A team that could not afford the loss of any of its runners was rocked about a month ago when Catherine “Cat” McQuade of the River Dell High School girls cross-country squad was injured.
Running the Garret Mountain course is tricky enough with its combination of rocks, hills, huge tree roots and sand, but on that afternoon, rain made the course slick, and McQuade suffered a torn ankle ligament. She is out for the season, but looks to return to full activity in time for winter track, in which she won a league championship in the hurdles last year.
The road to and from cross-country and track has become more heavily traveled at River Dell lately, although not enough to fully bulk up a fall team and make it competitive enough to frighten opponents.
Still, seniors Taylor Norton and Julia Boccanfuso and junior Taylor Kennedy all are long-distance runners in winter track. Norton and Taylor generally vie for the number-one spot in cross-country.
McQuade’s chief reason for dabbling in cross-country?
“It prepares you for track,”she said. “I’ve been doing it since sophomore year. Most girls join in their sophomore year after [freshman] track. That’s what influences them.”
First-year coach Steffan Del Piano, who was not available for this story, tried to build his roster before the season started and came up with a coup when he encouraged Boccanfuso to join him.
“I just wanted to get faster,” Boccanfuso explained why she switched from her normal fall sport, field hockey, this year. “I also play lacrosse in the spring. [Del Piano’s] my coach in winter track, so I knew him.”
The River Dell team rarely wins in cross-country, but that is not to say it isn’t a rewarding experience.
“I recommend it, definitely,” Boccanfuso said. “The team is very close, and the boys team is with us, and we’re all like family. There aren’t many girls on the team, but we’re all friends. It’s kind of nice.”
McQuade echoed that thought. “We don’t get many girls,” she said, “but the ones we get are close, like family.”
Norton, who is coming off an injury of her own, is another who didn’t consider cross-country when she first entered high school, but followed a familiar path.
“I really enjoyed my first season of spring track my freshman year,’ she said. “I was on the distance team, so I decided that running cross-country would help me. It was my own decision.”
The team had been successful in recent years, but as Norton pointed out, graduation took a large number of veteran runners, leaving the team pretty much depleted of its depth.
By: Ron Fox