Back from Beantown and recharged, the PVI Eagles had their first race of the season this past weekend.The season started off wet, windy, and muddy. A lot of chaos but always a good one to start the season the with. Most – if not all – of our new runners raced extremely well for their first races and, as a team, we took 6th out of over 70 teams. Not too shabby although we know we can do better. It might be too early to start critiquing ourselves however…let’s give it another race or so. The first to toe the line was the freshmen – six strong.
FRESHMEN (10:00AM)
Adam in his first race, on his way to finishing 7th
Most of the freshmen were visibly nervous beforehand and several almost a week in advance but once the gun was off, we could already see the potential brewing. Adam Verna led a solid group of freshmen including the three Mikes – Boldurian, Patterson, and Pezzano – Alex Munns and Dan Marino. Both Coach Rankin and I have only been around since 2007 but the freshmen class this offseason has been one of the most dedicated yet. It showed too with some great races this past weekend. Unfazed by the mud and chaos, Adam Verna led the way. They had two goals to accomplish – get out to establish position and be aggressive the last half of the race. Verna did just that – nestling right in the top 10 at the half-mile mark and heading through the mile in 5:20. He battled home to post our best frosh time since 2007, 11:11, for a solid 7th place. Not bad for his first XC ever! Both Mike Patterson and Mike Boldurian were out near the 6-minute mark and kept near each other the whole way. Dan Marino looked strong in his XC debut, one of the better performances of the day! Along with Munns and Pezzano, we expect these three to really improve over the next month or so.
7. Verna 11:11
54. Patterson 12:19
59. Boldurian 12:26
102. Marino 12:54
114. Pezzano 13:05
153. Munns 13:32
SOPHOMORE RACE (10:40)
The Sophomores – many of which had the best summers out of our whole lot – left a little to be desired by way of race smarts but their efforts were commendable nonetheless. Both John Madden and Chris Booth really took huge strides forward and it will be fun to see where things go from here. Joe Nuccio went out quick once again, immediately putting himself in the top 5. He was on pace through the first mile and a half or so but he fell off with little to go. If his endurance keeps building, Nuccio could be in line for a breakout season. You can already tell he’s on his way based off the improvement over last season. Stefano Mastrando, still coming back from illness, is looking better every week and he looked genuinely excited to be back on that XC course again. Consistency is key here and we hope by season’s end, he’ll find his way back into that Top 7 after such a promising freshman campaign. Pete Gallagher knows he should have been right in the top 40 with Joe but after the summer he has had – in terms of logging mileage and building strength – Pete will be stepping up nicely over the next couple months. Great improvement from Tim Bretschneider as well.
37. Nuccio 11:19 (-1:08 from ’08)
68. Gallagher 11:46 (-:47 from ’08)
108. Mastrando 12:09
129. Booth 12:26
131. Madden 12:30 (-:21 from ’08)
196. Bretschneider 13:07 (-:34 from ’08)
JUNIOR RACE (11:20)
The numbers were borderline ridiculous this year as over 350 runners graced the sloppy Cherokee HS course for the Junior Race. By the time Tom Hoban and his crew rounded the bend over 1,500 runners had already chewed up the altered course. Regardless, Hoban went straight to business. A little behind where he wanted to be at the mile, Tom fought through some obvious discomfort to finish top 20. Though a bit off his time from last season, once 100% healthy it’s pretty clear Tom is going to be a force this season. Impressively, both Nick Lamberto – a first year runner – and Paul Catrino ran decent races bringing our total to four on the day in and around the 11 minute range. Lamberto has shown he has the chops to succeed in his first season and with the amount of support/depth our team has, it should be a fun year for all involved. Catrino got out a little slower than he would have liked but he was able to navigate the “minefield” of runners to place well. Both know, however, that success this season is only realized by how well our pack does and there is some work to be done in that area. Nick Vadino improved off of last season’s result but he is much more excited to see how his work this summer translates to the 5k distance.
18. Hoban 10:31
73. Catrino 11:11
83. Lamberto 11:19
172. Vadino 12:01 (-:25 from ’08)
226. Hubbs 12:38
SENIOR RACE (12:00)
The Seniors all weren’t particularly impressed with their times but the race was still a step in the right direction. We see already that Brian Walter’s successful summer can translate to success on the XC course. He dropped about 22 seconds from last season and with 100% health, decent conditions, he could – along with Mike and Tom – form one of the best trios in the state. Mike was out with the leaders while Brian sat about 5-10 meters behind. Both went through in the 4:55-5:00 range. Rich McKean is on the comeback trail after significant time off this summer and barring any setbacks, he should be threatening the top three in no time. Tim Smith looked strong in his debut though we’d like to see him more as part of that pack.
11. Rankin 10:15
17. Walter 10:20 (-:22 from ’08)
61. McKean 11:06
95. Smith 11:27
Overall, the Cherokee Challenge served its purpose. A good, fun kickoff to the season. The MVP was clearly freshman Adam Verna grabbing our only top 10 finish of the day but as a whole we were able to identify what it is we really have to work on going forward. Some great improvements and for many, a sloppy introduction to cross country. Regardless, the coming weeks should really set the tone for the season and all of these guys look ready for it. Also, check out the number of guys that made it into the Top 20 list for Cherokee Challenge. Not bad! #3, #12, #13, #17, #18.
Next up Wednesday’s dual meet vs. Camden, Woodrow Wilson, and Penn Tech followed by the Briarwood Invitational early afternoon this Saturday.
