Cranford 2007 Cross Country Review

The first championship meet of the year can often be a daunting time for a team with as many new runners as the Cranford girls, but the Cougars used it as a stepping stone to show everyone that while the team members may be new, the success would continue.

With four freshmen among their top six, the Cougars just missed edging out favored Arthur L Johnson High School at the Mountain Valley Conference championship. The Crusaders, who two weeks later would later take their first Union County title, edged the Cougars 33-39 but Coach Tim Styler saw the meet as a turning point for a strong season that serves as a building block for the next three.

“We had a lot of new kids that weren’t sure how good they were, but the MVC meet showed them that they were ready to compete,” said Cranford Coach Tim Styler.

As they did all year, junior Joy Hanke, one of the team’s two returning runners, and freshman Alisa Commerato led the way finishing third and fourth respectively.

“We knew that Joy and (senior) Erin Hannen would give us two solid experienced runners but you’re never sure what to expect from your newcomers,” said Styler.

‘Alisa ran great as a freshman, it took a little while for her to come out of her shell and compete but she did an amazing job. Certainly the future looks promising for her and the girls,” said Styler.

“The Miller twins and Julia Langone ran a very gutsy and impressive fall
along with Junior Meghan Monahan. The all continued to improve and you
could see a vast difference from when they started to the end of the year,” said Styler.

Like the boys the girls qualified for the state finals by finishing third with 86 points in the Group II Section 2 races held at Warinanco Park Saturday November 3.

“We are very happy to have qualified to run in the state finals. It is a tremendous experience to be able to mix it up with the state’s best runners,” a said Styler.

Hanke led the girls with a fifth place finish, running a personal best of 20:21.97 (6:14 per mile) on the championship course. She also paced the team to a tenth place finish in the state championships with a 21^st overall.

In addition to Hanke, Styler was happy to have the experienced leadership that Hannen provided.