Tremendous depth, which has been the hallmark of the Westfield Girls Cross country team all season, enabled Coach Thom Hornish’s team to survive the tough Group IV Section II meat and live to compete another week. Tied with Skyland conference power Phillipsburg after five runners for the coveted final qualifying place, the Blue Devils sixth runner Bridgett Grogan finished 18 places ahead of the sixth Phillipsburg runner enabling Westfield to qualify for Saturday’s state finals at Holmdel Park.
Once again junior Aileen Grogan paced the team with a 14th place in 21:12.90 (6:30.2), followed by dependable senior Rose Driscoll, 2oth in 21:24.07. Quickly improving sophomore, Sharon Faktor, who ran with the junior varsity earlier in the season, came up with a huge effort, finishing 32nd in a personal best 22:06. Juniors Alexis Constantine and Allie Lowenstein finished in 33rd and 38th respectively in times of 22:12.48 and 22:22.52, leaving the Blue Devils tied until Bridget Grogan, normally the team’s number three runner clinched the meet with a 45th in 22:43.30. Sophomore Rebecca Castaldo also finished ahead of Phillipsburg’s sixth runner with a 23:05 for 57th.
“Bridget is battling some hip pain and had a cramp during the race, but pushed through and made the difference in our making the trip next weekend,” said assistant coach Jen Buccino.
Buccino was also pleased with her newer runners.
“Sharon Faktor is new to the team this year, and dropped her Stewart Memorial time from 24:41 to 22:06 today, so that was huge for her. Alexis Constantine dropped her time from 22:41 to 22:12, Driscoll tied her PR and Aileen Grogan dropped her PR a few seconds. Castaldo had a stomach virus this week and has not had time to completely recover yet. Competition was fierce, and we knew that going into this race,” said Buccino.
“We needed all seven to go well beyond her personal best, to place higher than we did today. We are happy and honored to move on and have a shot at improving our times at Holmdel next weekend.”
Buccino is certain that the young team will thrive from their participation.
“Every competitive experience you can offer is valuable. The girls have learned so much this season about their racing, their competition, and about the importance of summer conditioning. We did a lot of tweaking in our lineup this season, which gave a lot of different kids the opportunity to step up and represent. Considering all the changes in the lineup, all the pressure to earn and to keep a spot, and all the intense competition they faced, they did a great job this season and have much to look forward to in the future,” added Buccino.
With Skyland powers, Voorhees, the state’s number one team, and Ridge in the field, the Scotch Plains Fanwood Girls Cross country team knew they would be battling for one of the final three spots. As expected, Voorhees dominated, taking the first three spots and six of the first eight to win with twenty points, while Ridge put all seven of its runners in the top 23 to finish second with 62 points. The Raiders finished a comfortable fourth with 127 points, easily ahead of fifth place West Morris-Mendham.
Senior Cathy Harley once again led Coach Rob Rafferty’s team with a 14th place in 20:18.92 Junior Brittney Veeck, continuing to battle illness, finished 20th in 20:49.84, followed by senior Cassy Valdes 22nd in 20:52.35. Junior Emily Carow, the teams most improved runner had another fine race, finishing 29th in 21:55.05. It was a busy weekend for the Carow family, with Emily’s father Mark, running a 3:38 in the New York Marathon on Sunday. Senior newcomer Kate Johnson blasted another personal best in 23:03.48 to clinch the Raiders’ second straight trip to the finals. They hope to do better than last year when they only finished four runners. Freshman Chana Biner added a personal best 23:29.06 for 52nd place.
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