Heard Around the Track

November 8, 2001
 

By Ira Josephs
INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF

O'Hara girls hope to stomp the competition

The cross-country team finished second in the league last year and third in 1999. Prendergast is the 3-time defending champ.

 

The Cardinal O'Hara girls' cross-country team was preparing for practice, not performing a comedy bit. But head coach Jennifer Quigley-Cipollone couldn't help but laugh when she arrived at the school from her day job.

"[Assistant coach Mike McMillen] wanted to do group stretching, and I showed up one day and they were doing it by themselves," said Quigley-Cipollone, who ran for O'Hara and La Salle University. "It cracks me up that they were standing around in a circle stretching. There's a lot of camaraderie on the team.

"I coach the way I'd been coached. Charles Torpey at La Salle is more hands-off in letting you do your own thing. I let the kids warm up and stretch unattended. Mike wants a little more control over things. We have compromised."

Make no mistake, group stretching or no group stretching, the Lions have always been prepared under Quigley-Cippolone. She guided O'Hara to the Catholic League indoor and outdoor track and field titles earlier this year, and the cross-country team finished second last year and third in 1999.

O'Hara enters the Catholic League championship meet Sunday at Belmont Plateau as the favorite, although the Lions are wary of three-time defending champion Archbishop Prendergast and Northern Division winner St. Hubert.

The competition is certainly aware of O'Hara, which won the Delaware County title and placed second at Eastern States and the Steel City Invitational last month. Junior Danielle Schopf usually runs first for O'Hara, but it was sophomore Katie Irwin who won the Eastern States title in New York City's Van Cortlandt Park.

Standing 5-foot-1 and weighing 82 pounds, Irwin is on a special 4,000-calorie-per-day diet designed to trigger growth. She's up from 4-11 and 70 pounds last year.

Nobody has questioned the size of her heart. Although Schopf and junior Megan Hallinan are the team's captains, Irwin and freshman Julia O'Brien lead the stretching advocated by McMillen.

"We're louder than anybody else," Irwin said.

Hallinan and Mary Debevec run in the third and fourth positions, giving O'Hara the potential to have four runners in the 20-minute range on Belmont's steep 3.1-mile course. Junior Erin Kelly and freshmen Meghan McNulty and Bridgette Boudwin could also score for the Lions.

In Monday's Southern Division championships at Belmont, O'Hara scored 24 points behind Schopf (first, 20 minutes), Irwin (third, 20 minutes, 37 seconds), Hallinan (fourth, 20:42), Debevec (sixth, 20:49), and McNulty (10th, 21:21).

It's been an especially busy fall for Debevec, Kelly and Krista Stearns. Debevec played on O'Hara's soccer team, and Kelly and Stearns were members of the field hockey team. Both squads were second in the Catholic League.

St. Hubert and Prendergast would like nothing more than to see the Lions' cross-country team place second as well. Prendergast hasn't been completely healthy this season, but senior Shannon Klick returned from a femur injury to place eighth at the Southern Division championships. Nicole O'Dea led the Pandas in second at 20:07. Sheila Finnegan was eighth in 21:05. Justine Tidmarsh may be ready for Sunday after injuring her ankle on Oct. 29, and Colleen Farrell gives the Pandas more depth.

Without Tidmarsh, Prendergast scored 46 points to place second in the Southern Division.

"We're excited," Prendergast coach Anthony Carr said. "Sunday is a great day for our league. We're looking forward to it. Having Shannon back gives a clear boost to the team."

St. Hubert scored 30 points to win the Northern Division championship over Archbishop Wood, which finished second with 46 points. Amy Kelly won the title in 19:04. Her sister Jackie, the defending Catholic League champion, has fought injuries this season but may be back for Sunday's meet.

"They have a good core of people, and Prendie is the same way," Quigley-Cippolone said. "It's really going to depend on who has a good meet.

"We know it's not a lock. We're assuming every team is fully staffed and that we'll have to run our best to win."

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Ira Josephs' e-mail address is ijosephs@phillynews.com.

Ira Josephs' e-mail address is ijosephs@phillynews.com.