At the beginning of every season, the early stages of the new school year’s PVIXC Eagles take to the streets of Haddon Heights on July 4th to see where they are at fitness-wise. Last year, we had 5-6 guys run pretty decent times on the flat course – a couple new guys mixed in with a couple veterans. This year, a little over half the team took part in a race that has ballooned to over 360 runners and an elite field. With all that said, 99% of our guys finished in the top half and some even set a personal record in the process. Not bad for this early in the season! As seen below, our alumni and parents even had great showings. It was nice to see all of the support overall and even more exciting to see our participation in the 5k swell from 5-6 to 14 in just one short year. All of our new runners ran superbly for their first 5k ever and it should give them a good foundation going forward.  A couple standouts…

Mike Rankin, Brian Walter, and Tom Hoban – worked together most of the race and one (Walter) even got himself a 10 second PR. The trio were sucked out at a quick pace (5:00) and captain Tom Hoban felt the early burn but still held on for a respectable opening time. Walter just announced himself to both Rankin and Hoban that he plans to be in that mix come September. Both Mike and Brian made 16:30s look effortless (heading through in 10:28) and as they plan to stay healthy all year, all three look like they want to make this season count!

The race for the top seven – begins in July….It is crowded with talent as a bunch of guys (some new, some returning) will fight for varsity. Some could even make a hard challenge to the top 3 or 4. Soph Pete Gallagher, fresh off a great frosh spring track season, led the way cutting well over a minute and half off of where he started last season. Fellow soph Joe Nuccio went out very quickly (5:24) but hung on and closed hard for a top 40 finish. New guys jr Nick Lamberto and sr. Tim Smith look to challenge as well, each running their first 5ks in respectable fashion. Both finished top 50. Nick Vadino started his junior year three minutes faster than last season which bodes well for the future. As the training intensifies, we can expect to see all of this group make up the feared Paul VI pack. Throw in a couple of the guys that were on vacation – Catrino, Mastrando and you have yourself some depth. At least that’s what we hope for.

All of the freshmen - Mike Boldurian was our top freshman of the day but as we have kept these guys pretty easy in the early goings, I expect to see all of their times drop dramatically in the coming months. A fantastic starting point. Sophomores John Madden and Chris Booth, who have led the freshmen in training, also started strong.

8. Michael Rankin 16:32
11. Brian Walter 16:39 (-:10 overall PR)
12. Thomas Hoban 17:10
35. Peter Gallagher 19:02
38. Joseph Nuccio 19:14
40. Nicholas Lamberto 19:28 (first race)
44. Tim Smith 19:43 (first race)
59. Nick Vadino 20:25
76. Eric Hubbs 20:56
117. Mike Boldurian 22:47 (first race)
133. Chris Booth 23:18 (first race)
137. Mike Pezzano 23:28 (first race)
138. John Madden 23:30
196. Alex Munns 25:49 (first race)

Parents

68. Tony Walter (Brian’s dad) 20:38
126. John Hoban (Tom’s dad) 23:03
166. Jerry Hubbs (Eric’s dad and our own Booster Club president) 24:46
168. Sandra Wright (Alec’s mom) 24:47
190. Linda Hubbs (Eric’s mom) 25:38
314. Denise Munns (Alex’s mom) 31:52

Alumni

4. Shawn D’Andrea (’05) 15:55
26. John Williams (’95) 18:21
34. Marc Sabo (’95) 19:01
47. Dennis Dougherty (’93) 19:56
91. Charles Blumenstein (’71) 21:26
103. Tom McCarvill (’73) 22:19

Congratulations are in order for Shawn D’Andrea who finished 4th out of a big field. It looks like he plans on making his senior season at Philadelphia University a very special one.

If I missed anyone let me know.

Overall, you couldn’t have asked for anything more. Great day, great weather, and some great “stepping stones”. Coach Bonnette and Rankin watched it from the sidelines, revelling in the fact that it almost looked like we had an army out there. Everyone now has a firm gauge on where their fitness is and as the fun month of July progresses, they can now figure out where it is they want to go.

Full results here…