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