Union Catholic and SP-F Finish Strong in Cross Country Championship

Thursday’s Union County Cross Country Championship ended well for members of both the Union Catholic and Scotch Plains-Fanwood High teams.

Union Catholic's DJ Thornton made it look easy winning his second individual title in back-to-back years, and Scotch Plain's Kathleen Leeper finished third in her first season in cross country.

"I didn't think I would run this race," said Thornton, who suffered an SI joint hip injury. He added that his coach, Mike McCabe, said that it was up to him on how he felt.

"I feel pretty good,” he said after the tournament.

For Leeper, her finish was even more amazing, after a poor start due to the muddy conditions left over from the rainstorm on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"It sucked," Leeper said about the course conditions. "I slipped at the start of the race. The first two miles I was okay, but then I started to hurt."

But her coach, Jeffrey Koegler, kept encouraging her to keep moving.

"You look great, stay in there," Koegler said to Leeper late in the race.

Team-wise, the Vikings came in second, but far away from Westfield, which dominated the boys division. Westfield had 33 points to Union Catholic's 91. Scotch Plains-Fanwood came in third with 116 on the boys’ side.

On the girls side, Union Catholic finished seventh with 152 points, while Scotch Plains-Fanwood was hit by the flu bug and only two runners, Leeper and Lauren Williams, were able to run. For Union Catholic, the top runner was Jenna Socci at ninth place, 20:54.

For Thornton, it was an even more amazing win this season because it was only his second race back after suffering from that hip injury earlier this year.

His time of 16:34 was 17 seconds slower than last season with his injury and the muddy conditions of the track coming into play.

He said that he was planning on taking the lead late in the race, but the pace was slow early on.

"I took the lead after the first mile, which I thought I wouldn't, but the pace was slow," Thornton said, adding that he knew he was all by himself late in the race. "When I went up the hill, I didn't see anybody behind me."

Leeper had competed in track and field before, but not in cross country. Her time was 19:57 and it was only her second time on the track.

"We use to joke when the girls were at the field that we should kidnap Kathleen and bring her to cross country," said Koegel, who is co-coach with Rob Rafferty for both teams.

Koegler pointed out that one of the high points for the Raiders boys was Alex Parker's fifth place finish at 16:53. The Scotch Plains cross country coach was impressed with Parker's run, which was a personal best.

After Thornton for Union Catholic, Mike Cahill gave some extra boost to the Vikings drive for second with a 10th place finish at 17:09.


SP-F, Union Catholic Results

Girls

3. Kathleen Leeper, Scotch Plains, 19:57
9. Jenna Socci, Union Catholic, 20:54
19. Kendra Simcox, Union Catholic, 21:09
21. Grace Kelly, Union Catholic, 21:17
53. Sarah Fox, Union Catholic, 23:11
56. Lauren Williams, Scotch Plains, 23:42
73. Christie Bianco, Union Catholic, 25:47


Boys

1. DJ Thornton, Union Catholic, 16:34
5. Alex Parker, Scotch Plains, 16:53
10. Mike Cahill, Union Catholic, 17:09
12. Brandon Wheeler, Scotch Plains, 17;14
15. Kevin Mulligan, Union Catholic, 17;18
23. Vidhan Malik, Scotch Plains, 17:43
31. Michael Fuchs, Union Catholic, 17:59
34. Joe Seebode, Union Catholic, 18:05
36. Bobby Evans, Scotch Plains, 18:07
38. Sean Siburn, Union Catholic, 18:10
40. Brian Walsh, Scotch Plains, 18:12
41. Matt O'Donnell, Union Catholic, 18:14
44. Greg Favreau, Scotch Plains, 18:18
69. Jon Kerby, Scotch Plains, 19:17