Olympic Conference Championships: 5th Place and 5 1st Team-ers

A timing malfunction led to all runners from 18th place onwards in the Varsity Race not getting their official times. Luckily we had a watch at the line…

Both coaches must say…the day went very well…

JV Race [3:00PM]

Sophomores galore in the JV race, the first race of the day. Hubbs and Vadino went into this race with one real tactic…stick together. They did just that with Vadino taking the early pace and Hubbs taking over right around the ‘A’ course hill. We stressed consistency before the race and both Hubbs and Vadino delivered. Nicky V earned himself another significant PR in the process. The other soph Dave Nole stuck his nose in the Top 50-60 early on. He faded near the end, but still held on – as you can see – for almost a 30 second PR on a tough course. Next up for most of these guys is the Haddonfield Invite at Pennypacker Park this coming Thursday. It’s flat and fast so we should see big improvement!

37. Hubbs 19:29
39. Vadino 19:32 [PR, -:07]
72. Nole 20:55 [PR, -:28]
94. Pellegrino 22:11
 
VARSITY RACE [4:10PM]

A great week of training left our Top 7 pretty confident of a good showing, even without the presence of sophomore Tom Hoban on the line (16:58 ‘C’ Course PR). In Hoban’s place, frosh Joe Nuccio got the chance to line-up for his first Varsity race and performed respectably. Captain Mike Rankin is really rounding into Championship season shape and if it weren’t for loss of contact in the ‘A’ course woods, Mike would have been Top 5-7 easily. The depth of this conference this year really showed itself on Friday, though. Mike went through the mile in 4:58, sitting comfortably up top with eventual winner – Shawnee’s Dave Forward. The loss of contact came in the tight confines of those backwoods and once out in the open again (past the two mile mark), Mike was sitting at the back of the chase pack still looking rather comfortable. He pushed the last mile, catching a couple, and still finding his way to PR on a tough course. Brian Walter and Rich McKean followed suit. Both, along with Alec Connelly, were sitting in the Top 30 through the mile – opening in a 5:10. Walter and McKean started picking people off with about 1000 meters to go. Walter, by that time, had opened up a couple seconds on McKean, and Connelly was about 10 second behind. With Walter on the offensive, McKean waited until the last 200-300 meters to throw in what is rapidly becoming his trademark kick. The junior fought his way to Walter’s side and they finished 24th and 25th…good enough for 1st Team All-Conference honors! Connelly closed well, capping a pretty consistent performance, finishing in 35th. All three should be in strong contention for high sticks at the SJ Parochial Championship Meet in two weeks time as well as Parochial A States in three. This trio has constantly shown they have what it takes to deliver a performance even when there’s adversity. Our fifth man was sophomore Paul Catrino, who ran side-by-side with frosh Stefano Mastrando the whole way. Catrino wasn’t expecting Mastrando to be right on his shoulder at the end, but after a week of much-needed rest, frosh Mastrando wanted his second team All-Conference honors. He had to PR by 12 seconds to do, running 18:03! Both Mastrando and fellow frosh Nuccio shattered the mile PRs during the race, running the opening mile in 5:22. Mastrando flourished after the first mile, while ‘Nooch’ was hampered some by the quick opening pace. Heading into the woods, he felt a bit overextended but he held on for a 2-second PR and a respectable first Varsity race of what I’m sure will be many to come.

Overall, your Eagles finished 5th place to some great teams that will be making plays for their respective State Championships in a couple weeks. Most importantly, it was a significant improvement upon last year. The guys are eager now to start preparation for the SJ Parochials and Parochial States which are rapidly approaching. Thanks to alum Greg Glenn ‘84, who came out to support this past weekend! With this race, Rankin, Walter, McKean, Connelly join Tom Hoban as First Team All-Conference runners! Soph Catrino and Frosh Mastrando both garnered Second Team All-Conference honors for their efforts! Not bad.

12. Michael Rankin 16:30 [-:02 PR]
24. Brian Walter 17:02 [-:09 PR]
25. Rich McKean 17:03 [-:21 PR]
35. Alec Connelly 17:23
52. Paul Catrino 18:00
55. Stefano Mastrando 18:03 [-:12 PR]
78. Joseph Nuccio 19:13 [-:02 PR]

Freshmen Race [4:45PM]

Some fantastic performances for a solid freshmen group! We even got to see Matt O’Donnell on the line for the first time, after battles with injury throughout the season. Pete Gallagher set the tone with a 16th place finish. He was 5:46 through the mile and didn’t let up, fighting through the hills, and really picking people off the last 1k. A sure sign of success to come. Both Tim Bretschneider and Matt O’Donnell worked together through the whole race, with O’Donnell leading them through the mile in 6:06. Timmy B didn’t catch Matt until the last 20 meters, coming in close to his PR, but they both pushed each other to great races. O’Donnell – in his first 5k ever – ran a solid 21:03, a fantastic debut. Can’t wait until the next race!

16. Gallagher 19:28 [-:06 PR]
33. Bretschneider 21:02
34. O’Donnell 21:03 [First 5k!]

Overall, a productive day and another stepping stone to what we see as a tough but rewarding next month. The guys will have 2 weeks to prepare for the upcoming Championship races, but if early indications mean anything, these guys are certainly fully committed to the cause. We’ve already built ourselves a successful season and with a young team they can go into next year feeling confident, but as we’ve seen with most of them, they’re all saying “Why not now?”.

Great job boys.

- Coach Bonnette and Rankin

OLYMPIC CONFERENCE ‘08 Meet Details…

Early dismissal at 1:00PM – MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR SLIPS INTO MRS. HARRIS by EARLY FRIDAY!!

BUS LEAVES AT 1:15PM

3:00PM JV Boys

N. Vadino
E. Hubbs
D. Nole
T. Pellegrino

4:10PM VARSITY BOYS

M. Rankin
A. Connelly
R. McKean
B. Walter
P. Catrino
S. Mastrando
J. Nuccio

4:40PM Frosh Boys

P. Gallagher (OPTIONAL – Frosh or 5k?)
T. Bretschneider (OPTIONAL – Frosh or 5k?)
M. O’Donnell

REST: T. Hoban, P. Henkel, J. Madden, A. Holland

Weather forecast for tomorrow at race-time is: 55-60°F, sunny, a tad windy. Be prepared for MUCH worse. Spikes, uniform,

It’s now that part of the season…all we’ve trained for all summer. We have improved tremendously, but let’s not rest now. We have all winter to do that! Visualize ‘C’ course, hydrate, eat properly, and rest adequately (EVEN though there’s a Phils game tonight).

- Coach

White 27, Blue 28 – White Prevails…

All the guys, parents, friends involved at the Inaugural Blue & White!

The 1st ever Blue & White is in the books and it was a nail-biter. Taking advantage of a cool, crisp morning, the boys unleashed some nice 2-mile times. Thanks to all of the parents that came out to support, some raced, but most importantly, they all provided refreshments for the whole crew (and Coach got most of the leftovers). Next year, I’d love to see some more racers!

1. RANKIN (W) 10:42
2. CONNELLY (B) 10:44 (-:28 PR)
3. WALTER (W) 10:47
4. MCKEAN (B) 10:47
5. HOBAN (B) 11:38
6. MASTRANDO (W) 11:46 (-:04 PR)
7. NUCCIO (B) 12:00 (-:27 PR)
8. CATRINO (W) 12:15
9. VADINO (W) 12:19 (-:08 PR)
10. GALLAGHER (B) 12:29 (-:04 PR)
11. HUBBS (W) 12:55
12. BRETSCHNEIDER (B) 13:12 (-:29 PR)
13. O’DONNELL (W) 13:15 (1st Race!)
14. NOLE (B) 13:30
15. Dave from Timber Creek! (W) 14:01
16. PELLEGRINO (W) 14:06

The scoring went like this:

WHITE – 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13 (27)

BLUE – 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14 (28)

Alec Connelly on his way to a 2nd place finish.

Overall, it was a great day and a couple of the guys let loose in a no-pressure scenario that led to WAWA Gift Cards and bantering back and forth between teams. The course proved to be relatively fun, but it took a while for most to get used to the cold! Now it’s back to the grind, however, as the next month is what we trained for all summer.

Mike Rankin after receiving his 1st place prize for victory in the Blue & White.

Next up – Olympic Conference Championships, this coming Friday, October 24th.

Come Join Us…

Blue & White, tomorrow, anyone can run. Refreshments afterwards. Just bring a snack or something…

Race starts – 9AM!

See post above for directions to the course!

Paul VI XC: Conference Champions Once Again!

PVI 15, Camden Catholic 44
PVI 20, Bishop Eustace 37
Bishop Eustace 20, Camden Catholic 35

2. Rankin 16:42
3. Hoban 16:44 (-:04 PR)
4. Connelly 17:30
5. McKean 17:34
6. Walter 17:37
10. Catrino 18:01
18. Mastrando 19:00
19. Nuccio 19:15 (-:09 PR)
23. Vadino 19:39 (-:06 PR)
25. Gallagher 19:43
27. Hubbs 20:35
32. Bretschneider 21:14
39. Nole 22:43
41. T. Pellegrino 22:50

It was all business on Tuesday at Gloucester County College. Well, I hate to say that because we’ve been stressing the odd fun of this sport all summer and fall…but business it still was. A lot of our guys were running on worn legs, starting to feel a little bit of the fatigue that a high school XC season puts on you. They knew the challenge, however. Even though only a couple of the guys were at this crossroads last year – a loss at the hands of Camden Catholic, a goodbye to one of the greatest streaks in high school cross country, and the loss of a conference title. You could see it in captain Mike Rankin’s face. A little uneasy, sure, as last year was not so far removed…but confident that this year has brought new prospects, new beginnings, and a new program. This time it was a tri-meet against our two conference rivals, something one could hope for every season. It’s swift, efficient, and calls for ONE big race from your guys instead of TWO.

Both Rankin and Tom Hoban got the go-ahead to try and hunt down Bishop Eustace’s stud senior Andy Arnold. Arnold was a first-year XC runner last year. He then had a breakthrough spring track season, dipping just below 4:20 for the mile before putting in a great summer in preparation of tackling South Jersey and the rest of the state this year. Rankin and Hoban went with him early, but Arnold - almost through the mile – threw a small surge that was enough to put a little bit of distance between himself and our own stud duo. The lead was never relinquished, but Rankin and Hoban certainly did the work to keep him close. Hoban led the way from about 1.5 all the way to the 3 mile mark, when Rankin used that trademark kick around the softball field to put some distance between himself and the super soph. That kick pushed Hoban to a new PR of 16:44 (…remember this is a sophomore people…). Rankin came in a couple seconds before at 16:42, looking stronger every time out. The internal fight between those two is going to be key with Championship season looming as it’s plain to see they push each other on the course to new heights.

The race was won about a half way through. Sure, plenty of terrible things could of happened - you never know when cramps are going to hit, twisted ankles, brain-farts that lead to a DQ – but the 3-4-5 guys ran together yet again. Rich McKean led the group of Alec Connelly and Brian Walter through most of the race, until the last mile or so when senior captain Connelly started to push the envelope. In the midst of this “intra-squad battle” the boys had absorbed Walter Cantwell, Camden Catholic’s rising junior and number one. They continued to surge, finishing within 7 seconds of each other for a solid 4-5-6 positioning and ultimately sealing the win against both teams.  We stressed consistency before the race and our Top Five delivered it with no questions. A sure sign that these guys are hungry for greater things in the coming races. Paul Catrino and Stefano Mastrando rounded out the Top 7 with strong performances that still indicated a bit of fatigue…but with 10 days until our next race, a little bit of rest is in order, and they deserve it.

The rest of the squad ran particularly well, with several PR performances highlighting the bunch! Freshman Joe Nuccio PR’ed the second race in a row, shaving another 9-seconds off with a respectable 19:15. Both Mastrando and Nuccio are making firm statements, the biggest being that the future is bright in the hands of our freshmen and sophomores. Behind him, Nick Vadino hustled home (looking eerily like a sprinter in the last 100) to PR by 6 seconds with a 19:39. Frosh Pete Gallagher didn’t PR, but he stayed consistent and looked real strong in the last mile of the race to run 19:43.

Overall, mission accomplished. The boys won back their title and many were saying “here’s the start of a new streak”, but the older guys know that our focus remains somewhere else. Conference titles aren’t everything, but challenging ourselves day-in, day-out, season-in, season-out is a much more desirable goal. Congrats once again to the Eagles, 2008 Conference Champions.

- Coach Bonnette and Coach Rankin 

PICTURES TO COME!