St. Ed’s boys and girls cross country teams qualified for the regional meet after the boys placed second and the girls third at the District 11-1A tournament.
At the district race, the boys were led by Liam Kavolius (4th place – 19:44), Christopher Fashek (5th – 19:49) and Jack Dobson (14th – 20:16). The top three for the girls were Elizabeth Zoltak (8th – 22:37), Elise Mallon (11th – 23:15) and Bridget Nelson (20th – 25:48).
As expected, the competition was a lot tougher in the much larger Region 3-1A field. Fashek (57th – 19:57), Kavolius (70th – 20:32) and Dobson (87th – 21:40) set the pace for the boys. Zoltak (35th – 23:01), Mallon (40th – 23:41) and Nelson (74th – 26:27) repeated in identical order for the girls.
The cross country season ended at regionals, but the trek through the season and the achievements in the postseason had to be particularly gratifying for the first-year coaching tandem of Carolyn DePalma and Greg Zugrave, not to mention for the kids actually running the 5K.
We know that training for this sport presents a constant challenge in this climate. However, this year everyone had to cope with a more insidious environmental nuisance.
“Some goals going into this season included safety – especially from the heat; individual improvement; and team improvement,” DePalma told us. “We accomplished these goals by having morning practices twice a week when it was cooler and we could focus on speed work.
“We also partnered with Vero Spin (boutique cycling studio @ Village Shops) to provide some cross training opportunities. Becoming a good runner does not mean that you are pounding pavement each day. That partnership came in handy during the red tide. It allowed us to still get in a good workout without exposing our runners to the poor air quality.”
Some outdoor training sessions had to be moved off the island entirely. Thankfully, the coughing and wheezing subsided as the runners prepared for the postseason tournaments.
DePalma was an assistant with the team last year and she knew that both the boys and girls lost some top athletes to graduation. She was looking to fill the void, especially with leadership. Perhaps unwittingly, her personal circumstances accelerated the development of team cohesion.
“At one of our first practices I told the team that I was pregnant. The whole rest of the season they talked nonstop about this baby. I think they all wanted me to name the baby after them. But mostly they wanted to make sure that I was safe and happy, just as much as I wanted to keep them safe and happy. That just goes to show you what type of people they are.
“Four of our top runners from the boys team last year graduated, but our juniors and seniors really stepped up their training to allow us to be as competitive as we were. The girls team also graduated some key runners, and I was interested to see how the remaining members of the team were going to respond.”
This is where improvement from dedicated individuals led to the success of the whole. DePalma noted that Kavolius, Fashek, Dobson and Aidan Taylor improved their year-to-year district times ranging from 45 seconds to over two minutes. Zoltak became the leader of the pack for the girls and shaved two minutes off her times from last year. Mallon, a veteran performer since middle school, fought off injuries to stay on the course as much as she could. She nevertheless persevered and was able to beat her times from last year by about 40 seconds.
DePalma mentioned that help also came from a different source. “Our newest addition to the team was Greg (Zugrave). Over the summer I placed a little bug in his ear about joining the team, and hoped he would bite. His coaching experience (varsity basketball) at St. Edward’s and his connections within the community were invaluable. He always had an interest in running and it was interesting to watch him become immersed in the training and performance of the members on our team.”
“I love to run and I do it a lot – with my wife Stephanie and quietly at times on my own in the morning before school,” Zugrave said. “I jumped at the chance to help Carolyn and I will echo her sentiments. These students were just a pleasure to work with.”
