On Saturday, October 20, Mercersburg Academy’s cross-country members loaded the bus for the 75-mile journey to Georgetown Prep school just outside of Washington, D.C. The Georgetown Prep Classic is one of the strongest meets of the year in the greater D.C. area, and it showcases the area’s top prep talent. Hosted on a beautiful grassy course on the school’s campus, the invitational features a seeded men’s race open to only the most competitive teams and individuals attending the meet. This year Mercersburg is fortunate enough to have one of the most competitive individuals in the area, senior distance runner James Finucane of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
Arriving once the freshman boys’ race was well under way, the first images of cheering fans and fast runners as the buss pulled onto Prep’s campus let the Storm know it was going to be a great invitational. With nine full races throughout the day, a constant sense of energy and excitement reverberated through throngs of cheering people and the Storm runners as they prepared to race.
The first Storm runner of the day, senior James Finucane showed his teammates it was “Business Time,” the team’s motto this year, as the lone Mercersburg runner in the seeded varsity boys’ race. The seeded boys’ race began at 1:45, late enough in the day for the morning briskness to burn off, yielding unseasonably warm temperatures in the low 70’s. The sun was shining, the temperature was mild, and the wind was howling. One thing was immediately evident: warm, windy conditions and a hilly grass course would take its toll on the runners’ legs and lungs today.
The seeded race featured approximately 100 athletes from some of the best teams in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Coming off several wins this season and several other top-3 finishes at large early season invitationals, including the Mercesburg Invitational, Finucane was pumped for a unique chance to shine in a seeded race. And for good reason; Finucane would be lining up against Ben Dejarnette and John Ross of Atlee and Potomac School, respectively. These two runners were ranked #4 and #6 in the state of Virginia coming into the day. This was the second time Finucane has faced Ross, also a senior, this season; he finished just two places behind him at the Mercersburg Invitational in September.
Finucane was off to a good start, in the top fifteen after about 400m of the 5km race. By the 3:00 mark, James was into the top seven, quickly gobbling up the gaps separating him from the three leaders. By 4:00, he was up to fourth place, showing everyone that he was going to make a play for the win by putting himself in it from the get-go. Finucane was hanging on to this aggressive lead pack as they flew through the first mile in 4:43, astounding considering the first mile was net uphill and into a strong wind. Did blue skies and high winds mean a great day for the Blue Storm runner? The answer, much to Finucane’s chagrin, was no. The struggle to stay with the three mighty runners at the front was too much for Finucane on this day. Having pushed beyond his limits so early in the race, the final two miles were indeed a monumental struggle as the leaders stormed away and the second pack slowly gained.
Finucane finished the race defeated for the day, but by no means for the season, as the Blue Storm enters the championship post season in the next seventeen days. Coming off a hard week of training, perhaps their most trying week of the year according to head coach Betsy Willis, the Mercersburg boys and girls are just getting geared up to host the Pennsylvania Independent School State Championships on October 27, followed by a trip to Peddie for the MAPL championships.
Without Finucane to lead the pack, Ellis Mays ’10 took this chance for number one and ran his fastest time ever, finishing in just 17:48. He placed 22nd in a field of 164 talented runners. Upper-middler Mark “marathon man” Herring and Trent Woodham ’08 ran well as usual. South Korea-native Jung Whun “Lawrence” Sohn ‘08 and Adam “Gandhi” Wechter ‘09 earned personal record times (PR) as well, knocking 24 and 23 seconds off their previous bests respectively. Zach Bailey ’10 solidified the boy’s 18th place finish. Bailey noted, “it was impressive that after a week of training including a “marathon” run and 1200 repeats on the course that we still had several PRs."
The varsity girls’ team had an equally impressive day, with three out of the five girls ‘PRing.’ After a rough half mile of crowding and elbowing for space on the narrow course, the 134 girls spread out, allowing standout freshman Mackenzie Riford to take to the front. She led the girls’ team, finishing in 13th place with a time of 20:53. Veteran senior Annie Spencer ‘08 closely followed her, just 33 seconds behind. Third on the team, Sarah Duda ‘10, finished 61st and dropped 21 seconds off her 5K personal record to an impressive 22:33. Just ten places behind her was Remy Wheat ’08. Battling knee injuries, Wheat ran conservatively to prevent further injury before the upcoming State and MAPL meets, but still posted a respectable 23:06. Jenna Spagnolo ’08 posted her fastest time ever. Even with only five girls, the females showed any doubters what they are capable of with a 9th place finish.
The JV boys’ followed suit with an equally impressive race. With only four runners, our junior varsity boys did not qualify for a team score. The few boys present ran well though. Ed Carroll ’10 and Christian Brockway ‘11 both ‘PR’d’. In his third race and second 5k, Brockway removed an astounding seven minutes from his best time. Twins David and Danny Roza ’11 of Hagerstown ran hard, both with impressive kicks in the last stretch.
Reflecting on the day’s outcome, head Coach Betsy Willis commented, "It was another great racing day for our Mercersburg athletes. I am very pleased that the team is beginning to reap the reward of their hard work and training and I anticipate continued PRs throughout the last two races." In all, eight of the fifteen runners ran their season personal bests in the 5k, four of which were lifetime PRs. Mark Herring summed up the day well: “It was an honor to race and compete against some of the best competition we will face this season, with teams and runners on the national level.”
-- by Remy Wheat '08 and Emory Mort '01
-- photos from an earlier event
