Girls Cross Country
Sacred Heart endures weather, wins first All-Catholic title
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sacred Heart coach Rod Sarkovics had a feeling his girls cross country team was going to win All-Catholics this year.

"Before the race, our girls said 'this is our year'," said Sarkovics who is also the school's Athletics Director. "They were ready. I heard them saying they were not going to lose this race. The fact they were so positive was such a big thing."

The Sharks used that positive energy to win their first All-Catholic cross country title in school history Sunday at St. Francis High School. Sacred Heart finished with 40 points, four points better than Nardin's 44.

Sarkovics said his team won because six of the top 15 finishers came from his team. Jackie Piecuch (second, 22:57), Kim Patterson (fifth) and Brittney Gibbons (seventh) were First Team All-Catholic selections. Jenna Piecuch (12th), Amanda Zanghi (14th) and Kerry Hurley (15th) were Second Team All-Catholic. Sacred Heart's Stephanie Smith finished 21st. Nardin's Jill Shea won the race in 22:47.

All runners ran in a biting 40-mph wind.

"The wind was horrendous," said Sarkovics. "They were lucky they didn't get their shoes sucked off in the mud. It was freezing. The kids were frozen. It was a matter of who was going to hold up the best in the weather."

The win automatically qualifies Sacred Heart for the New York State Federation meet Nov. 18 at Bowdoin State Park in Wappinger Falls.

The Sharks placed second in the JV race. Anna Ministero won the race. Carly Hall was seventh.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com