Westfield 2007 Girls Cross Country Review

For most cross country programs an undefeated dual meet season and conference title would be cause for celebration but the Westfield Girls are no ordinary program and coaches Thom Hornish and Jen Buccino are hoping the 2007 season will be looked back on as the season where the Blue Devils began to regain their dominance in the county and state. By winning their first Watchung Conference title in five years, Westfield broke an uncustomary drought, the longest in the history of the program.

The coaches had a difficult challenge replacing their top three runners, Nicole, DiBenedetto, Kim Legones and Ayn Wisler, who all graduated.

“They were tough to replace. We had a young team this year which aside from Rose Driscoll is still learning the sport,” said Buccino.

Lending optimism is the youth of the varsity leaders as well as considerable talent from the freshmen and junior varsity teams. The Blue Devils swept the conference and county tiles in both the freshmen and junior varsity divisions and placed third in both the JV and the freshmen state championship meet that was implemented this year at Thompson's Park in Jamesburg. The team also dominated the class championships at the Stewart Invitational and qualified for the state championships for the 31^st straight year.

“Overall it was a good season. We won the Class, which to me is a real test of team, similar to a relay in track and the Conference and went undefeated in dual meets,” noted Buccino.

The Blue Devils lose Driscoll, Marissa Mumford, Tessa Schaaf, Caitlin Burke, and Lindsay Tishberg from their line up but have a strong returning group that gained valuable experience this year.

Junior Aileen Grogan, who was second in the Watchung Conference and should be one of the county’s best next year, led the team.

“She is just beginning to realize how good she can be,” said Buccino.

Fellow juniors Bridget Grogan, Alexis Constantine, Allie Lowenstein and Liz McCarthy were also major contributors.

“They will be great leaders next year as they look to end their careers with a special season,” said Buccino.

“At our final meeting of the season I had the girls write down what they were willing to commit to do for next year to make her individual and team season better. If they follow through, we could see a different team. We have to step up if we are going to keep up with the competition and the kids are receptive to doing that,” added Buccino.

First year sophomores, Sharon Faktor, Becky Castaldo, and Megan Pulliam all represented the varsity team throughout the season. The Blue Devils also return some unsung runners who rose through the ranks all season but just missed the varsity cutoff, such as juniors Chelsea Bryk and Casey Reimlinger and sophomore Karaugh Ball.

The Blue Devils also have a spectacular freshman class led by the “A-Team” of Alyssa Hatch, Abbie Kwok and Alex Frankel as well as Evan Hindes and Meghan Suriano The team finished with 85 girls, including 17 seniors, but there were 30 juniors, 17 sophomores and 21 freshmen.

“The numbers are a challenge to work with but I will say that we do have the right spirit within our team. The girls really do aspire to make the top twelve to be a part of the state championship portion of the season. This year, our varsity line up changed constantly. Fifteen different girls earned a spot throughout season, ranging from freshmen and rookies through fourth year seniors in the hunt for the first time in their careers,” said Buccino.

With an ever changing line up it is important that every person on our team accepts the changes and is genuinely supportive of the person who is new to step up and that is definitely the case, year in and year out,” said Buccino.