Girls' Cross Country

MAPL CHAMPS

2012

The cross country running experience at Blair is for athletes of all levels of ability and commitment, and the camaraderie and competitive spirit of the girls' team makes for a rewarding experience. Our goal is to assist students in achieving their potential in this sport, wherever their starting point may be. The accent on good sportsmanship and the inclusion of all runners in most events is integral to our philosophy of sport.

Blair’s location in Warren County, New Jersey, is a dream for long-distance runners. Our standard 5K cross country course covers the flats and hills of Blair’s golf course and is a wonderful setting for meets, including the New Jersey state prep championship meet, held here each fall. The course is decidedly “viewer friendly” as it winds through various loops, starting and finishing on the track in front of the stands.

A fair portion of cross country team training takes place on the picturesque Paulinskill River “rails to trails,” which includes 26 miles of dirt and cinder paths just off campus. In addition, Blairstown boasts miles of rural roads, offering runners an aesthetically pleasing training environment that is easy on the legs.

The cross country season runs from early September to mid-November, including a five-day preseason training period that helps prepare runners for the season. Blair competes in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) against Lawrenceville, Hun, Peddie, Hill and Mercersburg, and the team competes in several regional invitational meets, including the Canterbury Invitational in Connecticut, the Newark Invitational in New Jersey and the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University. We conclude the season on Peddie Day in November, when, along with all fall sports, we vie for the coveted Kelley-Potter Cup with arch-rival Peddie School.

About Coach Browse

Head coach R. Latta Browse, appointed in 1982, graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1978 from Middlebury College with a BA in mathematics. In 1989, he earned an MALS in Islamic studies at Columbia University and, in 1991, received his CAS in mathematics from Wesleyan University. Latta taught high school mathematics as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia from 1978 to 1981. For two years, he taught at Antwerp International School as an international baccalaureate math teacher. Over the years, Latta has served in a variety of capacities, including housemaster of Davies, West and Mason Halls, dorm resident in Locke, and sophomore class monitor. He has also served as head or assistant coach for a myriad of sports, including JV soccer, JV baseball, varsity soccer, varsity baseball, winter track and boys' cross country. Latta is currently head coach of the girls' cross country team. He is married to Carolyn Conforti-Browse '79, a veteran English teacher at Blair. They have two children: Tyler '08 and Annelies '13.

Contact Coach Browse at browsl@blair.edu for any questions.

About Coach O'Neill

Spanish 2 teacher and assistant boys’ crew coach Rebecca O’Neill earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies with a focus on migration and a minor in Spanish at Bates College (2015). Her Spanish language fluency stems from many years of language study, including at Middlebury Monterey Language Institute, and having lived in Costa Rica for over a year. She gained teaching experience prior to joining Blair's faculty in 2016 as an AmeriCorps national service member, during which time she taught intensive reading and writing classes to Spanish-speaking migrant students and English-language learners at Calabasas Elementary School in California. Rebecca captained the Bates women’s rowing team, rowing in the eight that won the Head of the Charles in 2014 and the varsity eight that won the NCAA Division III championship in 2015. In summer 2017, she coached for a third year at the Junior National Men’s Rowing Development Camp, where she trained future national team rowers. Rebecca is a full-time member of the language faculty and the recipient of the 2016-2017 Hardwick Teaching Fellowship. This award is given annually to a promising young, new teacher to support and encourage a lifelong teaching career. Rebecca was co-chaperone of the marine science trip to the Cayman Islands during winter long weekend 2017; she serves dorm duty and lives on Flight Deck.

About Coach Markolovic

Chemistry teacher Dr. Suzana Markolovic holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and chemical biology from Cornell University (2013) and a Doctor of Philosophy in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford (2017). Before coming to Blair in 2018, Suzana worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Cancer Institute, and gained teaching experience through the NIH, Oxford Royale Academy and Choate Summer Programs. In addition to teaching, Suzana coaches cross country and outdoor track at Blair.

Suzana brings 13 years of running experience to Blair. Her running career started at the Academy of Holy Angels (Demarest, NJ), where she received all-county and state parochial team honors and helped lead her team to its first ever state sectional championship. After high school, Suzana was a four-year member of Cornell University’s Division I cross country and winter and spring track & field teams. At Cornell, Suzana was a distance runner and specialized in the 3K steeplechase. After Cornell, Suzana ran for the Oxford University Cross Country Club (OUCCC) for three years. During her time at Oxford, Suzana took on the role of Women’s Captain in her second year. After returning to United States, Suzana participated in local Parkruns in the Washington DC area before making the move to Blairstown.

Suzana lives in Annie Hall with her husband, English teacher and Women’s Rowing Coach, John Redos ‘09.

View directions to athletic events. To read recaps about past events, go to the "Team News" tab above.

View more photos from the 2018-2019 season on Blair's Photoshelter or past years on Blair's Flickr.