EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – In a double dual meet against Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City high schools Sept. 19, the Ocean City girls cross country team placed seven runners in the top 10, helping demonstrate what they are capable of this season.
The Red Raiders beat EHT 19-40 and AC 15-50 to keep their record perfect at 6-0.
Maeve Smith won far ahead of everyone with a time of 18 minutes 33 seconds, followed by teammate Chloe Care in 19:14. Eagle Michaela Schlemo was third, then Ocean City’s Zoe Zammit (20:04) and Gabrielle Henry (20:12) were fourth and fifth.
After EHT’s Paige Pacquing finished sixth, it was Raider Frankie Ritzel claiming her team’s fifth scoring spot at seventh in 20:18. Ocean City’s Emily Russo (21:26) and Lily Flora (21:35) were ninth and 10th.
Head coach Tim Cook, noting he was “very pleased” with the outcome, smiled when he said there is always a bit of fight between himself and his runners.
“They’re in better shape than they think they are and I was waiting for a meet to kind of prove that to them,” he said. “It’s always kind of a little battle between me and them of what kind of shape they’re in, what kind of condition they’re in.
“They came in health and happy and ready to race,” he added. “I think the weather really helped. It was low humidity, the sun was out, the girls swore the breeze was going to go away and it didn’t. I think all things came together running against quality teams in EHT and AC. Being in a quality race is good too.
“All things put together, they performed well,” he said. “I’m happy.”
Cook said his team has veterans and up-and-comers on the team.
“Leading the pack is Maeve Smith, who is in her second year running ever, which is great,” according to the coach,” because she is starting to realize how good she can be, which is great. Then we have Chloe Care who is right behind her. She has been a staple all three seasons, this being her junior year.”
He also noted Frankie Ritzel, Zoe Zammit and Gabby Henry round out the team’s top five. He has two younger runners in Emily Russo and Lily Flora, a sophomore and freshman, in the top seven.
“It’s a good mix. We have leadership there and experience. That helps. They like to run as a pack and for cross country, that’s what you want,” Cook said.
Care is “the leader of the pack” when it comes to team leadership, he added. “When she speaks, everybody listens. Maeve is like a quiet leader. She may be one of the quietist kids I’ve ever had. She’s happy and works hard. A really good leader is Giovanna Barbato. She is a senior who is just able to pull girls together, remind them of what they need to do, keep them happy. I go to her when I need to deliver messages to the team.
“It’s nice to have all different parts of our team leading. (Barbato) knows what to do and when to do it. It makes my job easier,” Cook said.
The Raiders have bigger meets coming up in addition to strong dual meets. They were scheduled to run against Atlantic County Institute of Technology Sept. 26 and next Tuesday will be at Absegami against the Braves and Mainland Mustangs.
The Shore Coaches Invitational is Oct. 7. To follow are the Cape May County Championship Oct. 12 at Cape May County Park, the Cape-Atlantic League Championship Oct. 19 at Stockton University and then the South Jersey Group III sectional meet Saturday, Oct. 28, at Dream Park in Logan Township.
“It would be nice to go to Shore Coaches (Invitational) and perform well. We won last year. It would be great to do that again or at least have a nice race again,” he said. “Just going into the championship meets, I tell them we have to be healthy and happy and we should do well. If everyone does their job, good things will happen,” he said, adding they hope to perform well at sectionals.
“We finished second last year. It’s going to be a battle with a few different teams. Obviously Mainland is great, Clearview puts together a good team, Moorestown always has a good team. Hopefully we get a good weather day and just win our race. Beyond that, we’ll see. I try to take things one week at a time. The girls just know what they can do and what they’re capable of. We’ll see what happens.”
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
