2003 XC Preview

Tuesday night, August 5 was not much different from many of the other dreary
evenings that marked the late July, early August period in the northeast this
summer. Around 6 pm the sky opened up in a tropical deluge that dropped several inches of rain in a half an hour, much faster than any storm drains could absorb it resulting in Westfield Road flooding as bad as any time since Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999. In brief it was not the type of night that lent itself to outdoor activity of any kind.

But it failed to stop a determined group of boys and girls’ runners from the Scotch Plains cross country team who waded through knee deep water to get their nightly summer workout in. Since starting practice July 1, the team never missed a workout.

“The kids are dedicated and determined,” said Coach Jeff Koegel in an
understatement. Of course it helped that Koegel was out there sloshing around
with them. Koegel’s dedication to his kids as well as his running knowledge has
resulted in the Scotch Plains cross country program becoming one of the
county’s best.

In seven years Koegel’s teams have compiled a sterling 50-6 dual meet record
with 1 conference title and six seconds as well as a multitude of close
finishes at the county and state sectional meets.

Zack Mcguire, a five year veteran of the summer runs, capped his summer with a first place finish at the Contact We Care 5k in 15:56, a performance that bodes well for the senior. who was second in the county meet a year ago, the top performance by an underclassman.

“Zack has worked very hard all summer and deserves his success”, said Koegel.
“I am way ahead of where I was a year ago. I have trained harder and without as much strain”.

Mcguire had some of his hardest training runs with recent Scotch Plains’ graduates, Bob Wallden and Mike Dixon. Mcguire worked on his endurance with Wallden, who ran for Columbia University last year and his speed with Dixon, a sub 2 minute half miler at Ramapo College.

Mcguire along with fellow senior Brian Kopnicki the number two runner, are the only experienced Raiders, which makes this a challenging season..

“It’s going to be a little tough this year, ‘ admitted Koegel.
“We’re going to have our younger runners step up.”.

One of the pleasant surprises of the summer, junior Sean Smith is currently injured meaning the next five runners, sophomores Josh Zinman Brian Glassett, ,Anthony DiBattista , junior Matt Capodicasa and freshman Adam Biner will have to pick up the slack.Biner is the younger brother of Walter Biner, a 2003 graduate, who is now running for Boston College.

Koegel, who has taken the mantle of coaching both teams this fall with assistance from a new coach Bob Rafferty.
has an even younger girls team with no seniors.

The unquestioned leader is junior Mary Shashaty, who with Mcguire swept the men’s and women’s divisions respectively at the Contact We Care 5k. Fellow juniors Laura Harrison,Liz Elko and Christine DeLuca as well as sophomore
Stephanie Ricca and freshman Allie Hoynes-O'Connor provide strong support and will continue to improve with the help of another summer training session next year.