The South Jersey Shootout has grown into one fine race no doubt. Last year, 40 teams (23 guys, 17 girls) – in 2007? A whopping 49 teams were on the line (29 guys, 20 girls). If it grows at that clip every year, we could have another Shore Coaches on our hand at some point. Congratulations to Ringo Adamson and all of his help for pulling off such a hell of a meet.
With that said, it was a day of vital experience for the Paul VI Eagles. The weather was perfect in the early morning and never really threatened nasty heat the whole day as it was forecast.
Our first race was the freshmen, lining up at 9:00am and ready to tackle the 2.39 mile course. Eric Hubbs stuck himself early on in the top 40 and gradually worked his way up to 26th. He went through the first mile in 5:42 and pushed through the middle hills (which many were thrown off by) on his way into medal contention. He finished the race in 15:01. Nick Vadino and Mike Giordano went back and forth all race after getting out rather quickly. Giordano threw in a kick to come home in 45th at 16:12 with Vadino not far behind in 47th at 16:17. Tony Pinto also put in an admirable effort overcoming stitches to finish in 17:01.
The JV boys were next at 9:30am and the weather stayed the same for the most part. Except for the 15-minute period of driving rain…luckily, most coaches were at the 2-mile mark in the woods during that quick downpour. Alec Connelly, Tom Pellegrino, and Jamie Rooney all worked together coming in at 24:10, 24:14, and 24:15 respectively. Rooney took a good minute off his best time this year. The stud of the race was Nick Carrozzo – coming off only a week, week-and-a-half of training and the minor detail of never experiencing a full a 5k before. Carrozzo finished his first race, enduring a somewhat overly zealous first mile of 7:06.
The “5, 6, 7″ race saw mixed results. Another first-timer stole the limelight though. Freshman Alec Holland – a certain force to be reckoned with in future years – found himself on the line of a varsity race no more than 10 practices after his firm commitment to the team. Having never run competitively before and only days after buying his first pair of trainers, the freshman blazed out to 6:10 first mile. The early pace got to him, with the hills not providing much of a consolation. Holland still managed a 21:52, which one heck of a first race (ever!). Tom Pellegrino withstood a quick first mile as well to finish a good 10 seconds ahead of Holland in 21:40. Senior Wil Bradford went out comfortably but fell victim to the backhills and heavy traffic. He still stuck his nose in there for a respectable 19:55. The sentiment from all three afterwards, however, was of a ‘I can do much better’ tone tinted with a little bit of disappointment. The season has only just begun though.
The ’3-4′ race saw another freshman put to the test. After coming up big in PVI’s first dual meet – Tom Hoban had confidence and a little bit of experience under his belt (giving a freshman confidence is a dangerous thing, especially in cross country). Hoban paced himself and finished 33rd for yet another great performance, going 18:37 on a hilly course in the process. Senior Ed Murphy was another victim to the hills but still held together to finish in 19:41 respectively. Undoubtedly, he’ll be eager to get into the next race.
The ’1-2′ race (stud race) pitted sophomore Mike Rankin and senior Paul Lively against some of the very best from South Jersey and the Philly area. Rankin put himself in the top 10 from the get go and moved through the mile-mark in a 5:02 (he might have cringed if we had shared that with him during the race). The hilly second mile took it’s toll but Rankin seemed on course to still pop something big. Although the hills slowed him down enough to make him question the decency of his time, Mike moved from 12th heading into the woods up to 8th and finishing in 17:00. A great first competitive 5k of the season, but surely he is hungry for more. Paul Lively finished in 19:13 but he will also be looking forward to that next meet.
Overall, a learning experience for many today. Many realized that more work must be done and things might have to change in order for goals to be reached. All-in-all, for 6 of the 7 in the varsity races it was their first ‘real’ varsity race and all will be looking forward to the next one.
For complete results of the meet, click here.
