Plainfield Central Recap - September 6, 2014

Plainfield Central Invitational
September 6, 2014

[Girls Results] [Boys Results]

The Plainfield Central Invitational is the only meet on our invitational schedule that has not changed since the beginning of our database records in 1977. Every season since 1977, the first invitational of the year has been at Plainfield. This year's invitational marks the 38th consecutive year we have participated in this invitational. And this year, we saw some great performances across the board!

Splits, mile splits, team standings have all been posted, and results have been put into the database as well. Pictures have also been posted to our Flickr -- thanks once again to Mrs. Thomas for taking pictures for us!

Right, to the meet... Plainfield is a long, flat course, much like our own (although maybe with the exception of corn). This year, we fielded a complete team in both of the Frosh-Soph races, but only ran four veteran returnees on both varsity levels. Neverthless, it was a great first invitational for all involved. The gorgeous weather that we had today was certainly a bonus, especially after the past few of weeks of uncomfortable heat and humidity since the season started. That definitely made for a nice change for meet day!

Five Freshmen Lead Frosh-Soph Ladies to 10th Place Finish

We've got a great freshman crew this year on both the boys and girls side, and the five freshmen ladies who ran in this race kicked things off for us this morning. It was still relatively cool when the starter's pistol fired at 9:00 am on the dot to begin the race. Peyton, Lisa, Hannah, and Lily would come through the mile mark just seven seconds apart! All of our ladies looked strong through two miles, and they would finish strong to cap their first invitational meet of their cross country careers. Lisa Niemiec would be our first finisher in 32nd place, with a time of 22:24. After a great kick, Peyton Nash would cross the finish line in 22:56, good for 40th place. Hannah Abbatacola would finish 54th in 23:52 and Lily Arndt was right behind Hannah in 24:03, finishing 56th. Halle Nash, making her season debut, ran a great race to finish 85th in 26:17. Lisa, Peyton, Hannah, and Lily all dropped between one and three minutes from Tuesday's dual meet times--awesome job ladies!

The ladies would score 31-39-52-54-83 to finish in 10th place with 259 points in their invitational debut. Awesome job ladies!

Four Freshmen, Two Sophomores Lead Frosh-Soph Boys to 15th Place Finish

In the boys Frosh-Soph race, we had two sophomores and four freshmen run in this race, with all but one making their invitational debuts. Freshmen Tom Dea, Jake Juska, Ryan Pleva, and Jasper Requiron and sophomore Sam Asa were making their invitational debuts, while sophomore Jacob Nader was our lone returnee from last season in this race.

A 15th place finish is indicative of the depth of the Frosh-Soph teams that were fielded in this race, but our six young men were more than up to the task of a very fast Frosh-Soph field. The first mile was a quick one, and Jasper led the Sentinel pack, Sam, Ryan, and Jake would soon follow, and Tom and Jacob were working well together. In the second mile, the boys continued to run very well, and the times showed it. Jasper would cross the finish line first for the Sentinels, finishing 29th in a great time of 18:11. Ryan threw down another furious finishing kick to claim 61st in 19:34. Sam and Jake would finish in 20:23 and 20:50, finishing 83rd and 91st, respectively. Tom ran 22:43 to finish 108th, and Jacob finished in 24:00 for 112th. Every single Frosh-Soph runner in this race for the Sentinels dropped major time from Tuesday's meet.

The boys would score 372 points, with the exact same scoring places as they finished in: 29-61-83-91-108-112. Great job today, guys!

Four Veterans Have Great Runs in Varsity Girls Race

Although we did not have five girls today in the girls varsity race, which means we do not appear in the final team standings, our four veteran returnees from last year all ran very well as the skies cleared, the sun came out, and the temperature began to rise somewhat.

Although the ladies got out a little slow during the first mile, they would run solidly throughout the race. Senior Imogene Asa led the Sentinel ladies throughout the race, and would finish 36th in a very solid time of 21:43. Junior Brittany Eiermann and sophomore Michelle Launi would work well together and traded leads between them throughout the entire race, and were side-by-side at the two mile mark, andthey  came in nearly hand-in-hand. Brittany took 53rd in 22:51, and Michelle 55th in 22:55. Senior Victoria Thomas ran another solid race start to finish to earn 85th in 26:22.

Great job today, ladies!

Four Seniors Pack Together in Varsity Boys Race

All four of our varsity boys today were senior returnees. Three of them -- Anthony Alessi, Nick Dea, and Mitch Perrotta -- would run three strong for virtually the entire race. They were one second apart at the mile, and dead-on even at the two mile mark. Although the three of them would separate somewhat towards the finish, all three would finish in the top thirty and break 17 minutes. Anthony would finish 14th in 16:42 to earn a medal, Nick would soon follow at 16:58 to earn 28th, with Mitch just a couple of steps behind to finish 30th in 16:59. Tony Cordero also ran a very strong race to finish in 70th place with a time of 18:17.

Well done, men!

All runners -- including freshmen -- should go for a clean out run tomorrow (about 3 to 5 miles). Don't forget to log your cleanout run in your Training Log!

Have a great rest of your weekend! See you on Monday!