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