Holy Cross senior takes over race during third mile, wins by 17 seconds

By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer

DELRAN

Mike Sheehan had company for the first 2 miles at Saturday’s Challenge Cup.

But once the Holy Cross High School senior decided to take the pace to another level, he was left running by himself.

“I wanted to try and stay comfortable for the first 2 miles and then try to bang out a fast last mile.”

Sheehan did just that as he pulled away from Cinnaminson junior Todd Campbell just after the 2-mile mark en route to a 17-second win in 16:22 on his home 3.1-mile course. Campbell was second in 16:39 and Mainland senior Matt Hernberg was third in 16:52.

 “I knew I wanted to turn it on once we got into the third mile,” said Sheehan, who finished fourth at the Challenge Cup last year. “Campbell hung for a while. It was definitely a race.

“I wanted to get this win since it’s the last time I’ll race on this course.”

Before Sheehan could grab the win, though, he had to take care of Campbell and Hernberg.

Through the first half-mile, Sheehan and Hernberg ran 1-2, with Campbell only a few strides back. The three packed it up shortly after that and hit the 1-mile mark in 5:07.

The three stayed together until about the 1½-mile mark, which is when Hernberg fell off the pace, and only Sheehan and Campbell remained. But just after Sheehan and Campbell hit the 2-mile mark in 10:18, Sheehan began to open up a lead of a couple strides.

Those initial strides quickly became five seconds over the next quarter-mile and Sheehan was then well in control of the race.

“Truthfully, I didn’t know how much I opened up on Campbell,” Sheehan said. “I ran the end of the race like he was on my tail.”

After the race, Sheehan said he was looking forward to Saturday being a rematch with Camden Catholic senior Kevin McDonnell, who beat Sheehan by five seconds to open the season at the Cherokee Challenge. The Irish ran in the Challenge Cup last year and were at the meet Saturday. But Catholic didn’t run their varsity lineup, meaning another Sheehan-McDonnell matchup will have to wait until later in the season.

“I wish Kevin ran, but I’ll take what I can get,” Sheehan said.

Cinnaminson, ranked No. 18 in Runningco.com’s Top 20, continued its winning ways at the Challenge Cup as they took the team title with 29 points over Delran (45) and Holy Cross (47). The Pirates have won the Challenge Cup title every year since 1999.

Since the Challenge Cup was originally started as just a meet between Cinnaminson, Delran, Holy Cross and Riverside, only one of those four teams can claim the team title. Other teams that compete in the meet just race as individuals. On Saturday, Riverside didn’t have a full team.

Following Campbell for the Pirates were senior Kenny Hoff (seventh overall, 17:17), senior Andy Poskus (19th, 17:58), junior Stephen DeLuca (21st, 18:00) and senior Sean Cotter (32nd, 18:28).

For Cinnaminson, the team’s top four are all new to cross country. Campbell is a former soccer player, Hoff used to play football, Poskus is a volleyball transfer and DeLuca was previously a wrestler. Campbell and Hoff have run track, but Poskus and DeLuca entered the season with no running experience.       

“My top four guys have never run cross country before, so it was nice to get them some race experience,” Pirates coach Dan Fourney said about the victory.

So far, he likes what he’s seen out of Campbell.

“He’s only going to get better as the season goes on,” Fourney said. “He has the dedication and the drive to be successful. As a sophomore, he ran 10-flat for the 3,200 off of not much training, so I know he has it in him.”

As for the rest of the lineup, Fourney is confident they can be a very competitive team.

“All of the guys have the right mentality,” he said. “They work hard and are doing everything I ask them. What I have to worry about is trying to do too much with them. I have to remember that my top four are first-year runners.”

Girls Race

Maple Shade junior Victoria Freels used the final mile to go from fourth to first as she went on to win the individual title by 10 seconds with a time of 21:04. Absegami teammates Bridget Pfeifer (21:14) and Alex Casares (21:21) finished second and third, respectively.

For the first 2 miles, Pfeifer, Casares and Holy Cross’ Rachel Byrne (who finished fifth in 21:36) ran in a pack, while Freels lurked a few strides behind. It wasn’t until there was about 1,500 meters left in the race that Freels passed all three and moved into the lead, which she held for the rest of the way.

“I knew I didn’t have a whole loft left, but I just kept pushing myself,” Freels said. “I kept focusing on catching (Byrne), and once I did, the other two girls (Pfeifer and Casares) were right there.

“I didn’t plan on slacking back in the beginning of the race, but it happens sometimes. I just made sure the three in front of me were close enough that I could still catch them.”

Delran won the team title for the first time ever as the Bears edged Holy Cross 27-28. A girls’ title has been awarded since 1999.

Delran, Holy Cross, Cinnaminson and Riverside are the only four teams that are eligible to win the Challenge Cup team title. All other teams that enter the meet race as individuals. On Saturday, neither Cinnaminson or Riverside had a full team, so the race for the title turned into a dual meet between the Bears and Lancers.

Delran took places 3-4-5-6-9, while Holy Cross took places 1-2-7-8-10.

“We had a batch meet against Holy Cross two Tuesday’s ago and they beat us 27-28,” Delran coach Mike Guzik said. “So it was good to beat them today by the same score. We needed everyone.

“We graduate four of our top seven, so this was the year to win it.”

Delran’s top five consisted of Christine Orr (12th overall, 22:35), Julie Conca (14th, 22:49), Cait Sutter (25th, 23:51), Jackie Chappell (26th, 23:53) and Natalie DeYoung (33rd, 24:23).