Boys’ Cross Country

Blair Boys’ Cross Country
2004-05 Season

Blair Academy vs Peddie School- 11/13
Blair Academy Golf Course: 3.1 miles
Blair Record: 10-0
Score: Blair 15-Peddie 50
Comment: November 13th... Peddie Day... Blair runners swept to a 15-50 perfect score and completed a 10-0 dual meet season. The weather was sunny and cool, the course was in fine shape and a number of Blair boys turned in fast times. Six members of the team will race at the Footlocker Northeastern Championship at Van Cortlandt Park, NYC on November 27. For most boys, though, it’s the end of a fine season and a job well done. Friendships have been forged during the months since pre-season as we’ve tested ourselves week after week on the cross country paths. I’ll miss working with this group!

MAPL Meet - 11/10
Coach Marty Miller reports that the boy's cross country team garnered a fifth consecutive MAPL title for Blair: “It was cool and sunny in Hightstown for the MAPL championship, a runner’s delight. Five Blair runners finished among the top six places and averaged an all-time Blair best of 16:33 for a 5K course in winning Blair’s fifth consecutive MAPL title. Kiley Austin-Young (16:09) and Andrew Samuel (16:16) battled valiantly over the course, going out in a blistering 4:46 first mile and finished in fine form. Tommie Huang was third in 16:39, running alone for most of the race - no small feat. Tyler Pruce (16:52 and a personal record) in fifth place and Anthony D’Amato (16:53, a personal record) in sixth place paced each other throughout the challenging race. Note the 44-second interval between first and fifth man is another all-time best for a Blair team participating in a major race. Jon Carroll (17:22) in 10th place and Anthony Stival in 11th place (17:22) rounded out the varsity team.

“The future of cross country looks bright as four Blair runners swept the junior varsity race with times that would have placed them among the top 15 runners in the varsity race. Rick DeFino (1st, 17:21), Tyler Hall (2nd, 17:50), Tim Bacon (3rd, 18:24), Keegan McDonald(4th, 18:30) headed a field of 69 runners.”

We deeply appreciate the support of parents and friends who made the trip to cheer the Blair runners on to victory.

State Meet - 11/3
Seven Blair runners finished among the top nine places and Blair swept to the fourth State Prep Meet team title in five years. Significantly, the team average for the hilly 5k course was a fast 17:15, a school record. Blair’s lead runner Andrew Samuel (16:43) in second place was just over a minute faster than seventh man Anthony Stival in ninth place (17:59); it was a tight pack. Kiley Austin-Young (3rd place, 16:53), Tommie Huang (fourth place, 17:19), Anthony D’Amato (fifth place, 17:27), Tyler Pruce (seventh place, 17:40), Jon Carroll (eighth place, 17:43) were the other finishers on a team that scored 21 points to beat Lawrenceville (62), St.Benedict’s Prep (64), Hun 114, Peddie 116. Next stop the MAPL meet (Hill, Mercersburg, Peddie, Hun, Lawenceville, Hun, Blair) on Nov 10th and then Peddie day on November 13th. A number of runners have opted to run the Footlocker Northeast Cross Country Championship two days after Thanksgiving.

Blair Academy vs Lawrenceville & Princeton Day School - 10/23
Lawrenceville Cross Country Course: 3.1 miles
Blair Record: 9-0
Score: Blair 15-Lawrenceville School 50; Blair 15-Princeton Day School 50
Comment: This was one of those memorable days when the weather, the level of fitness, the obvious enthusiasm to race and perhaps good fortune, all played their part. In short, EVERY time posted by a Blair runner was a personal record. Note all our dual meets have been on the hilly Blair course; the relative flat L’ville 3.1 mile course, though soft and water-logged, proved beneficial. The first three runners broke Bryan Scotland’s record, our first two broke it by a wide margin. We’ve been itching to run fast; the days of training hard and racing relaxed, slow times while winning our dual meets were over. And, of course, we rested for this race, a tune-up for our State meet. These times reflect summer training, reflect a great deal of hard work. The minute gap from first to seventh man is arguably the best we’ve ever raced in a fast-paced competition. The leaders went out like champions, pushing all the way; other runners did the same. In sum, it was a grand day for Blair XC.

Blair Academy vs Hun and Rutger’s Prep - 10/16
Blair Academy Golf Course: 3.1 miles
Blair Record: 6-0
Score: Blair 15-Hun 50; Blair 15-Rutgers Prep 50
Comment: The team survived Parents’ Day and still managed to take the first eight places; the Blair runners roll on toward the State Meet. The pack ran together for most of the race and pulled Tyler Pruce and Anthony Stival to their first sub 18:00 minute performances. The challenge facing this team is to train well while also racing in two meets this week. It is no small feat. There should be many PR’s on Lawrenceville’s relatively flat course next weekend as we face a tough opponent.

Blair Academy vs St. Benedict’s Prep & Hill - 10/13
Blair Academy Golf Course: 3.1 miles
Blair Record: 4-0
Score: Blair 17 - Hill 41; Blair 17 - St B’s 46
Comment: A fine effort by the Blair pack made it quite difficult for either team to mount a challenge. Admittedly, an outstanding runner from St B’s, Bryan Scotland, was under the weather and could not compete today. Many PR’s were attained throughout the ranks and, all in all, it a fine day for the Blair harriers. Onward to Parents’ Day and the State meet looming down the road.

Blair Academy vs Morris Catholic and Gill St. Bernard - 10/6
Blair Academy Golf Course: 3.1 miles
Blair Record: 2-0
Score: Blair 15-Morris Catholic 50; Blair 20-GSB 48
Comment: This was the first meet on the Blair course for a number of our athletes. The Blair pack, second through eighth, did quite well; Kiley ran with Gill’s Bob Papazian for half the race, and a number of runners had personal bests. In one week we shall meet St. Benedict’s Prep and The Hill School, perhaps the most competitive non-invitational race of the season.

Shore Coaches Invitational - 10/2
And so ends our run of four invitational meets; we now begin our dual meet schedule and preparation for the State and MAPL meets. It was a fine day for Blair on a number of levels: 1) we placed third among 41 teams and an enormous field of 270 runners; 2) our team average was 17:36, which bests the 17:44 2002 team effort by Mike Kerrigan, Jon Phillips, et al.(both State Prep Meet winners); 3) we beat by a substantial margin the team averages of all our State Prep opponents (Lawrenceville, St. Benedict’s, Pingry, etc.); 4)this was the first effort over this 5K course by our top runner, Kiley Austin-Young (16:55); and most important, all seven varsity runners went out like champs, avoiding the crush of a huge field and continuing to charge through a challenging course.

Our varsity pack behind Kiley Austin-Young remains tight (Andrew Samuel 17:15, Tommie Huang 17:36, Anthony D’Amato 18:08, Tyler Pruce 18:12, Anthony Stival and Rick DeFino). Next stop the Gill St. Bernard’s and Morris Catholic dual meet on 10/6, and our first chance to see how the team fares over our home XC course, the annual State Meet course.

Hats off to freshman Dylan Evans (14:30, 65th place) and JP Bowditch ( 20:28, 162nd place) as they both ran their first xc meet at the prescribed 9th grade distance (2.0 miles). Some 164 runners competed in this event.

Jon Carroll, a longtime varsity stalwart and member of last year’s State Meet champs won the JV race in 18:33, a clocking that would place him on every other prep school varsity squad. He will be challenging for the seventh varsity spot as we approach the State Meet. Tim Bacon won a plaque for 23rd place (19:51) and Sawyer Sutton (20:45 for 60th place), Eric Medina (22:56 for 170th place), James Hinton (23:24 for 189th place), Nick John (24:04 for 205th place), Mike Pouliot (24:45, 213th), Sam Kling (25:35, 237th), Wes Rosamilia (26:05, 231st), and Mike Cronce (29:06, 251st) all ran hard. There were 255 competitors in the race. The JV squad placed 12th as a team (341 points) among 22 schools.

Canterbury Invitational - 9/25
We left for New Milford CT with high hopes. Under our belts were victories at the Randolph Invitational and the Newark Invitational. Suffice it to say, it was arguably the best race ever run by a Blair team at that famed meet. A second place to Andover in the large school section (we would have easily placed first in the smaller division of 20 schools) was a stunning example of courageous racing across-the-board. Kiley Austin-Young held the lead for a fair portion of the race in a gutty display, and Andrew Samuel’s 7th place was yet another impressive finish for a youngster who was a JV back-of-the-pack runner not so long ago. Note that the distance between Huang, D’Amato, Stival and DeFino was some 30 yards (6 seconds). Now that’s a pack. This coach had a grand time! By the way, they changed the course once again to now measure 3.1 miles and kept most of the monster hills, challenging indeed!

Canterbury Invitational - Andrew Samuel, Rick DeFino, Anthony D’Amato, Anthony Stival, Kiley Austin-Young, Jon Carroll, Tommie Huang

Randolph Invitational
Friday Evening 9/10
Freedom Park 3. 1 Miles
Course record: 15. 44. 8 - Zagorski (Parsipanny Hills) 2003

Newark Invitational 9/18/04
Newark Academy XC Course 3. 02 miles
Varsity Boys
Note St. Benedict’s also had three finishers in the top ten and will be a tough dual meet and State Prep Meet opponent. Andrew Samuel ran the race of his life, a stunning 5 minute improvement over last year’s best performance. Kiley Austin-Young showed fine spirit, racing with leaders Scotland and Papazian (arguably the two best runners in the state) for a fair portion of the race, falling, and still finishing well. Tommie Huang ran his heart out to outkick a St. Bendedict’s fellow closing fast, and Anthony D’Amato and Tyler Pruce ran strong races to round out our top five. Jon Carroll and Anthony Sival scored points for us by finishing in front of the St. B.’s 5th man. Among any number of fine performances on the JV squad, Rick DeFino is closing in on our varsity seventh man clocking, Tim Bacon looked strong, Dylan Evans when out too fast but hung on for a solid race, Keegan McDonald ran under 29 minutes for the first time, Cooper Smith ran just over 20 minutes.

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