Notes from the Course*

Amherst Invitational

September 26, 2009

The weather at Hampshire College was perfect for both the racers and the spectators. Cool morning air developed into long-sleeved-tee-shirt weather – the perfect fall day. I wasn’t originally too thrilled to be getting up at 6:00 am on a Saturday to make peanut butter toast and hot chocolate, but as with all running events, the fun of the day was well worth a few less hours of that precious commodity, sleep.

The drive out to Amherst was easy and beautiful, especially watching the fog rise from the valley and Hampshire College is a great place to watch a race because you are able to see the runners at different places along the course, provided of course that you are willing to run at least a mile in intermittent spurts! The first race of the day for NSXC was the Boys Freshman. The boys team took 2^nd overall only 10 points off of the winner Danbury! This group of boys should be a nice match up in years to come. Newton South placed three runners in the top 12, with Noah Rivkin (8 – 18:31), Nicholas Reed (10 – 18:34) and Joe Trask (12 18:38) all finishing within 7 seconds of each other. Jason Chari and Ben Eisenberg finished 23^rd and 26^th respectively and Mike Pezza, Jason Karys, Relj Nedelijkovic and Eric Zhang rounded out the South effort.

The Girls’ Varsity team took 1^st overall. The NSXC girls had a great start and all finished within the top 25 spots. Melanie Fineman (3^rd in 18:50)), Kathy O’Keefe (6 -19:02) and Madeleine Reed (8 – 19:08) controlled the first two miles of the race before being broken up by runners from other teams. Anna Laurence (18 – 20:03), Kayla Burton (19 – 20:06) and Elizabeth May (22 – 20:08) all finished within 5 seconds of each other.

The Boys Varsity team finished 10^th overall with individual finishes by David Melly, 11^th in 16:37 and Xhulio Uruci, 23^rd in 16:59. Alex Pearce (17:37) and Kyle Olson (17:42) finished 52^nd and 53^rd. Mickey Verlaque and Balazs Varady (who I heard had fallen at the start) finished 123^rd and 134^th.

The girls JV team tied for first place with Concord Carlisle and lost in the six place tie breaker, despite placing the top 6 girls in the top 25 runners overall. It was a great effort by all, with Jenny Epstein taking an early lead and never looking back, finishing well ahead of the pack in 21:07. Hannah Friedman (21:48) and Abby Pressberg (21:55) finished 5^th and 6^th respectively, followed by Katie Sandson (16^th in 22:38), Daphna Chissick (19^th in 22:41) and Zuzanna Skvarkova (25^th in 23:23). Sara Chari, Maya Alper and Rachel Hurwitz finished out the team effort.

The Boys JV race was the last of the day. NSXC ran four boys in the race with Victor Miosescu finishing first for South and 22 overall in 18:51., David Wortham in 20:07 and Max Ezekial in 21:43. Two other runners competed but are not listed in the official results - Nate Weaver ran with Jon Rothendler's number and finished in 19:38. Cameron Olia also ran but I have no results for him.

Newton South just missed taking back home the coveted Crowley Trophy by 3 points. The Award is given to the School with the best combined boys and girls scores. Not a bad showing by NSXC!

In a shout out to John Huth, a philosophical comment and observation…..I am always surprised at how quickly 6 hours (or any amount of time) can pass during one of these invitational meets or league meets. I get caught up in the energy of those gathered and warmed by the cheering for all the runners, including those who finish last and well behind the pack. It is especially wonderful to observe the athletes tearing around the course to cheer for each other. I wonder whether it is the sport or the athletes drawn to the sport that make this happen, probably more likely both (much like the nature nurture debate). Go runners!

 *An occasional missive after races (best expected when a rainy non-work day follows a race day!