Lady Tigers place phenomenal second at Somers Invitational
By John M. Benson
September 16, 2007
Caitlin Jelinek, first year cross-country runner for the Pawling Tigers, has already announced to the sectional cross country community in her first invitational meet that she will be an immediate force in competition.
Jelinek and Winona Mold led the Lady Tigers to their highest finish ever at the Somers Invitational Cross Country Meet, as the Pawling girls earned the first of many trophies in the 2007 season.
Posting an almost unbelievable second place finish in the first competition of any kind in her career, Jelinek almost pulled off the stunning upset as she very nearly won her first championship at her first invitational.
Winona Mold was equally electric in her first competitive cross-country meet, finishing 11th in the very strong field to win an award in her first meet appearance.
“Caitlin Jelenik has looked good all summer and her hard work and dedication helped her run a tremendous race,” said coach Jack Power. “She almost pulled off a first place finish in her very first race. I've coached great runners and I've never had one win an invitational in their first race. The sky's the limit for Cait.
“Caitlin Jelenik showed that she will be a force on the area scene as she finished second running a fantastic 20:29 on a difficult course. Caitlin nearly pulled off a victory as she closed in on the eventual winner from Pleasantville. Not being familiar with the course she miss-judged the distance to the finish and the mistake cost her a major meet victory in her first-ever cross country meet. Winona Mold, like Caitlin miss-judged the finish. Still in her first cross country race ever she placed 11th to earn an award. Her 21:39 was an outstanding effort.”
Jamie Hom, Erin Bonthron and Kim Jones completed the Pawling girls’ performance, the stunning second place team finish in a very high-class field, as Hom placed 26th in 23:18, Bonthron placed 27th in 23:30, and Jones placed 42nd in 24:54. The top five runners score for a team in cross country, so the finishes of Hom, Bonthron and Jones were just as important as those of Jelinek and Mold.
Jon Nash, Brett Martin, Chris Bonnano, Tim Yu and Mark McNamee carried Pawling to a very respectable fourth place finish at the competitive Somers Invitational, especially considering that the Tigers were running without first and second team runners Colby Del Bene and Tom Brogan.
Nash placed 6th running 17:58 to lead the team to their fourth place finish.
Martini established himself as top level varsity runner with his 21st place finish in 18:46, showing coach Jack Power that he has a quality fourth runner for 2007. Yu placed 24th, Bonnano placed 28th, and McNamee place 30th, all quality finishes that helped Pawling place fourth and gave coach Power options for his 2007 team.
Del Bene and Brogan will run next week at the Bowdoin Invitational at Bowdoin Park.
Other finishers for the boys included Dave Mayette, running his best race by far as he broke 20 minutes runing 19:55, and Ben Nagasing, the team's 7th finisher in 20:02. The remaining runners scored as Pawling's JV team with Alex Maruzzella running 20:06, Pat Callan 20:18,Chris Carey 20:18, and Kevin O'Rourke, running his first race ever finishing 22:13. |
