By SteveU

==============

The View from the U is a new column from DyeTrack.com senior editor Steve Underwood. SteveU began with DyeStat.com in 2000 and was a senior editor from 2005-2012.

==============

As the cheers from Van Cortlandt died down, and Saturday has turned into mid-week, we’re left to ponder the questions that the Manhattan Invitational brought forth.

SteveU

Whenever pithy interpretation is called for, I’m always reminded of a silly little line from a very silly movie during the 90s: “What does it all mean, Basil?”
Check it out here.

The questions:

1. Is Edward Cheserek still the best runner in the country and on his way to winning another national title?

2. Is Christian Brothers Academy the best boys’ squad ever to run Manhattan, or even possibly the best ever?

3. And, most intriguingly, does the outcome of Saturday’s girls’ Eastern States race mean Tatnall and/or other teams will be able to end the six-year national championship reign for the girls of Fayetteville-Manlius, taking them down at NXN or even on the road to Portland?

The answers, in short (and in my opinion), are these: Probably yes, maybe and probably not.

1. First, consider Cheserek. The St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.) senior’s performance was impressive for several reasons. One was the simple fact that, in his first race of the season, he ran close to his own 2011 meet record (11:58.7 compared to 11:55.4) and took down Fayetteville-Manlius (Manlius, N.Y.) senior Nick Ryan and the rest of a pretty good field – and with room to spare. “We felt that Edward would be a bit ‘rusty’ not having raced competitively yet and spending a lot of time on his studies,” said his coach, Dr. Marty Hannon.

Then there was the way Cheserek managed the effort. Again, Dr. Hannon: “We were happy with Edward’s race the execution of the plan. We knew that Nick Ryan is an excellent runner and that he likes to go out fast. So we told Edward to make sure he kept contact and not let Nick get too far ahead of him. Edward ran very smartly—staying right behind Nick all the way to the top of the hills, then he took off.”

Cheserek hasn’t always been the best strategist or the most patient racer. But he’s gotten better and now, perhaps, he’s better than ever. I think Cheserek has a good chance to keep winning all the way through nationals. By the time June rolled around last year, he was one rather tired athlete. It started the previous fall with all of the course record attempts and he tried to do quite a bit indoors, too. Right now, I think he’s pretty refreshed and there’s less than two months left in the season. He’ll start training harder now, but I’m guessing there will be fewer races and fewer record attempts, which should result in championship form in December.

Ed Cheserek winning Easterns. Photo by John Nepolitan.

That’s not to say there aren’t some question marks. Dr. Hannon says they won’t get Cheserek’s SAT test results back for a few weeks, and those need to come through positive. Ratcheting up the academics and passing the SAT was the whole reason for the delayed start to the season, you’ll remember. There’s the matter of college visits to sort out (some coaches have come to Newark). And finally, there’s a matter of choosing a national meet. Edward would like to do both,” Dr. Hannon said, “but for whatever reason, unlike other regions that seems to be not possible in the Northeast.”

The biggest reason is logistics. In some regions, state meets and NXN regionals are earlier, while none of the Foot Locker regions come before Nov. 24. But in the Northeast, with the late state meets, there’s pretty much no way for qualifying for both nationals to be any other weekend but the last one in November.

Of course, the relationship and history of the two prep XC national meets is a whole ’nother story. But as it stands now, the only way for Cheserek to do both nationals is for Foot Locker or Nike to grant him some kind of exception. It’s hard to see that happening, but all it takes is for a few people in power to decide it’s the right thing to do and – bam – there Edward is on the starting line in Portland AND San Diego.

Anyway, despite all of the other guys who are running very well – Ryan, Sean McGorty, Jason Thomson, Andrew Gardner, etc. – my money’s on Ches to get at least one more national title.

2. Next, what about CBA?

The men from Lincroft averaged 12:44.54 for their top five in winning by more than 100 points Saturday, and beat the average time (12:48.7) of that super Fayetteville-Manlius squad from 2004 in doing so. For the hardcore fans and pundits, however, that isn’t enough – and it’s easy to see why. Some of the issues regarding the subtle and not-so-subtle course differences have been discussed on the message boards, including this tracktalk.net thread here.

Jack Boyle led CBA’s charge in 5th. Photo by John Nepolitan.

Still, no one can take away from CBA this new standard and they have to feel good about achieving that goal. Throw that on top of a killer performance at Great American and it’s been a pretty good fall for a distance program that won NXN last fall, but then had a roller coaster ride of ups and downs on the national distance relay circuit (NBNI, Penn, NBNO). We knew these guys were going to be good this fall, thanks to a quintet of returnees who all ran faster than 9:20 for 3,200 last spring. In fact, this fine story from Elliott Denman on the National Scholastic Athletic Foundation (NSAF) site gives some good perspective on where this group fares.

As far as comparing CBA to all-time great XC squads? Pretty hard and certain fodder for some great debates. Not space or time to do so here, but there’s one very obvious thing the kids can do – and the only thing they really have control over – win another NXN title. No school has ever won two on the boys’ side, so they would stand alone there – and what more could you really ask for? The challengers, led by very, very good teams from North Central (Wash.) and Southlake Carroll(Texas) are formidable and if CBA can repeat, they’ll have really earned it.

And who knows, maybe if those five sub-9:20 kids run, say, 9:10 or faster next spring, we’ll have some hard numbers to talk about for all-time great distance crews.

3. Finally, the third question: What did the Eastern States girls’ race mean in terms Fay-Man’s chances of winning NXN title #7? Or the chances for Tatnall or other schools to wrest away the crown?

However you spin it, the tiny school from Delaware deserves a lot of props. “Tatnall ran well in that they performed far better (it would appear) than at Great American,” said F-M Coach Bill Aris, “so hats off to them on earning their victory.”

Reagan Anderson finishes first for Tatnall. Photo by John Nepolitan.

Tatnall Coach Pat Castagno was pretty well-grounded in his assessment. On the one hand, he acknowledged (unprompted) that F-M was running its first meet and without top girl Jillian Fanning, and that their eyes are on the meets beyond. But on the other hand, he also held the results in a measured light. “I was happy with the way our girls used Manhattan as a place to test themselves,” he said. “It was a race that saw our girls think as one and that means a lot to us…regardless of the finish place. We came closer together as a result of Manhattan.”

It has been a fascinating fall for Castagno, to see how his girls have reassembled after the graduation of superstarHaley Pierce (2nd at NXN last year). “This year’s team is a wonderful mix of personalities that happens to be very different from any previous team I have worked with,” he said. “Any time a program has a strong, stable front-runner, year after year, like we had in Haley, the rest of the team naturally becomes dependent on that stability. Learning to come together and define a new team identity without Haley and her leadership has been difficult, but with each passing week we are making great progress. Our captain, Reagan Anderson, is doing a fantastic job pulling this team together. We also have five other senior girls who are assisting with our team dynamic.”

And speaking of Anderson, how about that individual championship performance, Coach? “Reagan is a tough runner but is still learning how to race to her potential. Manhattan was a great confidence booster for her, but I am not surprised at how she raced. I feel she has a lot more in her tank that she is just now discovering.”

Now, back to F-M. First, the Fanning question has to be dealt with. What were the details on her pulling out and what are the prospects of her racing in the future?

Alana Pearl and Katie Brislin finish 8th and 9th for F-M. Photo by John Nepolitan.

Turns out the defending champ sustained a quadriceps strain about five weeks before the race and had been training with a mix of spinning, swimming, running, and specific strength training, along with taking physical therapy, since – according to Coach Aris. “Her leg was improved to the extent that the plan was for her to race at Manhattan, but when we went over the course on Friday, I noted that the upper loop appeared to be even more rough than normal, especially on the downhill twisting turns and the railroad ties … so I decided to not risk anything … the decision was made to hold her out in favor of being ready for championship season.”

Aris added that Fanning has competed in low-key dual meets and he looks for her to be ready in the near future. Still, the coach thought his girls would be ready to win. “(But) only a couple of my girls had races which were consistent with their current fitness; several of them simply had off days at the same time. I anticipated some rustiness the first time out, but hopefully not simultaneously, which is what occurred.”

Aris believes the setback will be an “excellent learning opportunity” and help the team to improve. “Obviously, our girls will have to perform much better than we did (even with Jillian healthy and competing in the future) in order to compete well at the state and national level as in past years.

“I have said for a while that is likely that our girls will make more headlines when we do lose a meet, which is of course was inevitable at some point, even though we certainly don’t want to make a habit of it,” Aris added. “Six straight years of wins seems quite incredible and no one is unbeatable despite our long string of victories. As (legendary coach Percy) Cerutty said, setbacks are a spur for good, for within each setback is contained its own solution.”

History says that Aris and F-M will find the solution. During more than one of their championship years, there was adversity to overcome. This isn’t, however, one of F-M’s most experienced teams. This time, there are not girls like Katie Sischo, Heather Martin, Courtney Chapman, etc., who as of yet have multiple championship leadership experiences in XC (or track), due to the departure of recent graduates and F-M’s relatively low-key track seasons in 2012.

Still, in Portland a healthy F-M, with Fanning in the top five, would be tough for Tatnall to beat – even if the Delaware school reaches its full potential. And there doesn’t really seem to be another national-battle-tested superteam out there for girls that can really take advantage – not like some of the Saratoga or Saugus clubs from a few years back.

So don’t look for a new NXN girls’ champion, not this year.