End-of-the-year XC Video, courtesy of Rich Wegrzyn
UD Invite
Results will be posted shortly!!
Squad Shines at Kutztown
The girls competed Saturday at the Kutztown Invitational at Kutztown University. They were led by a 2nd place finish by Joelle Prettyman in the 800. She ran her best time ever in 2:27. She also came back and led off the 4x400 in 1:03. Danielle Wegrzyn also had a great day, running 2:34 for 800M and 1:06 in the 2nd leg of the 4x400. Taryn Scweizer just missed the standard for the shot put, throwing 27'5"!!! Full team results will be posted shortly. Splits are seen on the Season Best Times Page.
Team awkward family photo from The DeWhitt House!!
Megan and Dani picking out the perfect tree!!
Indoor Track and Field Schedule
Here is our Indoor Track and Field schedule. Departure times will be posted shortly. The last 2 meets at UD will not require a bus, so just get there!!
Saturday, Jan 14- Kutztown 5:30am departure
Saturday, Jan 21- NY City 5:30am Departure
Sunday, Jan 29- University of Delaware
Saturday, Feb 11- State Meet at the University of Delaware
Weekend Action- Reindeer and UD
The girls competed Sunday at the UD Holiday Classic.
4x800 team of Rachel McCabe, Krista Charamella, Joelle Prettyman, and Megan Lee
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!!!
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!!
Boys Results Steenkamer 3rd (#3 all-time for St. Mark's)
(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!!!
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!!!
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!!
The greatest stat of the week is that every single girl improved this week. Not to draw comparisions to last year, but no one on our team ran faster at Briarwood than at Killens last year. Most girls were over 1 minute slower. This year we had 100% improvement on a MUCH tougher course. We are on our own path, and the team is heading in the right direction.
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!
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!!
Cassie White- 2007- Syracuse
Maureen Stringham- 2007- Connecticutt
Sarah Frydrych -2008- St. Francis
Allison Zukowski -2008- Cincinatti
Devin Sullivan -2009- Richmond
Lindsey Prettyman -2010- Delaware
Emily Frydrych -2011- Notre Dame
Izzy King -2011- Delaware
Katrina Steenkamer -2011- Delaware
Beth Sowden -2011- Delaware
Jill Allen -2011- Delaware
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!!
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!!
Beth, Katrina, and Izzy join Lindsay Prettyman as we have 4 Spartan alumni on the current UDXC roster. Great accomplishment girls!! You represent SMXC very well!!!
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!!
Frydrych wins the 1600- Earns 1st-team all-state! Finishes 2nd in the 800M! Steenkamer 3rd in 1600! Cope finishes 6th in 300 hurdles, runs season-best 49.96. 4x800 (King 2:25, Allen 2:35, Sowden 2:31, Wegrzyn 2:31) runs 5th. 10:03! 4x400 (Prettyam 62, Frdyrych 58, King 62, Taylor 64) runs 4:09 for 6th! Trofa late entry in 3200, runs 7 seconds off PR!!
St. Mark's girls had an unforgettable weekend at the state meet, finishing 5th overall with 65 points. They came out with 1 relay win and 3 individual championship wins!! Overall, the team performed briliantly.
Emily Frydrych won 2 events on Saturday, completing the sweep in the 1600M (5:08) and 800M (2:16). Her 1600 win is the first individual win at the state meet since 1994. Katrina Steenkamer also made history by winning the 3200M (11:23) and finishing 2nd in the 1600M (5:09 - PR). Her 1600 is the #34 time in state history. Also Individually, Beth Sowden finished 4th place overall in the 3200M, Merissa Cope finished 4th in the 300 hurdles and 5th in the 100 hurles, and Izzy King finished 6th in the 300 hurdles.
The 4x400 relay team of Prettyman, King, Taylor, and Frydrch ran for 3rd overall in 4:07, their fastest time of the season. Although they were out of the scoring, the 4x200 team of Prettyman, Vincelette, Murphy, and Cope ran their fastest time of the season , splitting 1:51.
Friday Action
The girls started off the meet with another big win in the 4x800M. For the third straight season, St. Mark's left Friday's state meet with a victory and 10 points on the scoreboard. Katrina Steenkamer, Izzy King, Beth Sowden, and Emily Frydrych combined to run 9:39.01, their second fastest time of the season.
In individual action, Marissa Cope qualified for the finals of the 100M Hurdles as the 4th seed with a new PR of 17.01!! Julianna Musumeci threw 86 feet in teh discus, her new PR for that distance!! Great job St. Mark's!!!!
Frydrych named St. Mark's Female Athlete of the Year
St. Mark's senior Emily Frydrych was named the 2010-2011 Athlete of the Year, an honor voted on by all the head coaches at St. Mark's high school. She was also named Scholar Athlete of the Year, an honor given to the senior athlete with the highest grade point average. Congratulations Emily!!
Girls finish 6th in the county!!
Frydrych breaks 2 records, Steenkamer wins big in 3200M; 6 girls earn All-County!
Saturday was one of the fastest days in St. Mark's history, with 2 big records going down, a huge win in the 3200M, PR's in almost every event, and all-county honors in 5 events!! They finished the meet with 40 points!!
Emily Frydrych smashed 2 school records, and in the process established herself as the most dominant distance runner in St. Mark's history. She ran 4:53.47 in the 1600, breaking Monica Witterholt's record of 4:55 set in 1991. Her time is #5 in Delaware history, and is currently the #16 time in the United States. She came back 2 hours later and broke Witterholt's record in the 800M, running 2:14.41 for 2nd place overall. That time is #8 all-time in DE, and #93 in the country!
The 4x400 team of Joelle Prettyman, Izzy King, Alana Taylor, and Emily Frydrych earned all-county honors with their 3rd place finish in 4:12.55. That is the fastest time on the season.
The 4x200M team of Joell Prettyman, Cassie Vincelette, Ariana Rizzo, and Maddie Murphy finished 9th overall, and ran the fastest time of the season in 1:51.65.
Beth Sowden ran a PR in the 3200M in 11:43.03, finishing 7th overall. Izzy King also finished 7th overall in the 300M hurdles, running 49.35.
Friday Results- Allen, Frydrych, King, and Steenkamer earn All-County in 4x800!!
The girls had another successful Friday at the County Championships, finishing with a 2nd place finish in the 4x800M relay. The team of Jill Allen (2:29.5) Emily Frydrych (2:13.5), Izzy King (2:26.4), and Katrina Steenkamer (2:21.1) ran 9:30.73. That is the 26th fastest 4x800 in STATE HISTORY, and is also under the OLD school record of 9:36 set in 1992. (#2 all-time at St. Mark's)
Merissa Cope set a new personal best in the 100 hurdles, finishing 8th overall in 17.04. Alana Taylor also finished with a PR in 17.83.
Julie Musumeci threw 28-1.5 in the shot, qualifying her provisionally in the event!!
There were many other monumental personal best times and throws set on Friday. Seniors Rachel Uniatowski and Jessica Ferguson ran BIG pr's in the 200 and 100 respectively, wiht Uniatowski cracking 30 in 29:96 and Ferguson breaking 14 in 13.94!!
Other PR's were: Murphy 200- (29.18), Jackson 400 (70.5) Giles 200 (30.5) Fasy 200 (31.7), and Chamness 800 (2:43.3).
3 Spartanrunner alumni also set PR's this weekend!!!
***UPDATE***- Lindsay's 800M is a new University of Delaware SCHOOL RECORD!!! 2:13.71!! Congratulations Lindsay!!
Cassie White (2007), Sarah Frydrych (2008) and Lindsey Prettyman (2010) all competed at their conference meets this weekend, and all set personal lifetime bests!!! It's great to see so many girls going on to compete and do well in college, and it shows that you are all capable of competing after high school...
Cassie (Syracuse University) finished 4th overall in the 3000M steeplechase at the Big Easts on Saturday evening at Villanova. She ran 10:20.66, which is her PR by 4 seconds!! It qualifies her for ECAC's and Regionals!!
Sarah Frydrych (St. Francis University) ran a 2:23 leg on the 4x800M relay at her Northeast Conference Championships on Saturday. It her her personal best time, and her relay finished 8th with a 9:38.
Lindsay Prettyman (UD) finished 2nd overall at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in the 800M on Saturday, posting a new PR (School Record) of 2:13.71.
The team had ANOTHER dominating performance at Caravel on Saturday at the 1st State Invitational and at Henderson in West Chester, PA. Overall, the team put up 38 PR's in the 2 meets, including MANY automatic qualifying performances for the state meet.
Izzy King finished 3rd overall in the 300 hurdles in 48.95, making her the 1st girl to break 49 second in the 300 hurdles in over 20 years!! Merissa Cope cracked 50 in the hurdles as well, running 49.75!
in the 1600, Marisa Chamness and Danielle Trofa qualified for the state meet automatically, and Dani Ciolek and Natalie Pesetsky reached the provisional mark! Natalie Pesetsky, Rachel Spurrier, and Roseena Hardcastle all finished out their careers with PR's in the 1600M. Great job girls!!! In that event, 8 girls ran PR's, and the other 3 ran within seconds of their PRs. The open 100 was an entire event PR, with all 6 girls running their fastest times ever! Rizzo, Taylor, Kaminski, Vincelette, Ferguson, and Hanling all had season best FAT times.
In the 800M, all 4 girls ran personal bests, with Jill Allen and Danielle Wegrzyn cracking 2:30 in their efforts, and Erica Trofa qualifying automatically for states with a 2:33. The 400M also saw many PR's, with Krista Charamella, Alexa Moore, and Rachel Uniatowski all finishing very close to the qualifying standard. The other girls also ran season and personal bests. The 200M was full of surprises as well, with Joelle coming back and finishing with a provisional qualifying time of 27.56. Rizzo and Newton also ran season best times, as did Green, Short, and Giles.
In field events, Hanling had a great day, jumping an auto qualifying mark of 30'1 1/2" in the triple. Newton and Vincelette also jumped very well for the Lady Spartans!!
At Henderson, Frydrych set the #9 fastest 3200 time in state history, running 11:02. Katrina Steenkamer ran the 4th fastest 3200 in school history and 32nd fastest in state history, going 11:21. Beth Sowden also ran a lifetime best in the 3200 with an 11:46. Having to go up there twice was aggrevating, but it was well worth the wait!!
Catholic Conference Championships
The girls came up just short in a hard-fought battle vs Padua, Ursuline, and St. E's at Baynard on Tuesday.
Earning All-Catholic were Merissa Cope (100 hurdles), Izzy King (300 hurdles), Emily Frydrych (800,3200), Katrina Steenkamer (1600), and the relay team of Adrienne Newton, Cassie Vincelette, Arianna Rizzo, and Jessica Ferguson in the 4x100M.
The girls competed at the Unionville Invitational on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The highlights were many new personal best times, and a new meet record set by Frydrych in the 800M. She ran 2:14.86, just .08 off the existing school record. That is now the 12th fastest 800M in state history. The 4x100M team of Rachel Uniatowski, Merissa Cope, Ariana Rizzo, and Jess Ferguson finished 5th overall in 53.67, earning them a medal.
Overall, the girls finished with 20 new personal best times, which is very impressive considering most girls only competed in 1 event on Saturday!! Great job!!
The girls had another very successful day up at the Penn Relays, and in the end came back witha new PR for Emily, season best time in the 4x100, and great performances in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays.
Emily finished 6th overall in the high school championship mile on Thursday night. Her 4:57.42 converts to a 4:55.71, which is the 8th fastest 1600 time in state history. The 4:57.42 will be a new school record for the 1 mile. She is just .71 away from the school record for the 1600M.
The 4x100 team of Adrienne Newton, Jess Ferguson, Cassie Vincelette, and Ariana Rizzo ran their personal best team time, clicking off a 52.62 on Thursday. That bests their time from Tuesday by 1 second.
The 4x800 team of Katrina Steenkamer (2:26), Izzy King (2:32), Beth Sowden (2:34) and Joelle Prettyman (2:29) finished in 10:02.
Later on, the 4x400 of Joelle Prettyman (1:02), Izzy King (1:03), Alana Taylor (1:05) and Jill Allen (1:05) had a GREAT race. The time wasn't their fastest, but they competed well!!!
Dani Ciolek wins 2011 Easter Egg Hunt!!
GIRLS TIE TATNALL 63-63
Results will be posted shortly, but the girls tied Tatnall on Tuesday 63-63. With Penn Relays on the horizon,both teams agreed to use the meet as a tuneup for Thursday. It was very nice to have a friendly competition end in a tie.
Despite 20+mph winds, the girls put up some big PR's at Caravel at the Art Madric Invitational. Izzy King pr'd in both the 100M Hurdles (18.28) and the 300H (50.68). She finished 5th in both races, and was the top Delaware hurdler over the weekend!! Alana Taylor also pr'd in the 300H, running 51.29 in just her 2nd race ever!! Danielle Wegrzyn finished 2nd overall in the 800M, running a PR of 2:32.48. Natalie Pesetsky pr'd in the 800M in 2:45, coming through 400 77 (almost her pr in that distance as well). Marisa Chamness (above left) pr'd in the 4x800, running 2:46. Dani Ciolek (right) also ran a personal best in the 4x800 in 2:50. Kristen Basciani took ran he best time in teh mile by 1 second, cracking 6:40!! Maren Fasy ran her first even 800 in 3:03.Katrina Steenkamer took 4th in the 1600 (5:23).
Many of our senior girls at the leadership breakfast on Sunday morning. (Left to right- Emily Frydyrch, Grace Baker, Natalie Pesetsky, Coach DiGennaro, Beth Sowden, Rachel Spurrier, Katrina Steenkamer, Roseenan Hardcastle)
Girls Finish 10th at Caravel Invitational!!
***Pick up 26 Personal and Season Bests at Caravel Invite!!! ***
Caravel Track once again proved to be kind to the St. Mark's girls, as the team combined for 26 Pr's on Saturday!! Katrina Steenkamer had a breakout day, finishing 4th in the 1600 with a monster PR of 5:18. She came back with a 4 second PR in the 4x400, running 1:04 at anchor leg!!
The 4x800 led off the day with a tough-fought 3rd place. All four girls ran lifetimes bests, with Danielle Trofa(2:41), Rachel Gagnon(2:52), Marisa Chamness (2:49) and Natalie Pesetsky (2:45) combining to run 11:11. The 4x400 also ran the 2nd fastest relay of the season for 4th place, with Joelle Prettyman(1:03.9), Izzy King(1:02.5), Alana Taylor(1:04.5) and Steenkamer(1:04.5) crossing the line in 4:16.00. The 4x200 team of Ariana Rizzo, Rachel Uniatowski, Alana Taylor, and Joelle Prettyman running 1:55 and finishing in 6th overall. The 4x100 team also picked up a 5th place finish, with Adriene Newton, Jess Fergeson, Rachel Uniatowski, and Ariana Rizzo running 55.15.
In open events, Rizzo ran her fastest open 200 of the season (28.89) and Cassie Vincelette also cracked 30 seconds in running 29.76. Izzy King ran the 300H, and tied her personal best from last year in her first invitational race with a 51.37 for 4th overall!! Joelle Prettyman and Alana Taylor both ran PR's in the 400, with Prettyman finishing 6th overall in 1:01.85, and Taylor running 1:04.46 for 12th. In the 800M, newcomers Alexa Moore and Anna Jackson both had breakout races, with Moore running 2:40 and Jackson shedding 10 seconds with a 2:42!! Danielle Wegrzyn came back and tied her PR in the 1600, running 5:37.80. Beth Sowden had her fastest opening 3200 of her career, logging an 11:54 for 6th place. Erica Trofa tied her PR from 2 weeks ago, running 12:35!!
In field events, Julie Musumeci threw her personal best in the discus, reaching over 70 feet!!! Cassie Vincelette jumped an impressive 28'5 in her first even triple jump, and Adrienne Newton returned to jump 29'5 in her first competition of the season.
Overall, it was a great day for St. Mark's. We showed that we have a lot of depth, and that we will be a force later in the season!!!
Final XC Video is finally made public. Relive the memorable XC season!!!
Girls finish with 2nd in DMR and 3rd in 4x800 at Diamond State
The distance medley team of Izzy King (800), Joelle Prettyman (400), Katrina Steenkamer (1200), and Emily Frydrych (1600) ran the 2nd fastest DMR in school history, and the 16th fastest DMR in state history on Saturday at the Diamond State Relays. More comments to come!!!
T.R.A.C.K Pulls Off Big Upset in 1st Round of BLUE-GOLD.
The BLUE-GOLD indoor soccer team known as T.R.A.C.K (The Really Awesome Cool Kids) won their first round game 3-2 in upset fashion against the heavily favored "Team in Red."
Rachel Gagnon "Gags", Marissa Chamness "Chammy", Coach DiGennaro "Deej", Joelle Prettyman "J-Pretty, and Dani Ciolek "The Something Nun" fell down 2-0 very early in the game, but chipped away in the 2nd half for a shocking 3-2 victory. Gags picked up the game-winning goal with less than 1 minute to go to bring the team to the 2nd round.
In the 2nd round, the team fell down 3-0 very early, but they again began an epic comeback and rallied from behind to make it 3-2. With 5 seconds to go, Gags executed a perfect pass to Deej, but Deej missed the game tying open-netter. It would have been the perfect comeback, but the team fell short. It was a tough loss, but the team grew stronger in defeat.
The beauty of T.R.A.C.K is that the entire team comes back for the 2012 season. Only 364 days to go!!
Girls Defeat Ursuline 75-48
Frydrych Crushes 26-Year-Old 3200 Record
Emily Frydrych took down a major school record on Tuesday, running the 3200M in an impressive 10:53.7. She established a new school record, breaking Monica Witterholt's 26-year-old record by over 16 seconds. Her 10:53 is the 6th fastest 3200 in DELAWARE HISTORY!!
The girls defeated Ursuline by a score of 75-48, and they picked up 11 state meet automatic qualifying times. Merissa Cope took 1st place in the 100M Hurdles (17.48), Izzy King took first in the 300 hurdles (52.1), Katrina Steenkamer took 1st in the 800 (2:28.8), and Emily took 1st in the 400M (1:00.1). In field events, Cassie Vinelette won the high jump (4'0) and Alex Kaminski took first in the long jump (12-9). The team also won all 4 relay events. Great job team!!!
The team competed on Friday evenign at the AI Relays and put up a strong showing in just 4 running events and 3 field events. The girls opened up the meet with a run-away win in the 4x1600M. The team of Danielle Wegrzyn (5:46), Erica Trofa (5:46), Jill Allen (5:54) and Danielle Trofa (6:07) finished with an impressive time of 23:34!! The Swedish Medley team of Jess Ferguson (100), Merissa Cope (200), Alana Taylor (300), and Joelle Prettyman (400) had an excellent performance, coming in 4th overall in 2:32. The 4x800 relay team pursued a Penn Relays qualifying time, and also came home with an impressive win in 9:49.7!! The team of Izzy King (2:30), Emily Frydrych (2:19), Beth Sowden (2:35), and Katrina Steenkamer (2:24) put a time good enough to now enter the Penn Relays!! The Medley team also came back with an impressive double in the 4x200.
In field events, Alex Kaminski had her best triple jump performance ever, jumping over 26 feet! Cope also jumped 26 feet. Cassie Vincellete and Cope also jumped in the long, but results are not yet posted. Maddie Murphy and Julianna Musumeci both performed very well in the shot put.
Girls compete well against St. George's and St. Elizabeth's
The girls put up a great showing in some bitter temperatures at St. George's on Thursday. Many young athletes stepped up and The team took first in the 4x800 (Gagnon, Hardcastle, Chamness, and Ciolek), the 1600 (Pesetsky), and the 3200 (Gagnon+Chamness). We also had many 2nd places finishes. Great job girls!!!
Emily finished 4th in her heat and 11th overall in the 800 at the New Balance Nationals on Friday. Her time of 2:18.23 is a new school record, and is a personal indoor best for Emily!!
Frydrych wins 800 and Mile at Mid-Atlantic Indoor Classic!!
Emily Frydrych extended the indoor season by 2 more weeks, winning both the 800 and mile at the Mid-Atlantic Track and Field Classic on Sunday in Landover, MD. She opened up with a 2:21.02, then came back with a 5:20 in the 1 mile. She will run next Friday unattached in the 800 and 1 mile at the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Armory in NY City.
Alumni Lindsay Prettyman runs 2:15.9, UD sets School in 4x800M at ECAC's. Lindsay set the UD freshman record in the 800M last week in running 2:18.
Indoor 2010-2011
Indoor State Meet 2011
The girls finished with 6 points at the Indoor state meet on Saturday at the Field House. The 4x800 team finished 3rd overall, running 10:17. The team had many events where they came close to scoring, including an 8th place finish in the 4x200, a 7th place finish in the 4x400, and a 7th place finish by Katrina Steenkamer in the 1600M.
The 2011 Spartan Athletic Club Auction will take place on Saturday, April 2nd at 6PM at St. Mark's. Please see attached PDF files to learn how to donate or sign up for this great event!! All proceeds go towards the St. Mark's Athletic teams, and what we earn as a team goes towards funding XC and track and field!!
CONTACT DONNA GERST FOR MORE INFORMATION - dlgerst@verizon.net
The 4x800 Team of Danielle Wegrzyn, Izzy King, Erica Trofa, and Katrina Steenkamer set a new school record on Saturday at the New Balance Games at Armory in NY City. The splits were Danielle (2:32.6), Izzy (2:27.5), Erica (2:32.7), and Katrina (2:30.1). The girls ran the #27 time in state history!! They finished 28th overall in the race. The B team of Jill Allen (2:47), Joelle Prettyman (2:36.9), Marisa Chamness (2:53), and Danielle Trofa (2:43) finished 55th in 11:00.97.
The 4x200M relay team of Shelby Adams, Alana Taylor, Merissa Cope, and Lindsey Hertsenberg ran the fastest relay time in years, finishing in 1:54.56, good for 46th overall!
The 4x400 team of Taryn Schweizer,Taylor, Hertsenberg, and Adams came back to run 69th in 4:42.81. They split Schweizer (1:12.6), Taylor (1:07.3), Hertsenberg (1:11.9), and Adams (1:10.5).
At Glen Mills, the freshman 4x400 team of Carin Prechtl, Alex DeWhitt, Lexi O'Neal, and Maren Fasy ran 4:56. They splits Prechtl (1:10.7), DeWhitt (1:16.2) O'Neal (1:14.6), Fasy (1:14.7). Glen Mills team results
Alison Zukowski Runs Huge PR in the 5000M (17:31)!!!!!
St. Mark's graduate Alison Zukowski, now competing for University of Cincincitti, dropped a 17:31 on Saturday at the All-Ohio Championships!! She ran over 1 minute faster than her 5000M PR. Her high school PRs at St. Mark's were 12:03 for 3200M and 19:33 for XC.
St. Marks traveled to Haverford on Saturday for the Haverford N5CTA Meet.
The 4x400 team of Taryn Schweizer,Jill Allen, Erica Trofa, and Danielle Wegrzyn finished 1st in an exciting race, bringing it down to the final straight-away for the win. Katrina Steenkamer also had a great race, finishing 2nd in the 1600, but just missing an epic comeback for the win. She closed her last last in 36 seconds!! Overall it was a great day for St. Mark's at Haverford, with the girls picking up 18 total points!!
Congratulations on a great team effort at the UD Invite on Saturday. Even though the meet lasted longer than expected, we still had a great time and everyone was prepared to race Emily Frydrych set a new school record in the 800M, winning the race in 2:18.34. Her record was 1 second faster than the old record set in 1999 by Sarah Conway at 2:19.2. She also won the race, and now has the #8 fastest 800M in state history!
The team had a great opening meet to the season at the Christmas City relays at Lehigh University. Emily finished with 2 first place wins in the 1 mile (5:12), and the 800 (2:23). Merisa Cope took 10th in the 60M hurdles in 10.51, and Izzy King took 9th in the 400m in 1:06.82. There were many other great early season results.
Frydrych Sets New School Record at the Armory!!!
Emily Frydrych set a new school record in the 1600M on Saturday at the Armory in New York City!! She finished the race in 3rd place overall in the elite field. Her time of 5:07.03 for 1 full mile converts to 5:05.26 for 1600M. That time is #7 all-time in Delaware for 1600M.
Vote For Danielle Trofa and the St. Mark's concert choir, and spread the word!!
VOTE for the St. Mark's concert choir, featuring SMXC's Danielle Trofa, at the WSTW website. YOu only have a fwe more days to vote, so please spread the word!!
Emily opened our St. Mark's season at Kutztown with wins in the 1600 and 800M. She started out with a 5:17 1600, and came back an hour later with 2:29 for 800M. Congrats!!!!
Katie McGovern, just thrilled because her Christmas tree pick was shot down for being too tall. We later found out that the tree was a perfect height and was just up on the curb. It was a lovely tree Katie!!
The girls were on their way to the Christmas tree lot to pick out the perfect tree.
At the Reindeer Run and Romp on Friday evening in Newark, Sophomore Marisa Chamness set a new personal best for 5K in running 21:58. That eclipses the 22:28 PR she set in XC. Erica Trofa finished 1st in her age group in 21:18, and Dani Ciolek ran just off her PR in 22:40. Tom Steenkamer, father of Katrina and Chris Steenkamer, finished 4th overall and first in his age group in a blistering 17:36. Coach Frydrych also set a season best in running 18:55 for 15th overall. Great job everyone!!
-Alumni Lindsay Prettyman (right) showing off her reindeer costume
The 2010 XC Season
All-Catholic Conference
Congratulations to the girls for winning the Catholic Conference meet and for earning All-Catholic. From left to right: Beth Sowden (2nd Team), Izzy King, (2nd Team, Katrina Steenkamer (1st Team), Jill Allen (2ndTteam), Kaki Armiger (Honorable Mention), Danielle Wegrzyn (1st Team) and Emily Frydrych (1st Team).
The Syracuse Lady Orangmen finished 10th at the NCAA National Championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Indiana. Cassie White, 2007 Graduate of St. Mark's, finished in 132nd in 21:54 for 6K. Cassie has run on the varsity squad in every meet this season, including the Northeast NCAA Regional championships where the Orange won the team title.
Danielle, Izzy, Katrina, Emily, Beth, Jill, Erica, and Kaki- The 2010 State Meet Team!!!
Congratulations to the girls varsity for finishing 2nd overall at the 2010 Division I State Meet at Brandywine Creek State Park. The girls ran a very competitive race, and ran for the win. For that you should all be so proud!! We had a tremendous season, and this last race was a perfect reflection of what this team is all about. Congratulations to Emily, Beth, Izzy, Katrina, and Jill for running their final varsity race for St. Mark's. You raced with your hearts on your sleeve (or jersey), and for that I will always be thankful. You have forever transformed St. Mark's XC!! Great season!!! Go Nike!!!
The Girls varsity finished 3rd and the JV 2nd at the 2010 New Castle County Championships at WInterthur on Saturday. Full write-up to come, along with videos, pics and more!!
The girls won the 2010 Catholic Conference Championships at Bellevue on Friday with 28 total points.
The varsity averaged 19:26 over 5K and set a NEW SCHOOL RECORD!!! Emily Frydrych 1st (18:47), Katrina Steenkamer 3rd (19:06), Danielle Wegrzyn 7th(19:35), Izzy King 8th (19:49), and Beth Sowden 9th (19:55) became the first varsity team ever to place 5 girls under 20:00!!!! The broke the old record of 19:30 set in 2006 at the Catholic Conference Championships. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Kaki Armiger 13th(20:29), and Jill Allen 15th(21:01) ran 6th and 7th for the championship team. Katrina also ran the 3rd fastest 5K in school history in 19:06!!!
The Junior Varsity also had a record setting day, placing 5 runners under 21:30 and breaking another school record. The girls averaged just 21:08. Erica Trofa 2nd (20:49), Danielle Trofa 5th(21:01), Katie McGovern 6th (21:11), Rachel Gagnon 7th(21:13), and Roseena Hardcastle 9th (21:27) combined for the new record.
Overall it was a great day in St. Mark's history, and you should all be proud!!
Click HERE to view and print the 2010 roster for boys and girls.
Click on photo for more pics
21 Lifetime Bests at Joe O'Neill!
21 girls ran their fastest 5K EVER and 3 more ran their fastest 5K of this season as St. Mark's had a banner day at the Joe O'Neill. The entire varsity placed in the top 20 all-time for St. Mark's runners at Bellevue. Every girl on the team ran faster than their 5K time 3 weeks ago against Archmere!! The varsity finished 3rd overall, with the JV finishing 5th!! Emily Frydrych broke her own school record by 6 seconds for fastest 5K by a Spartan, finishing 6th in 18:27!! She also ran the #14th fastest time in Delaware history. Danielle Wegrzyn ran the 9th fastest 5K in school history at Bellevue, running 19:45 for 22nd overall. Katrina Steenkamer ran 20:00 for #12 all-time. Beth Sowden finished 1 stride in 20:03 for 4th on the team. She already holds the #10 time in school history. Izzy King, Kaki Armiger, and Jill Allen finished very close together in 20:20, 20:22, and 20:23 for 17th, 18th, and 20th all-time at Bellevue!!! Erica Trofa had a breakout race in JV, finishing 2nd overall in a deep field. She ran 20:41, and now has the #30 time in St. Mark's history!! Roseena Hardcastle also ran a huge PR, and would have been our #4 runner last season on varsity!!! Danielle Trofa also PR'd by a ton, easily dipping under 22 with a 21:50. We also had a slew of girls in the 22's and 23's!! Almost every girl ran a 1-2 minute PR on the JV. Check email for big write-up soon!! St. Mark's just had a huge day, and Coach O'Neill would have been so proud!!!
St. Mark's finished 8th overall in a stacked B race at the Manhattan Invitational on Saturday in Bronx, NY. Girls JV finished 7th overall, and the JV B finished 10th!! Emily Frydrych led all runners with a 7th place finish, setting a new school record and finishing 16th all-time in DE at Van Courtlandt's 4K race. Danielle Wegrzyn had a big day, finishing 37th overall in 16:50. Beth Sowden performed well, finishing 49th in 17:06. Izzy King was not far behind, coming in 59th overall in 17:19. Jill Allen rounded out the top 5 with a 71st place finish in 17:33. Kaki Armiger and Erica Trofa pushed each other to the finish, both finishing in 18:21. For the JV, Danielle Trofa had a breakout race, creeping all the way up to 15th place overall in a time of 18:24. Roseena Hardcastle paced in just behind in 18:37. Katie McGovern ran a solid 19:07, with Marissa Chamness very close behind in 19:13. In the JV B race, freshman Jen Carr regained her form with a 19:20, fast enough for 34th overall.
Katrina Steenkamer took first overall in 21:20 at the 2nd Annual Joe O'Neill 5K on Sunday morning at St. Mark's. Alumni Mike O'Brian finished 1st overall male in 16:08.
Thanks to everyone that volunteered, donated, raced, and walked. It was a great tribute to the man who established St. Mark's running.
Congratulations to Hannah Jobst, Jill Allen, Grace Baker, Jess Ferguson, Izzy King, Emily Frydrych, Rachel Spurrier, and Danielle Wegrzyn for being inducted into the St. Mark's National Honors Society on Tuesday, Oct 5.
Girls finish 3rd in Varsity, 2nd in JV-A, and 3rd in JV-B at Sallies Invite
St. Mark's finished 3rd overall in the varsity race, 2nd in the JV-A race, and 3rd in the JV-B race Saturday at the Salesianum Invitational.
Varsity takes 1st overall with 100 points in A Race, JV takes 3rd, Freshman finish 4thThe girls made it back-to-back wins this weekend by finishing 1st overall in a 20-team field in the A race at the Six Flags Invitational on Saturday. The girls averaged 20:05 for 5K, with Emily leading all runners finishing 1st with a NEW SCHOOL RECORD time of 18:33!!! That shatters the old record of 18:57 set by Cassie White in 2006. Danielle Wegrzyn cracked 20 minutes, finishing in 13th overall with a time of 19:54. Izzy King , Beth Sowden, and Katrina Steenkamer all finished in a close pack at 20:33-20:47 to round out the top 5. Jill Allen and Erica Trofa competed well for the championship team!! Roseena Hardcastle had a monster 1:20 PR, finishing in 2nd overall in the JV race in 22:09. Danielle Trofa ran a 30 second PR and finished 16th overall in 23:22. The JV girls finished 3rd overall, and the freshman team finished 4th!!! Overall it was a great day for St. Mark's, and congratulations to everyone!! the team had 11 personal best times today!!
St. Mark's Wins Briarwood Invitational Division I Championships!!!
The girls captured their first team championship since the state title in 2006!!!
Congratulations to the girls for winning the 2010 Briarwood Invitational Division I Championship. It was very exciting to go into Philly against 16 regional teams and come away with a win. Congratulations to Emily for finishing 1st place overall in 19:28. That time gained her national elite status. The team finished with 60 points by placing five girls in the top 20. Danielle Wegrzyn was 8th, Beth Sowden finished 14th, Izzy ran 17th and Erica Trofa finished 20th. The biggest improvement of the day came from Katrina Steenkamer, who finished 1:20 faster than last week at Killen's Pond with a 21:48 at Briarwood. She finished #5 in the JV Race. In the freshman race, Jen Carr led all Spartans with a very solid 12:47 for 3K. The freshmen also placed 4 girls in the top 25. .
Varsity 3rd and JV 2nd at Lake Forest Invitational!!!
The varsity finished 3rd overall, just 16 points away from the win, and the JVA nearly pulled out a win at the Lake Forest Invitational on Saturday at Killen's Pond. The varsity was led by Emily Frydrych, who posted a new school record and personal record of 19:15 for 2nd place overall!! Danielle Wegrzyn finished 10th overall with a new PR of 20:37. Beth Sowden ran her Killen's PR of 20:47 for 13th overall. Jill Allen ran a PR by over 1 minute, finishing in 20:55. Erica Trofa rounded out the top 5 scorers with her St. Mark's debut and new 5K PR of 22:02. The JV A, with 6 brand new runners, almost pulled off the upset by finishing 2nd with 39 points to defending champion Charter. They were led by Roseena's Hardcastle's 4th place finish in 23:14. She finished just ahead of Dani Ciolek. The JV B was led by Katrina Steenkamer, who finished 4th overall in 23:02 in her first ever race. Overall, the team had 17 girls run their first ever 5K. Congratulations everyone!!!
Click on pic for 2010 XC Roster (still being updated)
Alumni News!!!!!
Lindsay Prettymanand Sarah Frydrych competed at the Spikes Shoe classic at Penn State over the weekend. LIndsay made her XC debut for University of Delaware and finished in 23:18. Sarah, who is running for St. Francis (PA), finished in 25:13 over 6000M.
Congratulations to all the girls who competed at the 2010 Timed Trial today at White Clay Creek. For 14 girls that was the first ever high school xc competition. Well done!!!
Linday Prettyman finished 3rd female and ran the #2 time in St. Mark's history at the PA Distance Classic at West Chester Henderson on Friday evening. Her time of 2:15.49 was .6 off the school record. Lindsay will be running for University of Delaware in the fall.
Coach DiGennaro ran the mile, and finished in a blistering 3:57.4, oh wait, 4:45.5. He brought up many pre- and post-race excuses. His time was 2 seconds slower than the prediction of Coach Lannutti, and 5 seconds slower than his 2010 PR.
Video of Prettyman's 800M run
Zhang and Frydyrch Receive Top Recognition
Senior Pamela Zhang and Junior Emily Frydrych earn very high distinctions at the 2010 St. Mark's Award Assembly. Pam was chosen as one of only 1,200 in the country to join the United State Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. Emily was given a prestigious award from the United States Naval Academy. Emily was also nominated for Junior Student of the Year. Congratulations girls.
Great 2010 Season Video Created by Rich Wegrzyn, pics courtesy of Donna Gerst
Syracuse Sophomore Cassie White ran 10:40 and finished 19th at the East Regional Qualifiers in the steeplechase on Saturday morning in Greensboro NC. She qualified for the meet after finishing 6th place at the ECAC Championship in 10:26.29.
4x800 Shatters State Meet Record By 11 seconds, New School Record, #4 All-Time in DE , #16 in USA
**Picture Page Click Here (courtesy of Tatnall parent George Parsons) At the Meet of Champions on Wednesday evening the girls' 4x800 team crushed their own state meet record by 7 seconds (set on Saturday at the state meet), and the old state meet record by 11 seconds (held since 1986). In the end, they established a new school record this season by 22 seconds. The team is currently ranked #16 in the Nation, (9th on the east coast) and is ranked #4 all-time in Delaware (behind just 3 separate teams run by Tatnall in 2008, 2009, and 2010). They jumped ahead of the old state record of 9:18 which stood for 20 years until 2006. The splits were Kasey Prettyman (2:21.0), Emily Frydrych(2:15.2), Lindsay Prettyman (2:13.5) and Izzy King (2:24.6). In the 4x400M the team of Ellie, Lindsay, Kasey, and Emily finished 3rd overall in 3:59.14 and 'MAY' have set a new school record in the process. the old record of 3:59.04 is being looked at for clarification as to whether it was converted yet. If it has not, the girls will have a new school record. Beth Sowden ran a new PR in the 3200M, finishing 7th in 11:51.5. She broke her time of 11:57, set at the county meet. She split a 5:46 through 1600!!! Emily and Lindsay finished 3rd and 5th in the 800M run in 2:15.67 and 2:16.24 respectively. Kasey Prettyman finished 5th in the 400 in 1:00.39. Katrina Steenkamer finished 9th in 5:26.03, narrowly missing her PR. Emalee Bennett finished 8th in the discus!!Overall, the meet and the entire season has been so much fun, and thanks so much for working so hard and dreaming big!!!!
Congratulations to the girls team for their 3rd place finish at the state meet at Caesar Rodney. They scored an impressive 53 points!!!
May 14/15th- The girls fought and clawed their way up to 3rd place overall on Saturday at the state meet. We picked up critical points everywhere from all teammates to solidify our rank as #3 in the state!!!
More to come, including info on Meet of Champions on Wednesday!! In meet of champs definitely are Bennett, Sowden, Pollock, King, Prettyman, Prettyman, Frydrych.
States Day 1: 4x8 Breaks 2 Records, Bennett Sets New PR and Finishes 5th
Emalee Bennett finishes 5th in the discus, throws 93-8. Lifetime best throw!!!
Emalee Bennett was out of the top 6 after 2 throws, and left it all in the circle in her final throw to set a lifetime best in the discus at 93-8. She picked 2 HUGE points for us in the event. Way to go Bennett!!! Her performance is the perfect example of fighting for every single point!!
4x800 CRUSHES STATE MEET RECORD- RUNS 9:21.61!! Breaks Own School Record!
The 4x800 team of Lindsay Prettyman, Emily Frydrych, Kasey Prettyman, and Izzy King set a STATE MEET RECORD and a new school record with their run of 9:21.61. Great job pushing the pace to get the time!!
Merrissa Cope sets PR in 100H (17.34) seeded 6th in the finals on Saturday!!
Merissa Cope is continuing her 2010 state meet impressiveness again with a trip to the finals on Saturday. In indoor Cope finished 4th in the 55 Hurdles. Great PR!!
Ellie Pollock and Katie Gangloff competed in the long jump on Friday, with Ellie reaching 15'3" and Gangloff reaching 13'7". Great season in the LJ girls!!
Girls Finish 6th at Counties!!!
Haley Jones, Coach Deej, and Emalee Bennett posing for a lovely photo. Kasey's quote of the day: " I may have accidentally made it into that photo"
May 7th-8th- Saturday: The 4x400 team of Lindsay Prettyman, Kasey Prettyman, Emily Frydrych, and Ellie Pollock finished 3rd in 4:00.72 (just 1 second shy of the school record). They earned all-county!! 3rd fastest time in Delaware all year!!
Lindsay and Emily finished 2nd and 3rd in the 800M run, earning them both all-county. Beth Sowden finished 5th in the 3200M in 11:57, breaking 12:00 for the first time in her career. Emily Frydrych finished 5th in the 1600M in 5:12, and Adrienne Newton finished 6th in the triple jump in 32'0.75" for her life-time best.
Katrina Steenkamer crushed her PR by 8 seconds in the 1600M, running 5:23! Erica Trofa also had an 11-second PR in the 3200M, running 12:55 for 10th.
The 4x200 team of Emma Grey, Amanda Farrell, Izzy King, and Kasey Prettyman ran the top time of the season in 1:49.
Haley Jones and Emalee Bennett threw 22'10 and 20'3 in the shot!!! Izzy King and Merissa Cope both ran 51.4 and 51.5 in the 300 hurdles. Amanda Farrell finished 7th in the high jump, marking 4'8". Grey jumped 4'6"!!
The 4x100 had really fast splits, but a bobbled hand-off moved them back to 55 seconds. They were on pace for Olive Garden!!!!
Friday: 4x800 of Frydrych, Kasey Prettyman, Izzy King, and Lindsay Prettyman finished 2nd in 9:23, earns All-County!!!
Cope finished 9th overall and ran a lifetime best in 100H in 17.39, Pollock finishes 7th in Long Jump in 15'11", also a lifetime best!! Bennett finished 7th in 87' in the discus!!! Great job!!!
Newton and Gangloff BOTH ran exactly 13.99 in the 100!!! Pollock finished in 27.66 and Murphy finished in 28.65. Taylor threw a life-time best 67'1" in the discus. Gangloff jumped 14' 1" in the long jump.
The sprint medley team of Zhang, Tunis, Goode, and Wegrzyn finished 4th overall in 4:48!!!
NCC County 4x800M run (Video Courtesy of Mr. Wegrzyn)
-Anne Green contemplating the ownership of the red shoes.
Team sets 41 Personal Bests at 1st State!!!
May 1st- This was a total team effort on Saturday at the 1st State Invitational. From throws, to jumps, to running, the team competed very well, and there was definitely a 'Spartan" presense at Caravel. Great job everyone!!!!
Sophomore Merissa Cope clearing 100 hurdles (pic courtesy of Mr. DelNegro)
April 26th- The girls continued to impress at the Caravel dual meet on Wednesday. Overall there were 28 lifetime personal best performances (and on a windy day). From top to bottom we saw tremendous improvements!!!
Congratulations to Emalee Bennett for throwing over 90 feet in the discus. That was a major breakthrough!!! Congratulations to Beth Sowden and Jill Allen for breaking 2:30 in the 800M, and congratulations to Merissa Cope for coming back from injuries and running 18.09 and qualifying for the state meet!!! I will write more, because there were many great improvements on Wednesday!!
Performance List for 2010 Through Caravel Dual Meet CLICK HERE
April 22nd -The St. Mark's 4x800 team of Lindsay, Emily, Izzy, and Kasey SHATTERED it's own school record by 11 seconds on Thursday at the Penn Relays, running 9:22.29 for 4th place in the 2nd small schools race. They eclipsed their previous time of 9:33 set 2 weeks ago at the Caravel Invite. The splits were Emily (2:18.5), Lindsay (2:14.8), Izzy (2:24.2) and Kasey (2:24.7).
Their time is 8th fastest in state history, and the 3rd fastest in Penn Relays history. Lindsay's 2:14.8 is the fastest recorded 800 in Delaware Penn Relays History!!!
The 4x100 team of Adrienne Newton, Ellie Pollock, Amanda Farrell, and Katie Gangloff ran their fastest time in years, coming in 2nd in their race in 52.44. The four girls had clean handoffs on all 3 exchanges.
The 4x400 team (same as the 4x800 team) ran their fastest time of the season, clipping 4:08!!
Cassie White Qualifies for NCAA Regionals at Larry Ellis Invite
Cassie continued her steeple campaign on Friday at the Larry Ellis Invite at Princeton, finishing 5th and lowering her personal best time to 10:29. She qualifued automatically for the NCAA Regional East Qualifier.
Cassie is one of three recent St. Mark's grads to run the steeplechase this season. Alison Zukowski recently ran the steeple this Saturday at the UD Invite, and Greg Morrin took up the steeple earlier in the season at a meet at Haverford. Look for these 3 to run fast times in the next few seasons!!!
The girls again put up great times and ran extremely well against out-of-state competition at the Viking Invite on Saturday in Bethesda, MD. Emily Frydrych finished 2nd in the 1600M and set a new PR of 5:04.43.She closed her last lap in 69.7!!! She is now #16 All-Time in Delaware, #3 all-time at St. Mark's, and has the fastest time in the state in 2010 for 1600M. She also qualified for the Nike Outdoor Nationals Emerging Elite 1600m.
In relays the 4x800 Izzy King (2:26) Jill Allen(2:33) Danielle Wegrzyn(2:35) and Katrina Steenkamer (2:32) finished 6th overall in 10:08. They ran a gutsy race and challeged the top teams!!! The 4x200 team of Emma Grey, Amanda Farrell, King, and Ellie Pollock ran their 2nd fastest time of the year and finished 8th overall in 1:53.2 to score for the team!! The 4x400 team of King (1:03), Farrell (1:06), Steenkamer (1:08) and Frydrych (1:01) finished in 7th overall in 4:21. Finally, the 4x100 team of Adrienne Newton, Farrell, Pollock, and Katie Gangloff ran their 2nd fastest time of the season, finishing 9th in 53.38!!
Individually, Beth Sowden ran her lifetime PR in the 3200M, finishing 10th overall in 12:00.15. She closed her last lap in 83!!! BIG PR!!! Steenkamer came off a PR in the 4x800 to run another PR off short rest in the 1600, running 5:41. She also closed really fast, splitting 75 for her last lap!!! Frydrych returned in the 800M and finished 4th in 2:21. Danielle returned in the 800M to match her time of 235 earlier in the day. Well done!! Allen ran her fastest 400M FAT time of the season, clipping 1:06.57, and Kaminski also ran her fastest 400M FAT time of 1:04.75. Great races!! Pollock qualified automatically for the state meet in the 200M, running a very fast auto time of 27.44!!! Grey ran her fully auto timing PR of the season in the 100M, reaching 14.18!
In field events, Pollock finished 9th in the long jump, marking 14'3' and Ganloff marked 13' in the long and 29'9" in triple. Amanda Farrell cleared 4'6" in the high jump. In the shot and disc Bennett threw 20'4 and 71'6 and Jones threw 22'2 and 56'3.
April 9th- Congratulations to the 4x800 team for establishing a new school record on Saturday at Caravel. They broke a 25-year-old record by running 9:33.08 for 1st place. Their time will also qualify them for the Penn Relays 4x800, which will be run on Thursday, April 22nd.The splits were Lindsay (2:21.2), Emily (2:17.4), Kasey (2:27.5), and Izzy (2:26.4). Their time is also the fastest time in Delaware in 2010, and the 23rd fastest 4x800 in State History!!!
Emily Frydrych came back shortly after and won the 1600M in a new personal best time of 5:11.00. Her time was the 35th fastest 1600 in state history, and the 5th fastest in St. Mark's history.
The 4x100M team of Newton, Pollock, Farrell, and Gangloff ran their fastest time of the season, sprinting to 53.31 for 6th overall. That team tied last year’s best time of 53.31 set at the Penn Relays!!!
Danielle Wegrzyn ran her 1600 PR by 11 seconds, running a very impressive 5:41.08 for 8th overall!! Katrina Steenkamer ran her 800 PR by 3 seconds by running 2:34.21 for 8th overall.
Izzy King ran a state meet qualifying time in the 300 hurdles in her debut hurdle race. She finished in 52.42.
Ellie Pollock jumped 15-1 to qualify automatically in long jump, and Adrienne Newton cleared 14-9.5 to qualify provisionally!!!
Emalee Bennett finished 5th overall in the discus, throwing 77 feet!!!
The girls had a very impressive day at St. Mark's, winning 80-39 against Ursuline. It was highlighted by 27 PERSONAL BEST TIMES throughout the team. I am most excited with that statistic!! Keep up the great work!!
Emily Frydrych led the way with two state leading performances in the 1600M and 3200M. Frydrch ran 5:15 and 11:22 respectively. Her 11:22 is the 3rd fastest time in school history, and the 28th fastest time in state history.
Ellie Pollock was the high scorer of the meet, earning 12.5 points for winning the 100, 200, 4x100, and 4x200!!!
Lindsay Prettyman came in 1st in the 400M run, reaching a PR of 1:00.5. Izzy King finished 1st in the 800M, running a personal best time of 2:28.9. Kasey Prettyman was close behind, reaching 2:29.5. Lindsey, Izzy, and Kasey also joined Ellie to run a season best time in the 4x200 (1:51).
Jill Allen and Danielle Wegrzyn both had great days!! Jill ran 2:33.9 in the 4x800, then ran 1:06.5 for 400M. Danielle qualified for the state meet in the 800, running 2:34.0. In the 4x400 she ran 1:09.8.
Haley Jones threw a personal best in the shot, reaching 23'. Emalee Bennett again took first in the discuss, reaching 77'. Amanda Farrell jumped 4-10 for the third meet in a row.
The girls finished 5th place overall with 53 points at the Chichester Relays on Saturday. They took 1st in the 4x800M, 2nd in the 4x1600, 3rd in the 4x400, 3rd in the 4x200, and 3rd in the distance Medley. Farrell also had the top mark in the high jump. Congratulations!!
Individual highlights:
Amanda Farrell jumped 4-10 in the high jumped and ran her 400M PR in 1:04.9.
Izzy King PR in 800 (2:29) and 400 (1:03.2)
The 4x200M team of Grey, Farrell, Newton, and Pollock all ran competitive for a 3rd place medal!!
Beth Sowden ran the 800 in 2:33, then came back to run the 1600 in 5:41.
Erica Trofa ran her St. Mark’s PR in 2:42.8
Kasey Prettyman ran her debut 800 in 2:29.
Ellie Pollock ran her 400M PR in 1:05.5
Danielle Wegrzyn ran the elusive 1200M in a very competitive 4:13, then returned to run a 7 second PR in the 1600 (5:52)
Jill Allen ran her 400M PR in 1:06.5, then returned to run her 1600M PR in 5:46!! That’s a big day!!
Emily Frydrych ran really fast and consistent in the 800 and 400, running 2:21 and 62 respectively.
Natalie Pesetsky ran her 1600M PR by 17 seconds (6:09)
Katrina Steenkamer ran the 1600 in 5:49, then ran another 1600 in 5:48 2 hours later!!
Pam Zhang ran her 800M PR in 2:48.58
Alex Kaminski matched her PR in the 400M.
The 4x100M team of Newton, Gangloff, Ferguson, and Grey all ran strong splits for 4th our division.
The girls beat St. George's on Thurdsay at St. Mark's by a score of 73-30. Congratulations!!! Seniors Emalee Bennett and Katie Gangloff led the way with State qualifying wins. Bennett took first overall in the discus, throwing 84'5 1/2", bettering her personal best from last year by 10 feet. Katie Gangloff took first in the long jump and triple jump, but qualified automatically in the long with a jump of 15-5.
Senior Amanda Farrell took first in the high jump, again reaching 4-8. Freshman Ellie Pollock ran the 200M in 27.25 to qualify automatically for the state meet. Izzy King ran 1:04.0 to also qualifying automatically. Junior Katrina Steenkamer Pr'd by 17 seconds in the 800 to run a provisional qualifying mark in the 800M.
The team had 9 girls go sub 3:00 today in the 800M, 12 girls go sub 1:15 in the 400M, and 8 girls run sub 31 in the 200M. That’s depth!!!!
We competed against a very good team, and it was a fun first meet. I ran track in college with Pat Riley,the Archmere head coach, so it was a lot of fun to go head-to-head with him as coaches. Oh, and he also graduated from St. Mark's.
There were many, many outstanding performances. We led off the meet with a fast 9:46 in the 4x800. Last year at the state meet we took 1st overall in this event in 9:45, and this year we started off our season just 1 second slower. The splits were L. Prettyman (2:20), Emily Frydrych (2:19), Beth Sowden (2:34), and Izzy King (2:31). Great job!!!
Amanda Farrell took first place in the high jump and qualified automatically for the State Meet in May with a jump of 4'8". That is 2 inches off her personal best. Ellie Pollock took 2nd in the 200M and qualified provisionally for the state meet with time of 27.3. Kasey Prettyman qualified automatically in the 400M with a fast opening season time of 1:02.60. Emily Frydrych and Lindsay Prettyman took 1st and 2nd in the 800M, and ran automatic qualifying times of 2:22.0 and 2:22.7. In the 1600M Katrina Steenkamer took 3rd place and qualified for the state meet with a 20 second personal best time of 5:42. Danielle Wegrzyn also qualified with a time of 5:59.
There were many other great performances!! Well done everyone!!!
2010 Outdoor Track and Field Captains, voted by their peers (left to right) Pam Zhang, Katie Gangloff, Emily Frydrych, Emalee Bennett. Congratulations girls!!!
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 2010
Girls Finish 7th Place at the state meet, earn school Record in 4x400M relay
The girls' indoor track and field team had a huge day at the indoor state meet, which culminated with a 7th place finish and a new school record. The 4x400M relay team (pictured above) set a new school record, finishing 4th place in 4:13.66. The team was run by Kasey Prettyman (1:03), Lindsay Prettyman (1:03), Izzy King (1:05), and Emily Frydrych (1:02).The old record was 4:15.17, set in 2002. Frydrych also nearly broke her own school record in the 1600M, running 3rd place in 5:12.70. She later came back to finish 6th in the 800M (2:25.52). Lindsay Prettyman continued to impress, running a new personal best in the 800M and finishing 4th overall in 2:24.00. Merissa Cope earned her way into the finals of the 55M Hurdles and came away with a gutsy 4th place. She ran 10.04 in the prelims and 10.03 in the finals.
The 4x200M team blew out their heat and came 1 spot away from earning a point in their race. The team of Ellie Pollock, Adrienne Newton, Alana Taylor, and Lindsey Hertsenberg ran a great race and finished in 1:54.06, just 1/2 second away from 6th. Kasey Prettyman ran a new personal best in the 400 and just missed scoring as well in a highly competitive field. She ran 1:02.17.
The 4x800M team ran excellent, but were the unfortunate recipients of a confused meet official and were forced to run 1 extra lap in their race. Danielle Wegrzyn led off the race, and at the first exchange she was blowing out the field in 1st place and was then forced to run a 5th lap. When the officials realized their mistake, they allowed the other teams to run 4. Danielle split a personal best 2:37, and then ran an extra lap in 43 seconds. She handed off to Pam Zhang (2:54), then Rachel Gagnon (2:54), and finally Jill Allen (2:48). Their unnofficial time was 11:15, good enough for 7th place overall. Their official time after 17 laps run was 12:08, good for 11th overall. We'll say they finished 7th!!
Overall the team finished with 19 points, their highest score since 1997. Great job everyone, and thanks to the rest of the team and the parents for your continued support!!!!
The girls competed Sunday at the University of Delaware High School Invitational at the UD Field House. They were once again led by Emily Frydrych's dominant 1600M win (5:13.86) and her 4th place finish in the 800M (2:20.6) (a personal best). Kasey Prettyman had a big breakthrough in the 400M, coming in 4th overall in 1:02. Merissa Cope ran her fastest 55M hurdle of the season, coming in 4th and finishing in 10.15. Lindsay Prettyman also ran her personal best time in the 800M, running 2:27.41.
The 4x800M team finished 4th place overall in 11:11.27. That team consisted of Danielle Wegrzyn (2:39), Rachel Gagnon (2:57), Pam Zhang (2:53), and Jill Allen (2:39). The 4x200M team of Alana Taylor, Lindsay Hertsenberg, Ellie Pollock, and Adrienne Newton came in 8th place overall, running 1:57.38. Taylor finished 16th in the 55M in 8.29, Maddie Murphy also finished the 55M in 23rd (9.01) and 21st in the 200M (30.76). Newton finished 14th in the 200 in 29.76. Pollock also came in 14th in the 400M in 1:06.58. Finally, Emalee Bennett threw the shot in her first meet of the season. She hit 21-3.75.
The girls competed Saturday at the Glen Mills Invitational. Emily Frydrych finished 2nd in the 800 in 2:20.92. She now has the 14th fastest time in state history, and she is just 1.6 seconds off Sarah Conway's school record of 2:19.29, set in 1999. The 4x200m team of Prettyman, Prettyman, Taylor, and Fryrdych finished 4th in 1:56.07. Alana Taylor also finished 11th in the 55M dash (8.36). Izzy King ran a solid 400M, finishing 9th in 1:06.07. Danielle Wegrzyn and Pam Zhang had great performances in the 1600, running 6:08.89 and 6:26.58 respectively. Rachel Gagnon also competed in the 3000M, finishing in 13:28. Merissa Cope doubled in the 55M Hurdles and the Long Jump, and even after banging the hurdle she still finshed in 10.97 and jumped 12'9".
Emily Frydrych continued her trailblazing 1600M campaign with another school record performance on Saturday. She finished 1st at the Kutztown Invitational in 5:12.62 (3 seconds faster than last week) and is now the 9th fastest 1600m runner in state history. She came back to anchor the 4x400M which finished 6th in 4:19.97. That team consisted of Ellie Pollock, Lindsay Prettyman, Kasey Prettyman, and Frydrych. In the 800M Lindsay Prettyman finished 6th with a time of 2:30.19. ****Still waiting for full results
On Sunday the team competed in the UD Invitational. They were led by Emily Frydrych's 1st place finish in the 800. She finished in 2:22.04 and currently holds the 19th fastest 800M time in state history. Merissa Cope also finished 2nd overall in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 10.33. Izzy King finished 1st in her heat and 6th overall in the 400M (1:06.39), Ellie Pollock finished 2nd in her heat and 9th overall in the 400 (1:07.33). In the 1600 Danielle Wegrzyn set a personal best with a time of 6:06.27 to finish 9th overall. Rachel Gagnon finished 13th in 6:28.45, and senior Pam Zhang finished 15th in 6:29.27. Katie Gangloff made her indoor 2010 debut in the long jump and triple jump, finishing 13-1.75 and 27-3.25 respectively for 7th and 6th. Cope also finished 9th in the long jump and 5th in the triple jump. Maddie Murphy also competed in the 55-meter dash, finishing 14th in 8.65. The team will compete next Saturday at Kutztown.
Emily Frydrych finished 2nd overall at the Maroon and Gold Invitational @ Kutztown on Saturday. Her time of 5:16.33 is the 16th fastest time in state history.
The girls had a very impressive showing at the N5CTA Invitational at Widener on Saturday. They finished the meet in 2nd place with 60 points, just 11 points behind Christiana.
The Spartans were led by Junior Emily Frydrych, who won both the 1600 (5:35) and the 800 (2:26). Freshman Rachel Gagnon won her first high school race ever, finishing first in the 3200 (13:51.33). Sophomore Merissa Cope contributed with 17 points in 4 events in her first ever indoor track and field meet. She finished 2nd in the 55 hurdles (10.17), 4th in the triple jump (25-11), 6th in the long jump (13-02.50), and led off the 4th place 4x200M (2:02.01). Senior Lindsey Prettyman ran a very quick final lap to move up to 2nd overall in the 800 (2:29.69), qualifying her for the state meet in that event. Her sister senior Kasey Prettyman also qualified for the state meet in the 400 (1:04.48), finishing 4th. Sophomore Danielle Wegrzyn just missed her 1600 personal best, finishing 6th overall in 6:10.84. In the 200M, Alana Taylor finished 8th over (30.41) and Adrienne Newton finished 9th (30.51). They were both also on the 4th place 4x200M relay team, along with Cope and Lindsey Hertsenberg.
St. Mark's competed Tuesday at the Christmas City Relays at Lehigh University. Junior Emily Frydrych made a very big statement in her first competition of the 2010 season, finishing first in the 1-mile and 2nd in the 800M. She ran indoor PR's in both events, finishing in 5:25.73 and 2:23.27 respectively. Emily's 1600 split of 5:23.93 is the 28th fastest time in state history and most probably a school record, and her 800 time is the #31 time in state history.
The Distance Medley team of Pam Zhang, Linsdey Prettyman, Kasey Prettyman, and Rachel Gagnon finished 5th overall with a time of 15:08.7. Rough splits were Zhang (4:39), Prettyman (65), Prettyman (2:35), Gagnon (6:47).The 4x200 team of Alan Taylor, Jess Ferguson, Lindsey Hertsenberg, and Izzy King finished 3rd in their heat in 2:02.36. Taylor, Ferguson, and Hertsenberg came back and ran very well in the 60M. Taylor finished in 9.05, Ferguson ran 9.12, and Hertsenberg ran 9.00. Freshman Ellie Pollock finished 1st in her heat in the 400, running to victory in 1:10.13. Danielle Wegrzyn and Rachel Gagnon finished 3rd and 4th in the 1st heat of the 3000M. Wegrzyn ran 13:00.73 and Rachel ran 13:04.16. They started in the back and worked their way up and competed well.
Overall it was a great 1st meet. Great job to everyone who competed!!!
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!!
The girls ended the season with huge performances at the Meet of Champions. The State Champion 4x800 team of Devin Sullivan, Emily Frydrcych, Kara Pollock, and Beth Sowden were PODIUM WORTHY with their 2nd place finish. Jeanne Knowles had another solid sub 60 performance in the 400. Frydrych and Sullivan both ran gutsy races in a very fast 800. Sullivan PR'd and ran 2:23 for the first time ever. Sowden had a monster PR in the 3200, running 12:03. Two weeks ago she ran 12:23, now she's running 12:02. Finally, the 4x400 team had YET another season best time. That is 3 meets and 3 PR's. Unoffical time had them at 4:08.
But, the most excited girl of the night was Amanda Farrell. Amanda and Natalie came down on the chance that they could compete, and Amanda walked away with a meet-of-champoins t-shirt for her efforts. Good job girls!!
Thank you for such a wonderful season. I am looking forward to building on this success.
DIAA DIVISION I STATE MEET, MAY 14-15, CAESAR RODNEY HIGH SCHOOL
4x800M Division I State Champion Team (Left to right, Sowden, Pollock, Frydrych, Sullivan)
Wow!!!! we had such an amazing weekend at the Divison I State meet . We finished 7th overall with 34 points. That is the highest finish for St. Mark's in at least 15 years!!! Great Job!!!
It all started off on Friday evening when the 4x800 team won the Division I state championships with a season best time of 9:45.44. Splits were Devin Sullivan (2:23), Emily Frydrych, (2:19), Kara Pollock (2:30), and Beth Sowden (2:31). We then picked up 4 more points on Saturday when Amanda Farrell cleared 4'8" in the high jump for 4th place. A little later Emily Frydrych ran a huge personal best in the 1600 and finished 3rd in 5:16.06. Jeanne Knowles stepped up huge with a personal best in the 400M and finished 4th in 58.77. Emily came back in the open 800 and ran a gutsy 4th place in 2:21 for 4 more points. Beth Sowden ran an amazing race in the 3200M, finished 5th in 12:09 for 2 points. Then to cap off the meet the 4x400M team of Knowles, Sullivan, Oakes, and Frdyrch ran a season best time of 4:09 for another 4th place finish. We were loaded with 4th places this weekend.
Along with these scores, we also had 4 amazing 7th place finishes throughout the meet. They don't count in the team score, but it needs to be mentioned because it shows our depth. Natalie Fogarty finished 7th in the 300M Hurdles in a PR time of 49.6. Kara Pollock ran a great race in the 3200M and put it all on the line for 7th in 12:17. Julia Allshouse almost matched her personal best in the shot put, throwing 31'2". Finally Devin Sullivan ran her personal best time in the open 800M and finished 7th in 2:24.8. Great job girls!!!!
Great job girls!!! Congratulations on an excellent meet. We had some really great performances. Congratulations to Emily Frydrych for earning "All County" in the 800. Her 2:19 placed her 3rd overall. We had a huge meet with our relays. All 4 teams either tied or beat our season best times. I was excited that we took 6th in the 4x400 with a FAST 4:11. I'm convinced that we can take even more time off that next week. Our 4x800 team also had a season best 9:50 for 4th. We will have Charter on our minds next weekend. The 4x200 team cracked 1:50 for the first time this season. Taking 3 seconds off our season best in a 4x200 is excellent!! Jeanne Knowles finished 5th in the 400 with another great 59.5. Pollock and Sowden ran great season-best times in the 3200. And Kara and that kick....DYST??? Plus there were many, many other great performances.
Congratulations to Emily Geonnotti and Izzy King for getting State Meet qualifiers on Saturday. Our state meet team just got bigger!!
St. Mark's had a HUGE day at the 1st State Invitational. There were season and personal bests all over the place. In some events, every single girl ran a personal best time. It's really hard for me to single out a few athletes, because everyone who competed today did outstanding. As a coach, this is what you dream of.
What amazed me more than our times was how much we are feeling like a team. I saw so many smiles, laughs, hugs, and jokesters. The goal I set at the start of the season was for us to have fun and become a team. Well...... we felt like a total team and today was so much fun. You all picked each other up and inspired each other. You created the energy and team chemistry necessary to be successful. A lot of people say that track and field is such an individual sport. Well, I didn't feel like any of you were alone in your races today. We had a definite presense on the track.
Congratulations to the seniors who finished their last ever high school race. You made my job so much easier by leading by example. The senior class this year set the bar in leadership and commitment. Thank You!!!
I must mention 4 performances that were a long time coming. Jeanne Knowles cracked the 60 second barrier in the 400, Emily Frydrych cracked 2:20 in the 800, Amanda Farrell cracked 50 seconds in the 300 Hurdles, and Kara Pollock broke 5:30 in the 1600. Those are all breakthrough performances. There are many, many other breakthrough races, but I had to mention these performances now. Very Well Done!!!
CATHOLIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS, APRIL 27TH, BAYNARD STADIUM
On Monday at the Catholic Conference meet, St. Mark's challenged and almost knocked off the defending state champions, finishing second with 116 points to Padua's 133. Natalie Fogarty led the way by cracking the '50 second' barrier in the 300-Meter Hurdles, running a smokin' 49.90. That is the fastest St. Mark's time on record in that event in over 15 years, and is also the #4 in the state.Jeanne Knowles won the 400M with another stunning 1:00.65. She also came from behind for the win!! Merissa Cope was Catholic Conference champion in the 100-Meter Hurdles, with a time of 19.21.
UNIONVILLE INVITATIONAL, APRIL 25TH, UNIONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
On a hot afternoon in Unionville, the girls team had a monster day. It began in the 4x800M, where Frydrych, Sullivan, Sowden, and Pollock dominated the field. They finished 1st with a 9:53, the #3 time in the state. Other outstanding performances were Cope in the long jump( 15-01) and Knowles in the 400 (60.02).
PENN RELAYS, APRIL 23RD, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
At Penn on Thursday we ran both a 4x400 relay team and a 4x100m team. The 4x100 team of White, Oakes, Rizzo, and Knowles ran a season-best time of 53.53. Later in the day the 4x400 team of Knowles, Sullivan, Oakes, and Frydrych also hit their season-best time of 4:14.53. Pictures will be posted shortly as well.
Congratulations on a great team effort at the UD Invite on Saturday. Even though the meet lasted longer than expected, we still had a great time and everyone was prepared to race Emily Frydrych set a new school record in the 800M, winning the race in 2:18.34. Her record was 1 second faster than the old record set in 1999 by Sarah Conway at 2:19.2. She also won the race, and now has the #8 fastest 800M in state history!
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The girls' indoor track and field team had a huge day at the indoor state meet, which culminated with a 7th place finish and a new school record. The 4x400M relay team (pictured above) set a new school record, finishing 4th place in 4:13.66. The team was run by 
