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| Big Week for Girls' XC
September 16th & September 20th |
| GFS Girls cross country had 2 races on their home course at Belmont Plateau last week, a tri-meet with Baldwin and Friends' Central on Sep 16, and the Briarwood Invitational on Sep 20.
On a beautiful fall day (with no precipitation!), the Lady Tigers prevailed over FCS with a perfect score of 15-50 to make a fine start to league play, and eased past an improved Baldwin team 19-42. Junior Jasia Kaulbach took top honors with a 21:14, and after trailing Baldwin's Simone for the entire race Maddy Hawes used a strong finishing kick to finish second. After Simone, Brook Palus crossed the line and then Katherine Celata who bested rival Jillian Glen from FCS and also managed a PR of 22:17. Camilla Warren finished the scoring for the Tigers in 8th place. Taya Friedan, Kristen Kelly and Lexi Brown also had strong showings.
Briarwood gave the team an opportunity to compete against over 25 teams from NY, NJ, DE and PA, and the girls made the most of it. The first race, the Freshman 3K, saw Ally Daniels lead teammate Kristen Kelly for the first of 2 front circuits with Kris taking over on the last 1K to finish 21st in 12:40 with Ally close behind in 26th in 12:56. Next up was the JV 5K with a field of over 200 runners! Notably all GFS finishers were in the top half of the field. Leading the way was a transformed Jess Love who smashed her PR with a 23:18 good for a medal-winning 33rd place. After a blistering first mile Senior Taya Friedan struggled through the hills only to find her form again to finish 47th. Addy Hoffman and Lexi Brown continued fine mid-season form with PR's in 56th and 71st. Danaya Etheridge and Avery Stern also competed well for the JV team.
The Championship race at Briarwood featured 11 teams from 4 states, many of them ranked as some of the best in the region, so entering this field was a serious move up from their usual spot in the small schools division. The race leaders flashed past the 1-mile rock in sub 6 minute pace with Kaulbach and Hawes looking strong in the top 20. The last of the of the GFS girls came through in 6:30, guaranteeing a tough last 2 miles. Sophomores Ashleigh Frank and Brook Palus were once running in unison like they were as freshmen and hung tough in mid-pack through 2 miles. Kat Celata who struggled with a stomach virus all week nearly succumbed to her illness on parachute hill but somehow managed to stay focused and fast. Camilla Warren and Ava Samuel hung on near the back of the race. For someone new to the sport like Samuel just competing at this level was a huge act of bravery. Meanwhile during the 2nd mile, Kaulbach quietly moved her way into the top 10 and Hawes maintained her position. The final circuit of the Plateau saw Kaulbach move strongly to the finish to with a lifetime best time of 19:43. Hawes took an elbow at the finish from an overzealous Central High runner but was rewarded with a PR of 20:13 and 21st place. With Palus fading over the last 1/2 mile, Frank showed signs of her '07all-state form with her 2nd best time ever and 43rd place. Palus came through at 58th and Warren put on a tremendous surge over the last 3/4 mile to overtake her teammates and finish 59th with her best time since her soph season. Kat finished bravely, only a few seconds behind in 61st and Samuel was 68th. Padua's (DE) Meghan Smith smoked the course in 18:52, one of the best times in years for the individual win and Haddonfield placed 2 girls in the top 10 for the team win. GFS finished 9th, but had 2 medalists in Hawes and Kaulbach and proved convincingly that they were worthy of this level of competition. They will be sure to put this valuable experience to good use when the compete at the the Paul Short meet in Lehigh on October 3rd.
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