Lawrenceville sweeps Hill in dual meet
Pottstown — Monica Redfern, the Hill School girls cross country team’s consistent leader all season, ran her heart out knowing what was at stake.
A week ago the Hill girls held off arch rival Lawrenceville, finishing second by one point at the Mid-Atlantic Prep League Championships. Redfern and the rest of the Blues team wanted to do it one more time on their own course and in both squads final dual meet.
But a repeat wasn’t to be as Lawrenceville beat Hill, 26-31, at the Brookside Country Club course Saturday.
With three Big Red runners ahead of her most of the way, Redfern fought her way up and crossed third with a time of 22:26 while Blues’ Marissa Letizio finished at a surprise fourth at 22:31.
Lawrenceville also won in the boys race, 25-34. Nick Pearson and Xavier Friel led the Hill boys, with Pearson crossing second (17:51) and Friel third (18:01).
Lawrenceville sophomore Marcus Trenfield crossed first to help pace his team to the win.
“This race was really important to me,’ Trenfield said. “It was a very hard course and the fact that I was able to make it through and win was kind of surprising and a fun thing. Last week I was only eight seconds ahead of the first Hill guy (Pearson); this week 26 seconds.
For Redfern, a Chicago native, it was a sentimental farewell to the course where she had led the Hill for the past three years.
“It’s my last race here, so I had to push through at least one more time before moving on,’ Redfern said. “I’m very sad it’s my last race, I wish I could have another cross country season here.
“And this was definitely Chicago weather,’ she said with a smile. “That’s what I like to run in.’
She was disappointed with not being able to overtake the two Lawrenceville runners, Jesse Brewer (21:23) and Anais Gonzalez (21:48), after crossing ahead of them last week at Peddie.
“At Peddie it was a much easier course, really flat,’ Redfern said. “Our course here is hills upon hills. I wasn’t expecting them to be as fast as they were on it. They put up a good fight, but it was a good last race for me.’
Letizio only took up running this season in order to help her prepare for her first love — ice hockey. The sophomore kept improving with every meet, moving up from the third Hill girl across last week, to second Saturday.
“We were up against Lawrenceville, so I knew I had to push my hardest,’ Letizio said. “The last 200 meters was my favorite because I like to sprint it.’
And that’s where she made up ground. But it wasn’t just the Big Red runners pushing her on.
“Mostly for my coach (Hill girls coach Daniel McMains),’ she said. “My coach has put in a lot of effort this year, put so much dedication into the team. So I knew we had to do it for him. At the MAPL championships we pulled ahead of Lawrenceville by one point, so we thought we’d win this one too and beat them again. But our course is the hardest one that we race on.’
Pearson and Friel have been alternately leading the Hill boys all season. Pearson will be gone next year, but Friel, a sophomore will be back.
“Xavier and I, we’ve been alternating for first place the whole season,’ Pearson said. “It’s been fantastic with Xavier and Khayre Ali, the three of us are just pushing ourselves to the limit.
“It was my last race and it felt amazing,’ Pearson said. “But it absolutely was sentimental. This rivalry with Lawrenceville is unbelievable. I’ll miss it a lot.’
Friel, a Bucktown native who missed last week’s MAPL championship meet due to being ill, was really pumped for this last dual.
“I just wanted to beat L’ville,’ Friel said. “I was kind of bummed that I didn’t get to go last week because two weeks before I ran a 16:14 on a flat course, and last week was a flat course so I was going to try and do better. But this is the toughest course in the MAPL.’
Not one to produce 16 minute times with all those hills.
“We get to train on it about every other week,’ Friel said.
Ali (sixth, 18:26) was the third runner across for the Hill boys. For Ali, a junior from Somalia, it was a mediocre way to end an otherwise exciting season.
“My older sister went to a boarding school, so my parents know the boarding schools in the Northeast,’ Ali said. “I like Pottstown a lot, it’s a nice place.
“And I like running. But I had a difficult time this season because of my Achilles heel at the beginning of the season, and I’ve been struggling since the second race. So it’s been a hard time for me. Today, it was all right, but I feel I could have done way better.’
The teams may not have been able to pull out the wins, but both Hill coaches were extremely pleased with the way the Blues ran and their overall season.
“Last week we beat them, this week we came up a little bit short, but the girls ran well,’ said Hill girls coach McMains. “Monica and Marissa ran a big finish right there at the end. Marissa is new to the sport this year and is going to be great for us the next two years. But this was a great way for Monica to finish out here career. She has done a phenomenal job.
“I’m incredibly proud of how this whole group ran today and this season. It’s been a phenomenal season for us. I couldn’t be prouder of them.’
And Hill boys coach Chris DeLucia echoed that praise for his boys
“I am very pleased with the season that these boys put in,’ DeLucia said. “They finished on a strong note. Lawrenceville is a very strong team. I was predicting a wider margin of loss and our team made it very close. We had a lot of great runs today. Most of the students ran personal bests on this very tough course.
“Pearson, one of our captains, is very tough, worked very hard, has a tremendous attitude and was great today. Xavier has been first or second all year, battling it out with Nick. He is only a sophomore and one of the hardest runners we have had. I look forward to seeing his future progress. And I am already looking forward to next year.’
