Westfield Girls win 2007 Watchung XC title

Depth continues to provide the winning formula for the Westfield Girls cross country team. After carving out a 9-0 dual meet record, the Blue Devils needed every one of their balanced top seven runners to edge defending champion Scotch Plains Fanwood 42-45 at the Watchung Conference championship meet held Thursday at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth. Westfield withstood a gutsy victory by SPF’s outstanding junior Brittney Veeck to annex its first team title in five years, the longest drought in school history. Westfield had last won in 2002, when it earned its seventh straight title.

Veeck fought off the effects of bronchitis, and then had to withstand the allergic reactions to the medication which induced hives, dizziness and nausea. An hour before the race Veeck was staggering due to dizzy spells. Despite her physical issues and a week of light workouts, Veeck was able to run 20:30.8, defeating Westfield sophomore Aileen Grogan by eight seconds. After finishing second to Plainfield’s Jahlisa Smith a year ago, Veeck became the first Raider girl to win an individual conference title in cross country title, adding to her outdoor track 1,600-meters title won last spring. Her victory was reminiscent of 2006, when Raider Adam Biner won the boy’s race after being hospitalized earlier in the week. Biner’s sister, freshman Chana Biner, competed for the Raiders in the girl’s race.

Veeck’s victory and a third place finish by senior Cassy Valdes gave the Raiders a big advantage but Westfield coach Thom Hornish and assistant Jen Buccino have built a team of remarkable balance and depth where the first and 20^th runners are only separated by one minute. Often that type of squad is not always able to win championship meets against teams that have several outstanding runners. The Raiders took first, third, eighth and 12^th, which is usually enough to win a big meet but Westfield countered with Rose Driscoll (fifth, 21:04.1), junior Bridget Grogan (10th, 21:44.0), sophomore Rebecca Castaldo (13th, 22:04.2) and senior Tessa Schaaf (14th, 22:26.0). finishing right behind in 15^th and 16^th were Allie Lowenstein (22:39) and Alexis Constantine (22:40).

“Yes the score was closer than I was hoping for. The girls gave it their best though. I am sure they were feeling tremendous pressure after being named the favorite in the paper, after a five year gap since our last title, and after an undefeated season. They wanted this very badly and I hope that this will give them the confidence to step things up for next week (Union County championships),” said Buccino, who was proud of Grogan’s strong finish.

“Aileen did a great job, and dropped her time from 21:45 to 20:39. At two miles SPF had two runners ahead of our first. And while we had seven ahead of their 5th at two miles, there was not enough cushion to count on coming out on top because SPF had countered with 4 ahead of our 5th. Aileen caught Union's Hyppollite and SPF's Valdes with about 300 meters to go. Additionally, with 300 meters to go, Bridget Grogan kicked and caught SPF's Carow before the finish for 10th which gave the additional help” said Buccino.

Cranford Girls 2007 XC MVC

For the most part the names and faces have changed for the Cranford High School girls cross country team, but even with the school’s most talented senior class now on college campuses, a new group of girls is serving notice that the Cougars should not be overlooked.

With four freshmen among their top six, the Cougars just missed edging out favored Arthur L Johnson High School at last week’s Mountain Valley Conference championship held at Warinanco Park. The Crusaders took the top two places in the race to defeat Cranford 33-39 but Coach Tim Styler saw much to be pleased about.

“We came into the season with two girls returning from last year's championship squad and we expected a run from A.L. Johnson. They were second to us last year and returned most of their squad. They ran very well at the conference race this year and were able to sneak two girls in front of our top three,” said Styler. Earlier in the season Johnson had edged the Cougars by two points in a dual meet.

Junior Joy Hanke, one of the team’s two returning runners, finished third in 20:52.20, just ahead of freshman Alisa Commerato fourth in 20:57.99 and the team’s other veteran, senior Erin Hannen fifth in 21:05.73

In only her first year of cross-country, Commerato has already turned heads with her strong consistent runs. “Alisa is finally getting into the habit of getting out faster. Alisa has natural speed and we are seeing steady improvement out of her. She and the other freshman have come along nicely this season and have really been a nice surprise for us,” said Styler,

Freshman twins Bridget and Veronica Miller finished ninth and 18^th respectively and freshman Julia Lagone was 19^th “The Miller twins, Bridget and Ronnie are rounding out our top five. They are getting stronger as the season progresses. Both have taken the
challenge of running with the older girls and push themselves in races

to stay within striking distance of the other girls,” added Styler, who is pleased the way that his veterans have led the youngsters. Also competing in the junior varsity race were juniors Meagan Monahan and Polly Powasnik

“Erin has stepped into the role of captain for our team. This is an honor that we do not hand out. She is always on the phone with the girls and organizing the girls for runs and keeping the group together, which is key to developing a strong team. She trains hard and along with Joy is an example for the other girls and we have seen a lot of progress from them,” said Styler

The Cougars now set their sights on attempting to win their third consecutive county title next Wednesday at Warinanco Park. Last year’s favorite, Summit, is considered the front-runner again this year but Styler’s rapidly improving team should not be counted out.

“These girls are showing an ability to rise to each challenge and I expect them to step up during the next championship meets ahead of us ,” said Styler.

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2007 Cranford Boys XC MVC

At the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) meet last Tuesday Cranford sophomore William Smith ran 17:33.31, the third fastest overall time. The only drawback for the Cougars was that it happened in the Junior Varsity race where Smith finished more than two minutes ahead of the second place runner. While coach Tim Styler noted that Smith would not have made a difference in the varsity race, he was pleasantly surprised that his prodigy looks ready to make a solid Cougar team that much stronger for the championship races coming up.

Smith was left off the varsity seven because he had missed most of the season with a lingering viral infection and had been unable to run under 20 minutes in practice.

“A few days before the race he was mentioning how he was feeling pretty good

and wanted to run varsity at the conference meet, however I couldn't pull one of our other seven runners out of the varsity lineup. So we had Will run the JV race hoping that he would get his confidence back and challenge for a spot in the top seven,” said Styler who added.

“ Will is talented and we expect him to drop his time this fall. His third place finish overall would not have changed the varsity team standings. We would have still finished third,” said Styler.

“Our other seven guys have been running well all season and steadily dropping their personal bests,” said Styler.

With Smith sidelined, fellow sophomore Roy Colicchio has stepped up to become the team leader, followed closely by senior captain Steven Phillips.

Colicchio ran 18:03.44 (5:48.8 per mile) to lead the team in eighth place. Phillips followed in 11^th in 18:19.555:54).

“These two are always leading the workouts and runs and along with Will should be a good nucleus moving forward,” said Styler, who envisioned 2007 as a bit of a rebuilding season due to the graduation of one of Cranford’s greatest all time runners, Joe McKenney as well as solid performers Kevin Boyle and Eddie Baker.

“We had a very talented senior class last year but you always have to replace good people,” said Styler who noted that McKenney has continued his outstanding running at New York University, who is currently ranked second in the country.

But Styler has been pleasantly surprised by the overall balance that his team has shown.” We’ve had great improvement from our young team, Sophomore John Powasnik is becoming a steady fourth runner and freshman Michael Cassidy has run in the mid 18s so far and is very determined to be among the best freshman in our school history books,” said Styler.

Juniors Tyler Schott and Miguel Caulfield have also shown improvement and rounded out the top seven along with senior Billy Albert. With Smith healthy, it makes for eight runners battling for the top seven.

“We have great competition with these guys battling for spots and setting personal bests every race,” said Styler.

Powasnik was 14^th in 18:35.04 (5:58.9), followed by Cassidy 17^th in 18:42.39(6:01.3) and Schott completed the scoring in 20^th in 19:00.83(6:07.2). Caulfield was 22^nd in 19:05.88 Albert was 27^th in 19:44.16.

In addition to Smith, three other Cougars competed in the junior varsity race.

Seniors Jacob Skelcy, Max Lasky and Mark Kuczynski ran 21:01.56, 21:57.35 and 22:25.60 respectively.

“The competition is great for the team and will certainly lead us to some good
results in the upcoming races. “

Westfield Girls 2007 XC Preview

Some of the most competitive and crowded girl’s races this fall are likely to take place at Tamaques Park when the Westfield Girls Cross Country team conducts its time trials as it tries to whittle 94 runners into a varsity unit of 12, which will eventually be pared down to seven runners for later championship meets. Veteran coach Thom Hornish and assistant Jen Buccino face the challenge of trying to replace their top three runners from a year ago, Nicole DiBenedetto, Kim Legones and Ayn Wisler as well as Jen Danielsson, Beth Budnick, Hope Skibitsky, and Marissa Goldner.

DiBenedetto and Legones showed vast improvement throughout the season and by the end of the year were the top 1-2 punch in the county. “Nicole and Kim’s improvement began when they took their summer training seriously last year.and when they came to realize how much they really loved the sport and let that passion take them to the next level.,” said Buccino.

Thus far, Buccino has not had any runner separate themselves from a large pack of 15 runners in a first group with 15 more right behind. “The team is shaping up nicely, after the first week. It looks like all of our large number of runners are in for the long haul,” said Buccino.

“ We have a really solid group of 15 training together and another 15 right behind. The time trial went very well. Summer training was taken more seriously this year by many. A lot can happen between now and November, but the spirit and enthusiasm is very high and the new crew has already blended well with the veterans,” Buccino added.

Buccino finds it very hard to single out more than a few girls that she knows will be in the lead group. “I think we are going to have an ever evolving top seven. There is a very healthy competition within the team..The rookies are not afraid to challenge the veterans, and the veterans welcome it and encourage everyone to be her best,” said Buccino.

Among the group vying for the top seven include seniors Rose Driscoll, Marissa Mumford, Tessa Schaaf, Caitlin Burke, Lindsay Tishberg, and newcomer Jaclyn Kirna,juniors Aileen and Bridget Grogan, Moira Smith, Alexis Constantine, Liz McCarthy and Alli Lowenstein, sophomores Megan Pulliam , Becky Castaldo and Karaugh Ball and freshmen: Angela Tata, Abbie Kwok, Alyssa Hatch, Alex Frankel and Meghan Suriano

Among the 25 freshmen are three sets of twins, making the coach’s goal of learning all names in the first week more difficult.

Driscoll, Marissa Mumford and Josie Reinhardt are this year's captains, and combined with Alli Lowenstein, Aileen and Bridget Grogan, and Liz McCarthy make up the returning members of last year's varsity 12. Seniors Caitlin Burke, Tessa Schaaf, Lindsay Tishberg, Marlee Austin, Dylan Wallace...juniors Alexis Constantine, Moira Smith, and Marie DiIorio, and sophomore Karaugh Ball clearly made it their business to come back in shape this year in an effort to earn a spot on this year's top twelve to make up for our loss to graduation.

We have some fresh faces that are really showing promise for some additional depth in the potential varsity line up. We are very excited to have seniors Jaclyn Kirna and Dylan Wallace, junior Casey Reimlinger, and sophomores Becky Castaldo and Megan Pulliam who converted from other fall sports and are helping lead the way in workouts. And finally, Angela Tata and Abbie Kwok are leading the pack of freshmen thus far...with several that are sure to rise through the ranks as the season progresses.

If there is strength in numbers, then the Westfield Girls’ Cross Country team, with its remarkable group of over seventy runners should be formidable once again.

“We have a long time tradition of success so we like to set our expectations high. These girls over the years have been very good at responding to challenges,” said Hornish.

One the of the keys to the team’s long time success has been coaching, where the Blue Devils have been fortunate to have Jen Buccino, in her eighteenth year in the program and an accomplished runner, who still competes in road races. Buccino is also the head coach of the successful Westfield Girls Indoor Track team and was Union County Track coach of the Year in 2005.

The Blue Devils lost an outstanding senior class quartet of captains; Jen Danielsson, Beth Budnick, Hope Skibitsky, and Nicole DiBenedetto. Danielsson, the most accomplished of the four, was a sectional 3200 meter champion as a sophomore but was held back by injuries last season.

Seniors Ayn Wisler,. Fellow seniors, and Kim Legones team last spring, competing in the sprints, hurdles and jumps.

Hornish is counting on big things from

Regaining Union County supremacy in 2007 will be an uphill fight for Westfield. The coaches are expecting strong challenges from Summit and Scotch Plains among other teams as the Blue Devils try to regain the county crown last won in 2003.

“There is tough competition out there but he team is off to a great start. The interest, enthusiasm, and desire are all there from this year's team, and all things are possible when you have that going for you. ,” said Buccino.

The Blue Devils open against Kearny on September 12 at Hudson County Park in Kearny before competing in the St. Dominic Invitational at Lincoln Park in Jersey City

on Saturday, September 16.

Firedman and Tarlow lead 2007 Westfield Boys XC

Evan Friedman and Alex Tarlow grew up less than a mile from each other on the south side of Westfield, a short jog from Tamaques Park. They each attended Tamaques Elementary School and Edison Middle School as well as belonging to Temple Emanuel.

But it wasn’t until they began attending Westfield High School in the fall of 2004 that they really started to get to know each other as they competed on the cross country and track teams.

Three years later they form the top 1-2 combination in the county and hope to lead another strong Blue Devil cross country team to its third straight county title. Last year at the Union County meet Friedman edged Tarlow 17:07 to 17:12 as they finished fourth and fifth for the top two performances by underclassmen, leading Westfield to a 46-85 victory over Roselle Catholic. They are friendly rivals who appreciate each other’s intensity.

“Evan and I are like running brothers. We are always looking out for each other and thoroughly enjoy one another's company on our long runs. Like brothers do there is a bit of sibling rivalry,” said Tarlow.

“We may be known to push the pace now and again because to us, there is always second place in a recovery workout. We feed off each others running and we look forward to seeing one another succeed in and out of the XC world.”

“We are competitive with each other but we really don’t care who wins as long as Westfield finishes 1-2,” added Friedman.

Martin feels fortunate to have such a talented a motivated trio to lead his team. Senior Brendan Berkowitz, the team’s third runner last year also returns and along with Friedman and Tarlow is a tri-captain.

“They have worked hard all summer and are coming off big track seasons. They are motivated and want to get to the Meet Of Champions. Evan, Alex and Brendan have been solid leaders thus far”.

Martin was also pleased with the condition of most of the team members.

“To be successful in the fall we encourage the boys to run as much as possible. We look at the running as being year round and do not make x-c a do or die situation-there are two more seasons of running left,” said Martin

While both are outstanding cross-country runners, they had different strengths during the track season. Tarlow was one of the county’s top 800 runners (1:55.60) and also ran on the 4 by 400 team as well as the mile. Friedman excelled in the 3200 (9; 49) and 1600.

“Evan is definitely more of a natural cross country runner than me,” said Tarlow.

In addition to Tarlow, Friedman and Berkowitz, Martin also has senior Neil Fitzpatrick returning from his top seven. Depth is never a problem on a team with around 100 athletes and the first few dual meets may determine who runs the championship races that start in late October. In addition to their Union County title the Blue Devils are also defending Watchung Conference champions.

Seniors Gus Gibbons, Tianyou Xu, juniors Josh Einbinder Dennis Elwell, Julian Applebaum, Eric Hagstrom, Andrew Marra, Joey Martoglio, Ross Tucker and sophomores Mike Fietkiewicz, Ryan Scrudato, and Tyler Cusick are all competing

for varsity spots. During a Saturday morning time trial at Tamaques Park it was easy to see why Martin can maintain such a large and enthusiastic squad in such a demanding

sport. The coach as well as assistant Chris Tafelski, a former Blue Devil runner

shouted encouragement to each runner, no matter what their skill level.

“We try to relate to each boy on the team each day. We include the science of the sport and try most all to have fun. We also encourage the boys, above all, to be good citizens,” said Martin.

Westfield 2007 Girls XC Stewart

The Westfield High School girls cross country team showed off their prodigious depth at three big recent meets, edging archrival Scotch Plains Fanwood 26-33 in their annual dual meet, finishing sixth in the prestigious Stewart Invitational and running strong last Saturday at the Shore Invitational.

The Blue Devils withstood a victory by SPF standout junior Brittney Veeck (21:04) and a fourth and fifth by Cathy Harley and Emily Carow by taking the next five scoring places. Senior Rose Driscoll (21:18) led the way with a second, followed by junior Aileen Grogan (21:47) in third. The next five scorers sophomore Meg Pulliam, junior Bridget Grogan, sophomore Becky Castaldo and juniors Alli Lowenstein and Liz McCarthy finished within 20 seconds of each other.

Buccino was worried that the team might still be leg weary from winning the overall team championship at the Bernie Magee Memorial Class Invitational the previous Saturday. In that meet there are separate races for each high school year and Westfield’s dominance in the junior race helped pace the triumph.

“The girls were coming off an exciting weekend at the Class meet with their team title, and really looking forward to our dual meet. We did not take SPF lightly as they are a team we face later in the conference and county meets. The girls did their job, despite the heat and humidity, and made sure that they separated the top SPF girls and packed themselves in together as tightly as possible,” said Buccino.

Veeck ran 20:42.32 for tenth overall to pace the area runners at the Stewart Invitational and Harley edged Aileen Grogan, finishing 22^nd at 21:22. Grogan was 24^th(21:34), followed by Driscoll (21:38), Castaldo (21:54), Bridget Grogan (22:07),

Marissa Mumford (22:26), Pulliam (22:27) and McCarthy (22:47).

“The Stewart meet gave us a chance to see how we stacked up against our Sectional competition...Hunterdon Central, North Hunterdon, and Bridgewater-Raritan. The girls took 6th behind some tough competition and we know we have work to do in the next few weeks,” said Buccino.

Rob Rafferty’s paper-thin team did not have enough runners to get a finishing score as depth continues to be a problem for Scotch Plains. For Westfield, with its plentiful battalion of runners, the front pack is beginning to sort itself out.

“Our top seven has changed every week, and the good news is that we have a good 15 girls in contention for that coveted varsity spot

Buccino was also pleased that the junior varsity team easily won with 31 points and placed five in the top ten overall. The freshmen team also took third.

“What we need to develop is a stronger 1-2 punch in the front to help break up the top runners of our opposition. The girls have their eyes wide open with regards to their competition. They know they have to work very hard over the next few weeks and they are more than willing to do their best to rise to the occasion. There is an incredible chemistry within the team this season and sometimes that can be the difference when the pressure is on,” said Buccino.

At the Shore meet Driscoll, was 39^th in 21:43, followed by 46th place Aileen Grogan, Castaldo in 52^nd in 22:23, Bridget Grogan 74^th in 22:53. Pulliam, 92nd in 23:39, Mumford 93^rd in 23:41 and Tessa Schaaf 100^th in 24:02.

Westfield 2007 Boys XC Stewart

The Westfield and Scotch Plains Fanwood Boy’s cross country teams served up two tasty appetizers last week before they attack the main courses of the Watchung Conference and Union County title meets in late October.

As has been the case in recent years, the Raiders will have some ground to make up if they want to catch the Blue Devils, who easily won their dual meet 23-36 at Warinanco Park. Four days later at the Stewart Invitational also at Warinanco Park Westfield finished fourth with 127 points while the Raiders settled for sixth with 194 points.

Seniors Alex Tarlow and Evan Friedman of Westfield and Patrick Doliber of Scotch Plains Fanwood had two stirring battles with Tarlow outrunning Doliber on an unusually warm early autumn day in the dual meet and Tarlow and Friedman edging Doliber at Stewart. In both meets the Raiders matched Westfield through the first three runners but the Blue Devils dominated after that.

In the dual meet Tarlow broke open a tight race after the two mile mark to win easily at 17:22, followed by Friedman fourth in 17:51 and junior Julian Applebaum fifth in 17:51. Doliber was second in 17:44, Martin Sweeney sixth in 17:50 and Mike Ragan seventh in 18:31 but Westfield runners senior Brendan Berkowitz, sophomores Ryan Scrudato and Tyler Cusick and freshmen Zack Lizmi and Andrew Kirna took the next four places.

“The times were slow all around. It was our first time this season running at Warinanco and the heat was also a major issue. There were several dual meets going on in front of us which not only slowed us down but kicked up dirt and dried us out,” said Tarlow.

“SPF is always a big rivalry meet. The heat was a factor. Alex was pumped and ran that way. There weren't too many close races over the last mile. Julian Applebaum had a big race,” said Westfield coach Jack Martin.

At Stewart, Tarlow was sixth in 17:04.21 (5:14 per mile), with Friedman seventh in 17:04.52 and Doliber next in 17:06.96. Sweeney was 15^th in a personal best 17:29 and senior Mike Ragan was 27^th in 17:49.60, but Westfield runners Scrudato (36^th), Berkowitz (37^th), Applebaum (41^st), Gus Gibbons (46^th), Tianyou Xu (55^th) all finished well before the next SPF runner, sophomore Brandon Wheeler (68^th).

“Alex and Evan ran together and ran well and both had a bit left at the end. The varsity was solid although a little tired from the dual meet on Tuesday against SPF in the heat. The JV ran well and the freshmen second place was huge,” said Martin.

The usually circumspect Martin could hardly hold back his enthusiasm about his two prized freshman, Lizmi and Kirna.

“They both have been running well-perhaps the best one-two as freshmen in my time. The overall freshmen average at Stewart was about our fastest during my time as coach,” said Martin

“We went into Stewart with a winning mentality. We had a couple of really strong practices, along with the win against SPF that told us we could create some excitement at the meet,” said Tarlow.

Martin is confident that the Blue Devils are on track to repeat their Union County title.

“I like the way things are moving along. They have the hunger and desire to pick up from last year’s team.”