By Alex Frazier
Sara Sargent was nervous.
But then she always gets nervous before her races.
So why should the biggest race of her career, the District One Cross Country Championship, be any different?
One reason.
Meghan McGovern.
Last week running on the Lehigh course for the first time, the North Penn sophomore ran a 17:39, easily outstripping the rest of the Continental Conference girls
Sargent also wasted the field in the National Conference, but her time was 18 seconds slower.
Hmm.
A week later the showdown came when the two stars competed head to head.
“I try to use my nervousness to my advantage rather than (letting it) psych me out completely,” said Sargent. “What I really wanted to do was get the overall win and beat my best time. Whether I beat her by a second, 50 meters, 100 meters, no one can ever take away a win.”
This week Sargent took the lead from the start and never looked back as she won in a time of 17:39. McGovern finished second.
“She gave me a run for my money for the first mile and then from there I said, ‘I’ve got to go,’ so I took off and worked the last two miles as hard as I could,” said Sargent, whose father ironically is a 1980 North Penn graduate.
Sargent beat McGovern by 12 seconds.
“I PR’d on this course and overall,” said Sargent, “and heck, I won districts as a freshman. I’m so excited.”
Both girls, as well as C.B. East’s Katie Kinkead finished 20 seconds ahead of Boyertown’s defending champion Elizabeth Simpson (18:44), who crossed in fifth place.
The times are a bit deceiving partly because of a few muddy spots from all the rain this week and also because the course was slightly longer. In moving the start line ahead to accommodate the many runners, the officials neglected to lengthen it by the same amount out on the course. That was done this week though few runners actually knew about it. Some noted a change in the course but didn’t realize it made it longer.
Five teams and 25 individuals in addition to those on the teams qualified for states.
Three of the top five teams that qualified were from the Suburban One League.
North Penn took the team title for the second year in a row (114 points) and will be heading to states for the 15th time in 18 years, according to coach Jim Crawford.
Pennsbury (245) finished second and will be taking a team to states for the first time in school history.
Central Bucks South, led by Emily Chappell (21st), finished fourth with 273 points.
This week Sargent adjusted her race strategy.
“I went out a little slower than what I usually do the first mile,” she explained. “I tried to maintain that pace as hard as I could the last mile. I felt a lot stronger.”
“We held her back just a little bit,” said coach Pennsbury coach Don Little. “She went out a little too fast last week at 5:19 so we had her run more even splits.”
Sargent’s first mile this week was about 5:30, but she still led McGovern by 20-30 yards.
Even though McGovern came in second, North Penn coach Jim Crawford was pleased with her performance.
“She did real well,” he said. “She beat the defending champion. You never know what’s going to happen, especially in a meet of this size with this many runners running. Both of them got out there pretty good at the start.”
The Maidens’ top five included McGovern, Christy Cohick, Rachel Brown, Carolyn Fergus and Geena Tedesco.
Neshaminy’s Martina Drew will be making her second trip to states after finishing 10th in a time of 19:15
“It was all right,” she said. “I didn’t feel that good, but it was a neat experience.”
A junior, Drew didn’t begin running cross country until last year, but she almost likes it better now than track.
“I like the courses,” she said. “It’s better than looking at a track and gong around in a circle.”
She credits teammate Christina Esposito with pushing her to be good. Esposito graduated last year, so Drew has had to push herself this year.
“I had a great season,” she said. “I was kind of bummed with (Esposito’s) graduation. This year I had to step up.”
Drew actually started her running career in track as a sprinter. She has since moved up to middle distance in the 400 and 800.
She plans to run next year in college. She’s looking at Bloomsburg, La Salle and St. Joe’s.
Next week Chapter Two in the Sargent-McGovern saga will unfold. But the two of them will also be tested by runners from Emmaus and other districts.
Sargent will approach her first state meet simply.
“I’m going to let it all out on the course,” she said. “I’m so excited.”
•••
In Class AA, Springfield’s Sophie Finn finished 13th (21:05), beating her teammate Mara Kelly, who had finished ahead of her in the league meet.
“It was pretty tough, but I went out there wanting to do well for my team,” she said. “We’ve trained so hard over the past couple of months.”
As a team the Spartans finished fourth. Only one qualified for states.
Finn’s time was 20:57 last week, good for 11th place, while Kelly finished sixth in 20:34.
This week Kelly was 16th in a time of 21:11.
For Finn, a junior, it is her first year running cross country after playing tennis last year.
“It’s a lot different,” she said.
Top Five teams
1. North Penn 195
2. Pennsbury 245
3. West Chester Henderson 260
4. Central Bucks South 273
5. Strath Haven 274
Individual SOL state qualifiers
Katie Kinkead (CB East, 3rd), Jenny Guidera (CB East, 20th), Anne Arieas (WT, 7th), Martina Drew (N, 19th), Tori Gerlach (PR, 27th), Megan Rheimer (Q, 17th)
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