Danielle Wegrzyn was voted this week's Spartan Runner of the Week for her unbelievable 13th place finish at the state meet!! Not only has Danielle performed brilliantly throughout the season, but she has also been an excellent captain and role model! Danielle led the team in all but one race this season. For her positive attitude, gutsiness in racing, and abililty to lead a new group of girls to her 3rd straight 2nd place trophy, Danielle Wegrzyn is the state meet SPARTAN RUNNER OF THE WEEK!!! SMXC FINISHES 2ND!!!!
(Pic courtesy of the News Journal online)
For the 3rd straight year, St. Mark's finishes 2nd place overall in Division I at the XC state meet. Senior Danielle Wegrzyn, the only returning state meet runner from last year's team, earned her 3rd straight 2nd place trophy!! She finished 13th overall in 20:28!! She also earned this week's SPARTANRUNNER OF THE WEEK!!! The wolfpack worked to perfection once again, as Lauren Crouse, Katie McGovern, and Danielle Trofa (see pic below) all finished within 1 second of one another in 21:01-21:02. They placed 19th, 20th, and 21st!! We also had a 2nd mini-pack, as Freshman PR killer Madelyn Baker (4 PR's in 4 weeks!!) took the 5th spot in 28th place after running the entire race with Hannah Worsh (29th). Junior Rachel Gagnon rounded out the varsity with a 41st place finish!! Overall the girls finished with 101 points!!
(Pic courtesy of communitypub.com)
This week's Runner of the Week is Senior Hannah Worsh. Hannah joined the team this fall, and after three straight meets of running 23+ for 5K, she came down with an injury.. She sat out of 3 meets for us, and crossed trained the entire time with the expectation of coming back and helping the team. In her first meet back, Hannah ran a monster PR of 21:22 (2 minutes faster than her previous best). She was our 7th runner. One week later, at the much more challening Winterthur course, Hannah moved up to become our #4 runner. Her time of 21:42 placed her #21 in SCHOOL HISTORY!! For Hannah's willingness to commit to cross-training while injured, and ability to bounce back and run even faster, she was awarded this week's SPARTANRUNNER OF THE WEEK!! Spartans Varsity 6th, JV 6th at Counties!!!
The girls finished 6th overall on varsity and 6th overall for JV at the New Castle County Championships. Impressively, the team placed 3 girls in the top 30, with Danielle Trofa (20th) and Katie McGovern (23rd) earning ALL-COUNTY HONORS!! McGovern also ran a PR on the course, finishing in 20:32 for 5K!! Danielle Wegrzyn just missed All-County, placing 27th overall!! Hannah Worsh had a big day, running 21:42 to be our 4th runner of the day. Lauren Crouse, Rachel Gagnon, and Marisa Chamness rounded out the top 7. The JV featured 5 Freshmen in the top for scorers for the girls, with Madelyn Baker leading the way. Madelyn finished 13th overall and PR'd with a 22:15 on the challenging course!! Caelyn Brabson, Rachel McCabe, Ali Spurrier, and Cassie Neubeauer rounded out the top 5 for St. Mark's. Ali Spurrier also ran a PR of 23:45 for the course!! Senior Lauren Carroll finished 7th for St. Mark's, achieving her season-long goal of running on JV-A. CONGRATULATIONS LAUREN!!! Great job!! There were many other outstanding performances on the day!!
Watch this excellent video featuring our very own Merissa Cope and Hannah Worsh!!! They make us proud!!
This week we have Co-Runners of the Week for the first time all season! Sophomore Katie McGovern and Freshman Lauren Crouse share the honors after their inspiring performances at the Catholic Conference Championships. Katie arrived to the meet after attending her Grandfather's funeral, and ran a 28 second personal best. She broke 21 minutes for the first time ever, clipping 20:48!! Lauren Crouse ran a shocking 20:23, marking one of the fastest freshman times in school history. Not only did she break 21 for the first time, but she smashed it. For their efforts and their dedication, Katie and Lauren were voted as this week's SPARTANRUNNERS OF THE WEEK!!! 26 Season PR's at Catholics!!
The girls finished 3rd overall in a hard-fought battle at the Catholic Conference Championships on Friday at Bellevue. The team combined to set 26 season-best times on the day. Danielle Wegrzyn returned into the 19's with an impressive 6th place finish, running 19:45 on the day. The other Danielle, Danielle Trofa, had her third straight impressive 5K, running 12th in 20:14. The surprise jump of the day came from Freshman Lauren Crouse, who ran the 21st fastest 5K in St. Mark's history at Bellevue, popping a 20:23!! DYST?? Katie McGovern also rose to the occassion, dipping under 21 for the first time ever in 20:49!! Rachel Gagnon rounded out the top 5 with a season best 21:17, and Marisa Chamness and Hannah Worsh both ran PR's of 21:22 and 21:25 respectively!! Overall it was a monster day for the Spartans!! The JV also had TONS of PR's, led by Erin Riley's rise to brilliance! She PR'd by almost 2 minutes, running 21:58!!! WOW!!! The next 3 spots came from th youth of the nation freshman squad of McCabe, Baker, and Brabson. Pay attention to that trio in the next three years!! Tara Langan had a bigtime PR on the course, running in the 22's (22:48)!! Overall, the JV had their best race of the season!! See results for all the HUGE PRs!!!
Coach Frydrych's still in Germany!! This picture of Coach Fryrdych was taken on "Wendelstein", a peak in the German Bavarian Alps.
Click HERE for the 2011 Dunkin Donuts page with pics and videos!!
Varsity 6th, JV 5th at the JOE!!
The girls finished 6th overall at the Joe O'Neill Invitational on Friday. The most impress statistic of the day was that 25 girls ran their Season-Best times!! Danielle Wegrzyn and Danielle Trofa led the way with very fast times on the muddy course. Wegrzyn ran 20:09 for 22nd overall, and Trofa ran 20:30 for 28th overall!! Trofa ran her fastest 5K ever on the course, and holds the #26 time in St. Mark's history at Bellevue. Lauren Crouse and Marisa Chamness ran their fastest ever 5K's, with Crouse going 21:58 (#85 all-time), and Chamness running 22:05!! The JV finished 5th place overall as well. A trio of freshmen led the way, with Rachel McCabe, Caelyn Brabson, and Madelyn Baker going 1-2-3 for the team. They finished 5th overall!! Stefani Karavasilis, Amanda Smith, and Arielle Burke-Green all broke 30 minutes for the first time !!! Congrats!!!
Danielle Trofa was voted by her teammates as this week's Spartan Runner of the Week for her performance at the Joe O'Neill Invitational. Danielle ran a very fast 20:30, her fastest 5K EVER (and the 26th fastest St. Mark's time ever at Bellevue!). She finished 28th overall, and has been one of our MOST consistent runners all season. Danielle stepped up this week at a time when we needed frontrunners, and she took a big risk in the race in taking the mile out in 6:09. For her determination and consistency, Danielle has been named this week's SPARTANRUNNER OF THE WEEK!! Manhattan Invite 2011 Varsity 11th, JV A 12th, JV B 16th in NY City!!!
Click on the picture for more pics from Manhattan Invite, taking by Mrs. Brabson The girls had another great weekend of racing at the Manhattan Invitational on sunday in the Bronx. The varsity came away with an 11th place finish in the Varsity D race. Danielle Wegrzyn finished 20th overall in 17:02. Danielle has led in every race this season for the Spartans. Danielle Trofa had another great day, finishing 2nd for the Spartans in 17:52. Lauren Crouse had her best race of the season, moving up to 3rd on the team in 17:58. Erica Trofa had a gutsy day, finishing in 18:30 for 4th on the team, with Marisa Chamness rounding out the top 5 for the Spartans. Erin Riley led the JV to a 12th place finishing, medaling in 48th overall!! Freshman Caelyn Brabson had her most impressive race of the season, following behind in 57th place!! The JV B race was led by newcomer Krista Charamella medaling in 64th place!! Great job everyone!!!
Madelyn Baker was voted as this week's Spartan Runner of the Week for her performance at the Manhattan Invitational on Sunday. Madelyn ran her best race of the season, finishing 78th in the JV race. More impressively, Madelyn took a nasty spill in the 2nd mile on a steep downhill (while following Coach Deej's advice on double-dutch running) and got up and ran ever harder. Madelyn finished the race with blood flowing down her legs, and nasty gashes in her knees. She never complained, and took it like a champ!!! Her guts and determination earned her this week's SPARTANRUNNER OF THE WEEK!!! Sallies Invite 2011
Varsity 2nd, JV A 5th, and JV B 2nd !!!!! The Varsity finished 2nd overall at the Sallies Invite on Saturday at Brandywine Creek. Danielle Wegrzyn led the way with an impressive 8th place finish overall!! Danielle Trofa and Erica Trofa finished 14th and 15th overall, and Katie McGovern cracked the top 20! Marisa Chamness ran her Killens time at the Creek, helping round out the top 5!! Rachel Gagnon finished 3rd overall in the JV race, helping the team finish 5th in a loaded field. Erin Riley had a season-best day as well, finishing 13th in 24:07!! The JV B also finished 2nd overall, with freshman Caelyn Brabson finishing in the top 5!! Tara Langan also cracked the top 15!! The girls finished with 21 new t-shirts and 2 new trophies!! Great job girls.
Rachel Gagnon was voted Spartan Runner of the Week for her performance at the Salesianum INvitational at Brandywine Creek. Rachel ran her fastest race of the season on Saturday at the Creek and finished 3rd place overall in the JV race. She helped her team finish 5th overall. Rachel was voted by her teammates as this week's SPARTANRUNNER of the Week!!!
CLICK THE PICS FOR NEW TEAM PHOTOS FROM WHITE-ON-WHITE DAY!!! Varsity Finishes 8th, JV 3rd at Six Flags!!! 23 Season-Best 5K Times!!!
Write-up to come shortly!
Katie Brown received the 2nd Spartanrunner of the Week Award!! Katie ran in her 1st ever XC race at Six Flags after putting in a 300+ summer of mileage. She finished in an impressive 23:44!!! Not only that, but Katie lost a shoe in the mud, so kicked off her other shoe and finished her race barefoot! That is guts and passion for her team!!! Katie was voted by her teammates as this week's SPARTANRUNNER of the week!! Click HERE for SPARTANRUNNERS of the Week page. 100% Improved
Click on pic for more photos by Butch Crouse
Danielle Wegrzyn led the way with her fastest time ever run at Briarwood, clocking a 20:56 for 5K. Danielle Trofa took the #2 spot for the Spartans, running 21:55. Marisa Chamness improved by over 1:00 from last week, jumping in under 22:35. In the JV race, Kaki Armiger was the top St. Mark's runner, improving from her 2010 performance at Briarwood and her performance last week at Killens. Erin Riley had her best race for St. Mark's, finishing 2nd for the team in the race. Madelyn Baker led all freshmen in the 3000M race, finishing in the top 35 overall. Cassie Neubauer ran her first ever race and finished as the 2nd fastest freshman! Amanda Smith (pictured left) had the best kick of the day, running down her opponent in the final stretch!! It was brilliant!!
Erica received the 1st Spartanrunner of the Week award! Erica came back from injury and gutted through a tough course on Saturday. She was given the opportunity to drop out of the race, but she didn't want to let down the team. Erica was voted by her teammates as this week's SPARTANRUNNER of the week! Click here to access a page dedicated to all the Spartanrunners of the week
SMXC Starting Lineup
11 Alumnae Competing Collegiately St. Mark's XC currently has 11 alumni competing at the Division I level in college. This is an amazing achievement, and shows that there is a place for all of you if you wish to continue competing after high school. Below is the current roster of former Spartan Runners and their current teams!! Great job alumni!!
Varsity finishes 3rd, JV 2nd at LFI
The girls tied CR with 84 points, and finished 3rd on a tie-breaker at the Lake Forest Invite on Saturday. This marks the 7th straight year that St. Mark's has finished in the top 3 at the meet. Senior Danielle Wegrzyn finished 7th overall on the hot, humid afternoon. Running in their 1st ever varsity race were Danielle Trofa (12th), Katie McGovern (18th), Hannah Worsh (23rd) and Marisa Chamness (24th). Kaki Armiger (30th) and Rachel Gagnon (35th) rounded out the top 7. The JVA placed 2nd overall, with 6 girls in the top 15 and all 7 in the top 20!!! Freshman Lauren Crouse led the way with a top 5 finish!! Freshman Caelyn Brabson Brabson finished 9th overall, and Senior Dani Ciolek rounded out the top 10. Rachel McCabe, Erin Riley, and Carin Prechtl finished 12th, 13th, and 14th respectively, and Taryn Schweizer finished 18th to help put 7 in the top 18!! The JV B also had a great day, finishing 4th overall!! Madelyn Baker led the way, crossing the line in 17th place overall (her result was not posted correctly. Special congratulations to Rachael Wayne (pictured left) for completing her 1st ever 5K. This was Rachael's season goal, and she did it in the 1st meet of the season!!! Way to go Rachael!!! The rest of the JV B had a great first race!! Well done team!!
2011 Timed Trials!!!
Timed Trials results, splits, and comments have been emailed out. If you would care to be on that distribution email, please email me at mdigennaro@stmarkshs.net to be added to the list!!
2011 XC Schedule In 2011 we will be running in the same meets as last fall. Some highlights include Six Flags, Briarwood, and Manhattan.
Above is a view from Spencer's hotel room. She spent the week in Puerto Rico, which got hit with Hurricane Irene. Natalie Pesetsky rejoins SMXC
Natalie Pesetsky will be coming back this fall to help out with the coaching staff. Natalie is a 2-year XC runner at St. Mark's, she was the captain of the outdoor track and field team, and she brings enthusiasm and morale to the team. Her epic speeches will uplift the squad in 2011!! 2nd Annual Summer Kickoff Party 2011
Click on the pic for more from the 2011 Summer Kickoff Party |
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Contact Coach DiGennaro at mdigennaro@stmarkshs.net