South Jersey Open

Fall has arrived and real cross country has begun and I certainly wasn’t the only one to feel it. Eight personal bests came out of Saturday’s South Jersey Open race.

At 12:30pm, the lone freshman competitor Joe Pinto stood on the line without his 4 fellow freshman compatriots. Pinto didn’t let that bother him, though. Instead, he traversed the flat 2 mile course in a personal record time of 13:16, shaving a whopping 75 seconds off his previous best. His effort effectively set the tone for the rest of the day.

The Eagles came together – under the tone set by Pinto – to deliver a whopping 8 new personal records from the JV Division 1 race and the Varsity Division 2 race. At 1:20pm, it was Tom Pellegrino, Alec Connelly and Jamie Rooney who led a trio of freshmen – Eric Hubbs, Mike Giordano, and Nick Vadino – to the line in the JV race. The race got out quick and it was Hubbs and Giordano that put themselves in the top 40 right away, never letting up. Giordano was coming off a GCC performance this past Wednesday that shaved over 90 seconds off his previous best. Saturday’s Delsea race was no different – Giordano kept pushing and led the JV guys by dipping under 20 and chopping another 78 seconds off his PR with a 19:55. Mike – we know you are probably a great basketball player, but whatever you do, keep running in the mix because I promise you this is only the beginning. Hubbs upped the ante for the rest of the guys by finishing in 20:14, a 11-second PR. Vadino completed the trifecta by adding his two cents and crossing the line in 20:56, taking 52 seconds more off his own PR. All this after a tough week involving three races – one at Holmdel, one at GCC, and the last at Delsea. I couldn’t be prouder, but as always, I will be asking for even MORE!

But wait, I certainly wasn’t done. The ‘older’ JV guys didn’t want the freshmen hogging all the spotlight and responded with significant PR’s as well. Alec Connelly destroyed his previous best by a good 120 seconds, running a 21:35. Sophomore Tom Pellegrino took close to that off as well, running 21:51 and dipping under 22 minutes for the first time in his high school career. Senior workhorse Jamie Rooney did the same with 23-minute barrier by running 22:59 and rounding out a race that would make any coach ecstatic. They all deserve MVP of the day.

On to the varsity race at 2:40pm. Rankin, Hoban, Norris, Lively, Murphy, Bradford, and Steve Pellegrino all lined up and were raring to go after watching the younger guys perform. The first mile was quick and frontrunner Mike Rankin was somewhat surprised to see a 20-25 guys together at 5:17 or less on this course. Unfortunately, he found himself at the head of the wrong pack heading through the mile and had to play catch-up the rest of the way (which on Delsea’s flat course is a real hard thing to do). He moved up admirably and eventually placed 16th in 17:11. Although the time was not what he wanted, it showed a lot of character to grab over 20 spots in the waning moments of the race, but it was also a firm lesson in race positioning and one Mike can’t wait to correct. Tom Hoban again went out in the first mile in 5:25 (a couple seconds off his mile PR) and ran hard and true the whole way. His efforts put him at 34th, but more importantly he – as a freshman – has already established himself as part of PVI XC history, grabbing 15th place on the Delsea Top Times list with a 17:53. Congrats Tom (and Norris, you were right). Speaking of Tom Norris, the first-year runner finished 42nd in 18:09, taking 38 seconds off his best in the process. Paul Lively started his movement in the right direction too by taking 48th in 18:22, while Ed Murphy wasn’t too far behind in 59th with a 18:39. Those five guys gave a team performance good enough for199 points and 7th place which was a respectable pick up in form after the midweek. Wil Bradford finished in 69th in 19:14, while Steve Pellegrino ran a 20:47 to close out the top seven.

Overall, the kids ran with a view to accomplish something this week and, as it seems, that mentality doesn’t look to fade anytime soon. In fact, to venture a guess, I would be surprised if it ever left as any sports team is only what the runners what to make of it and that is one thing that a coach can rarely influence. Congrats guys on a solid weekend. I will be looking forward to many more.

A link to varsity results can be found here.

Take a look at Tom Hoban’s entry into the Top Delsea Times list!