with a 4:52.93 at the section meet.

They are facing spirited competition from two talented sophomores, Brian Walsh and Bobby Evans, who both had impressive freshman years and vastly improved sophomore Brandon Wheeler. A pleasant surprise has been, senior Marc L’Heureux, who broke 20 minutes for the first time in the opening meet Providing additional depth are three newcomers senior Mike Bover, junior Erick Walker and freshman Mike Pesin.

The newfound depth gives Koegel insurance against injuries and will also enable him to have a fully stocked junior varsity team. The Raiders looked impressive in sweeping their opening two races against Kearny and Elizabeth.

Koegel has always considered Westfield to be a major bellweather for his team and this year should be no exception. In addition to the natural local rivalry, the Blue Devils defeated the Raiders in a close dual meet last year and also took their measure in the Watchung Conference and Union County meets.

The two teams had the first of three meetings this past Tuesday. Westfiled won 23-36