Spartans Shine at Footlocker Easts; Frydrych WINS JUNIOR RACE!!!!!!
Emily Frydrych being announced Junior Class Footlocker Regionals Champion 2009.
Danielle, Emily, and Izzy on the podium with their Footlocker East Reginal Medals
Emily Frydrych captured the Junior Class championship at Footlocker East Regionals last Saturday with her win at Sunken Meadows Park in Long Island, NY. She pulled away going up "Cardiac Hill" and never looked back. She finished the race in 20:15, and had the 45th fastest time in the entire East Coast. It was the perfect culmination to a very successful season. Emily's win in this race sets her to become one of the top returning xc runners in the state next fall and a major threat.
Danielle Wegrzyn and Izzy King also captured medals on Saturday. Danielle finished 17th overall in the sophomore race. She started out in 22nd, and quickly moved up through the challenging hills on the course. This was her best race of the season, and she couldn't have picked a better time to be peaking. Izzy battle back and forth in the final mile to finish 23rd in 22:21 in the Junior race. She struggled with post-state injuries, but didn't let that bother her.
Rachel Gagnon and Jill Allen both finished in the top 30 in their races as well. Rachel led off the day in the freshman race, finishing 29th in 24:20, and Jill finished 30th in the Junior race. Both had great races and had amazing experiences. Pam Zhang also finished 53rd in the Junior race, runnign 25:13. Junior Matt Mossman from the boys' team also took the trip and finished 59th in a competitive Junior class race.
Overall the team gained experience and a had a lot of fun. Special thanks to Frydrychs, Kings, and Wegrzyns for making the trip up, taking pictures, and supporting helping the girls.
All-Catholic Conference Team
Izzy King(top left), and Emily Frydrych(top right), were selected to 1st-team All-Catholic. Danielle Wegrzyn(bottom left), and Beth Sowden (bottom right) were selected to 2nd-team All-Catholic.
Emily finished 1st at Catholic Conferences, 10th at Counties, 4th at States
Izzy finished 5th at Catholic Conferences, 32nd at Counties, 12 at State
Beth finished 38th at Counties, 18th at States, and 11th at UD Invite
Danielle finished 14th at Catholic Conferences, 42nd at Counties, and 25th at States
Emily Frydrych was nominated for 2nd-team all state for her terrific cross-country campaign this fall. She was joined on the boys' side by Zach Kaminski and Thom Harrington on 1st-team and Kyle Fox on 2nd-team. Congratulations !!!!!! CLICK HERE to see Delaware Runners that were nominated.
St. Mark's Finishes 2nd Overall!!! Emily Frydrych Finishes 4th, Sets School Record
The St. Mark's girls team finished 2nd at the 2009 DIAA Cross-Country States Meet on Saturday at Killen's Pond. Junior Emily Frydrych set a new school course record at Killen's Pond by finishing 4th in 19:29. She broke a 29-year-old record held by Carolee Ryan in 1980 (19:36). This is also Emily's fastest 5K in her career. Junior Izzy King picked off 9 runners in the last mile to finish 12th overall in the state. She finished in 20:45, and 21 places better than last year. Junior Beth Sowden came back strong from injury and finished 18th for us. She picked off 3 spots in the last 800M as well.
The next 4 girls all ran cross-country for the first time this fall and all ran in their first state meet ever. Sophomore Danielle Wegrzyn ran a season-best PR at the state meet and finished 25th in 21:33, a 12 second PR. Junior Jill Allen has come full circle for the team, returning to varsity and helping us score by finishing in 30th place. Her time of 22:08 is her 5K PR. Freshman Rachel Gagnon finished just 2 spots behind in 32nd place and ran 6th for us today. She has been consistent for the team all season. Rounding out our top was was Junior Natalie Pesestky, another first-time state meet runner. She finished 43rd and helped us pick up the 2nd place by staying infront of Concord's 5th runner. Natalie had an excellent race for us as well.
It was a great day overall. The boys ran amazing as well. Senior Zach Kaminski was state meet champion, and the team came within 1 point of upsetting heavily favored Salesianum.They put Kaminski, Thom Harrington, Kyle Fox, and Nate Castanada in the top 10. Both Coach McCartan and I were so proud of the efforts of St. Mark's. Both teams got 2nd place trophies, and we will take them and be grateful!!
This is the meet we've been training for all season, and it was so great to see you all out there running gutsy races. I saw every one of you giving 100%. When you looked at each other in the eyes at the starting line I could tell you were going to run with your hearts. For the seniors, I was so proud of the way you carried yourselves in your final race. The team will always remember how you went after it and left it all on the course. Thank you!! Also, we had a wonderful post-race party and I thank you all for coming and being such gracious guests. Bonfire seems to always equal good times. Did anyone catch that I beat Zach 6-2 in floor hockey?
Click here to continue reading full team coverage of the County Championships
The team finished in 2nd place with 50 points. Izzy King finished 5th overall with a personal best of 20:35. She cracked the top 25 in St. Mark's History, and she is a lock to be voted to 1st Team All-Catholic. Rachel Gagnon finished 13th with a 30 second PR of 21:29. Lin Hart ran a 3 minute PR finished in 24:11. Ellie Pollock ran 10 second PR and Erin McCartan came back from sickness and ran her lifetime best of 27:59. Alex Charalambous also ran her lifetime best as well, 28:16. Emalee Bennett ran her season-best time by over 1 minute as well. Other girls came back from injury and sickness to run great. Hanna Jobst ran her 1st race of the season, and Natalie Fogarty and Jill Allen came back and had great races. Nice job everyone!!
A new St. Mark's Roster page has been created with up-to-the-date bios on your favorite St. Mark's xc runners. You can access the links by clicking "roster" or "alumni" in the tabs above, or by clicking on the links below.
On Biomed Bracing Day and Wild Goose Chase 2009 Day, the Bronx Hamster Spikers team pulled away early and came home with a miraculous victory, earning them the Goose Cup. They were led by Team Captain Emalee Bennett, who's fierce hunting lent her some temporary battle scars. There was doubt mid-way through the hunt when no team could come up with the clue placed in Strawberry Field, but futher evidence supports the notion that the Frisbee playing shady guys stole the clues. Second place was disputed, as the Davenport Lobster Killers crossed the line up front, but early controvercy may have cost them the 2nd place ribbons. judges are still deciding.
We had some huge PR's on Friday in wet and cold conditions. Izzy King finished 39th in 20:39 . That's a 44 second PR from Colts Neck and almost a 2 minute improvement from last week. Natalie Pesestky improved her PR by 39 seconds (22:06 and 1:45 from last week). Rachel Gagnon improved her PR by 1 second (21:57). Sick or not, a PR is a PR. Pam Zhang had a huge day, running 1:26 faster than her personal best. She finished in 23:16 and 2:30 faster than last week. Roseena Hardcastle took 4 weeks off from racing and she also ran her fastest time ever. That shows her strength from before she got hurt. She ran 24:11. What can she do going forward?? Ellie Pollock ran her personal best by 1:30, (24:25). More importantly, she ran 5 MINUTES FASTER in 1 week. That's so great!!! The biggest PR came from Alex Charalambus. She ran 3:02 faster than at Colts Neck. (28:45) and 4:15 seconds faster than last week. Great Job!!! Beth Sowden ran her fastest time of the season by 1 second 20:44, Emily Frydych missed her PR by 3 seconds (19:58), and Danielle Wegrzyn missed her PR by 1 second as well (22:01). Emalee Bennett missed her season best by 5 seconds as well and ran 2:20 seconds faster than last week, and Megan Reilly ran her 1st race of the year in 27:16. Sonia Lopez has been hampered by her ankle injuries or else I know she would have run a season-best time as well.
I want to use Izzy as an example of where we are and where we can go as a team. Last week Izzy told me before the race that she was feeling really sick. She ran 22:25 and she said she felt horrible. She rested and recovered all week and she came back yesterday and ran 20:39, her best race ever. That's almost 2 minutes faster than at UD. If she can improve in 1 week after being sick, I want the rest of you to understand what we are capable of accomplishing when we are healthy. The sicknesses will pass, and when they do you will find out how fast you really are.
I am convinced that if everyone was healthy our entire team would have PR'd on Friday. We will focus on getting everyone back by Monday and be ready for the rest of the season. I am looking forward to the next race when we are all healthy!!! Lets make it a team goal to ALL run our personal best times ever at Catholic Conference Meet.
October 17, Terra Haute, Indiana- Syracuse Sophomore Cassie White finished 8th overall in the open race at the pre-national meet in Indiana on Saturday. She finished in 22:31 over 6K. Her team finished 4th in the White Division. Cassie's Syracuse team is ranked #15 in the nation.
Pyle Finishes 6th at UD Blue and Gold Invitational, Zukowski Finishes 23rd
October 17, White Clay Creek State Park, Newark, DE. Nick Pyle finished 6th overall at the UD meet with a time of 25:59 over 8K. On the women's side, Alison Zukowski finished 23rd overall with a time of 20:01 over 5K.
The girls varsity finished 3rd overall with 115 points at the UD invitational on Friday. They were led by Emily Fryrdrych's 5th place finish. Emily improved her personal best time on the course, finishing in 20:35. Beth Sowden finished 11th overall in 21:18, a 50 second improvement from last week on the course. The improvement of the day came from Lin Hart. Lin ran her personal best time by 2:27 over 5K. She finished 27:36. The Junior Varsity finished 4th overall.
Congratulations to Pam Zhang for being chosen as the 3rd team captain
Pam Zhang joins Natalie Fogarty and Amanda Settle as captains of the St. Mark's girls' XC team. Throughout the season Pam has demonstrated the qualities necessary to lead the team. She has been dedicated to the program, has shown a respect for everyone, and she has led by example. Pam has been a positive role model, and for that reason I have chosen her as our 3rd team captain. Congratulations Pam. The entire team is excited to have you as a captain.
Thanks so much to everyone for contributing at the 1st Annual Coach O'Neill 5K. It was a great day, and I definitely felt the Spartan Spirit. I had a great time.
Ten of the top 11 finishers were St. Mark's alumi, and the 1st female was an alumni as well.
The overall male and female winners were both St. Mark's alumni. Patrick Riley finished first male overall in 16:38, and Theresa Kauffman was the first female finisher in 22:02.
Junior Izzy King (front) and Freshman Rachel Gagnon (Behind)
Three New faces took the line for the Varsity at the Salesianum Invitational on Saturday. Senior Pam Zhang and Juniors Emma Sweeney and Natalie Pesetsky got their first shot at varsity and handled themselves well. Izzy King was the team's first finisher, completing the course in 23:04 for 26th place overall. The JV also had a great day, finishing 8th overall.
Girls finish 4th at New Balance Cougar Invitational
The girls had a huge day at the New Balance Cougar Invitational in Colts Neck, NJ. They finished 4th in the Small Schools division. Junior Emily Frydyrch led all Spartans with a 5th place finish. She crossed the line in 19:53, running the fastest time of her career. We had 8 girls run their fastest 5K ever on Saturday.
LAKE FOREST INVITATIONAL, Varsity Finishes 2nd Overall!!
Left to right (Jill Allen, Beth Sowden, Emily Frydrych, Izzy King, Rachel Gagnon, Danielle Wegrzyn)
The girls' team had two 2nd place finishes on Saturday at the Lake Forest Invitational. The varsity kicked off the season with a 2nd place finish to Charter, with Emily Frydrych leading the way with a 7th place finish (20:41). She ran the 15th fastest time in school history at Killen's Pond. The most impressive stat of the day was that our 7th varsity runner today ran 34 seconds faster than our 3rd varsity girl last year. Quite an improvement!! Our JV again finished 2nd to Charter, with Natalie Pesetsky finishing 4th overall. Our JV 'B' team also finished strong, with 3 of our 5 girls on that squad running their first ever 5K.
Ms. Gerst Photos from Lake Forest: Click on the links to see more GREAT PHOTOS by Ms. Gerst. Thank you SO MUCH!!!
Click HERE to view and print a colored copy of the team xc program. Thank you Ms. Gerst for taking time out of your busy schedule to make such a wonderful booklet. It looks so professional.
Time Trials and Tribulations
Time Trial Photos by Donna Gerst!!
Click on the picture to see MANY brilliant photos taken by Roseena Hardcastle's mother Donna. THANK YOU DONNA for such wonderful photography and for dedicating your time for the team!!
We also need to give a special thanks to Brian Coyle's mother for helping organize the team post-race tailgate. Thank you also to all the parents for donating and volunteering and bringing so many tents. It really made for a special day. Thank you Coach and Mrs. Frydrych for helping with mile splits, and finish splits. It really helped having you there organizing the chute.
The girls competed today in the first ever 4000M Time Trial at White Clay Creek. We ended up having perfect weather and the tailgate was a great time. We are excited to continue our tailgating ways next week at Lake Forest.
Congratulations to the girls who earned Varsity this week. JV "A" will be worked out this week after I decide on who to race based on the seniors who missed for ACT's. .
Pesetsky taking control
Do we have a mascot??
Is Rachel leading Duffy or is Duffy leading Rachel?
Thank you Mrs. Gerst (Roseena's mother) for generously hosting the end of preseason pool party. Thank you also to Mrs. Kaminski for co-hosting the party. Everyone had a wonderful time and it was great to meet so many new parents. Many great pics to come!
Spartan Royal 2009
Coach Digennaro signing acoustic music to Zach
More Pool Party Photos HERE
A typical Practice
Coach DiGennaro attempting to do something here... Not quite sure what...
I see nothing odd about this photo. Should this just be our yearbook photo? I think so!!
