RFH Varsity and JV Teams Score Big at Shore Coaches Invitational

The girls in the cross country program from (RFH) made a name for themselves as they took 1st place in both the Varsity and Junior Varsity divisions at the .

On Saturday, October 1, 2011, the top cross country teams and runners from around the state were in Holmdel Park to compete in the big meet and the Rumson-Fair Haven girls scored big. 

In the Girls Varsity D race, with a field of 101 runners, RFH took the team title crushing the other teams in the race including top 20 teams Summit, Delsea and High Point.

Scoring points for RFH were junior standout, Rachel Christ (19:30), senior, Shannon McCarthy ( 20:13), freshman phenom, Hannah Anderson (20:14), junior, Isabella Maita (20:32) and sophomore, Courtney Howley (21:27).  Senior, Abby Cooner and junior, Michaella Irvine completed the team.

In the Girls Junior Varsity B race, with a field of 185 finishers, RFH also took the team title outscoring Voorhees, currently ranked  #1 in the northeast region. 

Sophomore, Jacqueline Gottuso (21:38) led the way in the 3.1 mile race with freshman, Fini Satzke (21:41) close behind. Also scoring for the team were sophomores Megan Hellman (22:17), Kelsey O’Hare (22:37) and Courtney Dunphy (23:09).  Shannon Kirchner, Amanda Anderson, Sojie Gray, Alex Villane, Karly McDermott and Kristy Young also competed for the team.

"Last Saturday's championships tell the girls a couple of things. One, we can go head-to-head with the best teams in the state and give them all they can handle," said Coach Tim McLoone. "Second, our win by the JV group shows how deep we are. They beat Voorhees, the number one team in the state and also the top seed in the northeast region, who traditionally has JV teams better than most schools' varsities."

McLoone said that their success has been a result of long, hard work.

"Our girls really have done a great job this season, but in the world of distance running, the seeds of success are planted early. We have really been building towards this for several years," said McLoone. "Last Spring in particular, the girls track team developed a large number of quality middle distance runners and they are part of this Fall's team. We also had a high quality summer season of training."

Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip to Van Cortlandt Park in New York City on October 9, 2011 where the teams will compete in the 39th Annual Manhattan College XC Invitational.