By Alex Frazier
Meet…Tori Gerlach
If Pennridge’s Tori Gerlach weighs 90 pounds soaking wet, half of that weight comes from her heart.
The Ram freshman has burst on the scene and turned some heads.
“She has a very, very big heart,” said Pennridge coach Bill Smith. “She doesn’t train nearly as well as she performs in the meets. When the gun goes off, her competitive juices get rolling. She’s very competitive.”
Gerlach’s decision to run cross country was last minute. She started running track for the CYO in fifth grade. When she arrived at North Middle School, she continued with track. Last summer before her ninth grade year she considered cross country.
That was natural.
Her mother Dana Menago was a member of the 1984 Council Rock state championship team. She had placed 15th.
Council Rock North coach Cliff Robins remembers her well.
“She was one of the best in the state,” he said. “She’s a person who in some cases, especially when it counted, ran above her ability. From what I’ve seen of her daughter, she’s even better. She runs with a heckuva a lot of guts.”
Her mother also had a male cousin who was a 1992 state champion from Upper Merion.
The genes were right.
“I suggested she run cross country, and at the last minute she decided to run,” said Menago. “She didn’t run all summer and just showed up for practice at the end of August.”
Meanwhile, she had run nothing longer than a mile.
“I wanted to try it and see how I did,” said Gerlach. “I just wanted to see if I could go more than a mile.”
Needless to say, Gerlach was in for a shock the first couple of days of practice.
“It was really hard,” she said. “We did hills the first day, and the second day I had to run six miles.”
It was almost enough to deter her, but she stuck with it.
“I liked the girls on the team, too,” she said, “and I wanted to keep going and see what I could do.”
What she did was displace two, two-time state qualifiers in Nicole Mehlman and Marie McKenna to become the No. 1 runner for the Lady Rams.
“I was picturing the whole year I would be like fifth on the team, she said. “When I started doing it (beating them), it gave me more determination to do better.”
“She did very little over the summer,” said Smith, “but within a couple of days of practice I could tell she was going to do well.”
“I was surprised at how well she started to do,” said Menago.
Gerlach’s mother is one of her biggest supporters as you can imagine. She walks the tightrope between being a coach and a parent.
“I try not to (coach her), but I can’t help myself at times,” said Menago. “She’s by far a better runner than I was at her age. I try not to interfere. Different people are different. How I prepared for a race isn’t necessarily how she would do it. She gets angry sometimes.”
“I know she’s going to be proud of me no matter what I do, but sometimes it gets frustrating when she’s yelling,” said Gerlach.
Menago’s biggest advice to her daughter is, “Leave it all out there.”
And she does.
“She shows a lot more heart and determination than I’ve seen even in my own teammates when I ran,” said Menago. “She’s just determined to do well.”
When cross country is over, Gerlach will continue with winter track and spring track, running the mile and the two-mile.
After not having run at all last summer, you can bet this coming one will be different.
And Gerlach will have a built-in running partner.
“I was thinking we could run together,” said Menago.
League championships – The post-season starts Friday at Lehigh University with the Suburban One League team championships.
The following is a preview of the title races:
National Conference – Council Rock North appears to have the championship locked up, unless something drastic happens. The Indians are new to the National Conference this year after winning the Continental last year.
Coach Cliff Robbins figures his team would have to come in third in the league meet in order not to win the title.
The Indians’ No. 1 runner Lindsay Rheiner hasn’t lost a league meet this season, so she would be the odds-on favorite to win the race.
Rheiner could get some tough competition from her teammate Julie Fricke, who was Runner of the Year last season.
“Potentially she’s certainly in the same category as Lindsay,” said Robbins.
Pennsbury freshman phenom Ann Herman can’t be overlooked. She may have a shot of sneaking into the top two.
The all-league selections are made based on that race, so that will also provide runners an incentive to do well.
“It’s kind of a dress rehearsal,” he said. “The kids are looking to go out and run really decent times, place well.”
For Robbins, the league meet will give him an opportunity to scope North Penn on the same course. Rock and the Maidens will square off the following week at districts and could well be the top two teams.
“In my estimate North Penn is probably the best team in the district,” he said. “(By comparing times), you’ll know exactly where you stand going into next week.”
Continental Conference – The Continental is also a one-team race with North Penn leading the way.
The Maidens could take the top three or four spots. Christy Cohick is the favorite to win the race, as she is undefeated in league dual meets. Teammates Heather Selheimer, Rachel Brown and Lauren Bond also figure to place high.
“Things could happen,” said Maidens’ coach Jim Crawford. “I hope this week isn’t one of them.”
As Pennridge coach, Bill Smith said, “On any given day, if you’re not on, you lose.”
North Penn is the defending National Conference champion. Though they have switched conferences, the Maidens are eager to keep the title.
“That’s the only thing we’re concerned about right now,” said Crawford. “We’ve had success throughout the season. And we’ve gotten better throughout the season. I hope that trend continues.”
They’ll be plenty of other runners ready to step up if Cohick or one of the North Penn girls has an off day.
Pennridge has three with freshman Tori Gerlach, Marie McKenna, who has a history of running well on the Lehigh course, and Nicole Mehlman all in the mix.
Hatboro-Horsham’s Kaylee Irwin has been plagued with a sinus infection, but she could be a giant toppler.
Souderton’s Becky Kratz is the highest returning SOL runner from states last year and went undefeated in the league last year. She could also be dangerous.
C.B. South has an extremely balanced team with their first five runners coming in about 35 seconds apart. Emily Chappell usually leads that pack.
Finally, C.B. East’s Jenny Guidera should be in the top group of runners.
American Conference – Plymouth Whitemarsh has already racked up a few firsts this year, including beating defending conference champion Upper Dublin. This is the only conference where the title is up for grabs.
“We match up pretty well,” said Upper Dublin coach Megan Gallagher.
The Colonials’ Katie Gorman is the defending champion and appears to be the favorite to repeat. But Upper Dublin freshman Sarah Holl could surprise. The two did not meet this season, except briefly at the Carlisle Invitational, which Holl had to drop out of with a tweaked knee.
“Our first girl and their first girl are close,” said Gallagher. “It’s going to be interesting.”
PW also has Shannon McCullough, who finished ahead of Upper Dublin’s second girl Dan Lockard in the dual meet. The only girl to beat her in the league was Gorman.
“We’ve never won a league championship,” said PW coach Ryan Buterbaugh. “Everyone’s excited with the prospects.”
“It should be an interesting race,” said Gallagher. “Dual meets don’t tell you too much. They’re after school and not everyone’s racing in their top condition.”
Another runner to watch is Upper Merion’s Jessica Merone. Springfield’s top runner, who could have been a force, will sit out leagues with an injury and may not make districts either.
Around the league – The North Penn girls continued their roll, winning the 2.5-mile Manhattan Invitational Varsity D Race with 62 points last Saturday. Christy Cohick finished third for the Maidens in a time of 15:19. Heather Selheimer was fifth (15:24), Rachel Brown was 13th (15:48) and Lauren Bond came in 19th (20:36).
•Twelve SOL teams competed in the William Tennent Invitational on Oct. 11. The Panthers won the meet on their home course with Jackie Conklin finishing second in 19:42. Pennsbury’s Ann Herman was the overall individual winner in a time of 19:03. The Falcons finished second as a team with 118 points to Tennent’s 73. Hatboro-Horsham was third (131) with Casey Uhrich leading the Hatters in third place (19:50). Wissahickon finished seventh with 193 points. The Trojans’ Michelle Rudolph was 12th in 20:16. Neshaminy’s Martina Drew led the Redskins to an eighth place finish by crossing the line in eighth place (20:09). Quakertown was three points behind Neshaminy. The Panthers’ top runner was Megan Rhymer, who finished 11th in 20:15. Meredith Fox led C.B. South to a 10th place with her 19th place (20:36). Upper Merion was 13th (340) behind Jessica Merone’s 22nd place finish (20:42), Bensalem’ s Kristen Branca finished 82nd in 24:09 to pace the Owls to a 14th place (429), and Springfield and Harry S Truman did not score.
• Christy Cohick led the North Penn girls to a pair of wins over Pennridge (16-39) and Central Bucks East (17-40) with a time of 18:45 in a double dual on Oct. 8. The Maidens, in fact, took the top four places with Heather Selheimer second (19:07), Rachel Brown third (19:19) and Lauren Bond fourth (19:24).
The Rams’ Tori Gerlach finished fifth in 19:25 and C.B. East’s Jenny Guidera was sixth in 19:40.
• The North Penn girls dominated yet another invitational, taking the Salesianum Invitational by storm on Oct. 4. The Maidens finished with 21 points to Hatboro-Horsham’s 53.
The Maidens placed five runners in the top 10. Christy Cohick led Heather Selheimer to the line, winning in 19:54, with Selheimer crossing in 20:10. Rachel Brown finished fourth (20:23), just ahead of Lauren Bond who was fifth in 20:34. Carolyn Fergus rounded out the contingent in ninth place (21:02).
Kaylee Irwin finished first for the Hatters, seventh overall in 20:55. She was followed immediately by Casey Uhrich, three seconds behind in eighth place.
At the Steel City Invitational, Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Katie Gorman led all SOL runners, finishing second in 19:54.
Central Bucks South placed three runners in the top 15. Emily Chappell came in ninth (20:31), Lisa Glover was 13th (20:55) and Kirsten Myers was 14th (21:01.
Neshaminy’s Martina Drew finished 15th (21:03), and Laura Histand was 20th (21:13).
• On Oct. 3, several teams ran at Lehigh’s Paul Short Run. Paced by Anne Areias’ 27th-place finish William Tennent finished 17th overall in the Brown Division. Upper Dublin’s Sarah Holl led the Cardinals, who finished 26th, with an 89th place finish in 20:30.
Bensalem competed in the White Division, finishing 26th. Rachel Morley was 106th in a time of 22:47.
Top Five SuburbanOneSports.com’s SOL teams
1. North Penn
2. Council Rock North
3. Central Bucks West
4. Central Bucks South
5. Plymouth Whitemarsh
Top Five SOL individuals
1. Lindsay Rheiner, Council Rock North
2. Christy Cohick, North Penn
3. Katie Gorman, Plymouth Whitemarsh
4. Heather Selheimer, North Penn
5. Ann Herman, Pennsbury
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