Runners and parents,
First off, a special thanks goes out to this past Friday's guest speaker, head basketball coach, Cam Joyce. He provided the team with his insights into dealing with pressure, mental preparation for competition and some great stories from his playing days. Coach Joyce hit all the right notes because the Cats enjoyed their most successful outing of the season at the Forest Hills McDonough Invitational.
The course was in surprisingly good condition considering the previous evening's thunderstorms. The late summer Goldenrod, Queen Annes' Lace and Joe Pye weed provided a colorful backdrop along the trails for the 59th running of this classic meet.
In the JV race, the cat pack wasted no time getting to the front. Robbie Klanac led his team through the first mile. Near the base of the infamous Rockefeller Hill he clipped a rock and stumbled as he made the turn up the hill. He lost precious seconds, but quickly recovered and gamely worked his way back into the race. A trio of cats, Mayer, Becker, and Maloney, traded the lead over the next 3 km. Joe Maloney and Mike Mayer battled down the final straightaway to finish 1, 2 in 17:33, 17:34. They were followed by Sean Freddy Becker 17:52, John Pawlikowski 17:57, Robbie Klanac 18: 12, Sean Ward 18:19 and Tom Kilbane 18:29 who secured the win with 16 pts.
The Open Race started with 263 runners bumping and jostling like fish in a barrel. At 800m, Charlie Rooney had enough and surged into the lead and never looked back (well maybe once). He took top honors in 18:22. Danny Becker, 18:26 took the silver. Will Leahy, Connor Mcguire, Joe Sepesy, Carmen Caserio and Caleb DelaCruz ( top frosh) scored a mere 20 pts for the team victory. Freshmen Bobby Stark and Dominic Ambrosio and soph Terry McCafferty scored PR's on this tough course.
Steve Zucca likes to call Forest Hills his home course. "I love this race! The history, the hill, the fans! It's cross country at it's best!" Steve took charge in the first 100 m and bolted through the mile in 4:55. He bounded up the hill like a jackrabbit and cruised to a 16:15 time for the win. Nick Mulhern 16:52, Matt Kelly 17:23, Sean Uhran 17:26, Pete Fitzpatrick 17:33, Alex Paliga 17:36, and Aiden Monroe 17:44 wrapped up the title with 34 pts.
This week's schedule:
Monday: Mastic 3:30 - 5 bus
Tuesday: 3:30 - 5 bus
Wednesday: Mastic 3:30 - 5 bus
Thursday: SIHS 3 - 4:30 with weight lifting. ****Please note !! due to the freshman spirit day their schedule may be shortened.
Friday: No school !! pre comp on your own. 1 mi easy drills, 4 x 100 m accelerations
Saturday: Strongsville High School Vertical Runner Invite ( all sophs, jr and sr.) Varsity 10:30 JV/Open 11:30 $5.00 parking fee, bus transportation only if needed!!!!
Valley Forge Patriot Invite @ CCC West Campus (all freshman ) Varsity Race 10:00 (top 7 frosh from Forest Hills) Open 11:30 (all others) bus transportation only if needed!!!