Sharks finish where expected at All-Catholics
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

The Sacred Heart cross country team wanted to place second in team scoring and have a runner finish in the top five at Saturday's All-Catholics. Both happened.

The Sharks took second in the 3.1 mile run held at Cazenovia Park with 79 points and senior Brittany Gibbons took third with a time of 20:15.2.

"That was exactly how we planned it and that's the way it worked out," said Sacred Heart coach Rod Sarkovics. "We knew we couldn't go over Nardin. They're too strong."

Nardin won the race with a team score of 22.

Gibbons and Kim Patterson, who finished seventh in 21:07.3, took two of the three individual spots to qualify for the Federation meet to be held Nov. 17 at Bowdoin State Park in Wappinger Falls (Section I). It's the first time Gibbons and Patterson have qualified as individuals. Both competed at the Federation meet with the entire Sacred Heart team last year.

While Gibbons and Patterson posted great times, the Sharks' 3-6 runners ultimately secured second place for the team. Seniors Jule McNamara, Carly Hall and Mary Russell took 21st (22:54), 22nd (22:57) and 26th (23:30), respectively. Natalie Wasilewski finished 34th in 24:05.

"It was important that Carly and Jule ran tight," said Sarkovics. "They were neck and neck with each other. We knew that we needed them to run like that for second place."

"I couldn't have been happier with how the team ran," he added. "They got what they deserved."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com