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Netters:
Two
items.
We
often speculate on how much "lost tanet" there is for our sport in the
preferenece that so many young athletes have today for the wide variety of team
sports available on the junior level. By its very nbature, track and field
cannotn compete with the allure of soccer, basketball, lacrosse, hockey, etc.,
with their jazzy uniforms, team camaradie, parental interest, etc.
I saw an example of what we
are missing last night at the Bergen County Meet of Champions. I have been
following with interest this spring the rapid rise of a runner named DIanna
Russini at Northern Valley Old Tappan HS. She has come from nowhere to be one of
the better distance runners in the state,
I was
told that she had never competed in our sport until this spring, previously
played soccer and basketball for her school. Also,m that she was a sort of
"poor man's" version of our star distance runner, Erin Donohue---a
determined youngster who just got out in front and stayed there,
Well,
that's just what I saw last night as she headed a strong field in the girls'
1600. Givven the inside lane as the top seed----a rather ridiculous practice
since this is hardly the preferred position in a large field like this one---she
bulled her way to the front and stayed there, fighting off a strong challenge by
a fine runner named Caitlin Smyth of Immaculate Heart Academy (also a soccer
player who won the state Parochial A 800 title in her first season last spring
and recently ran an 11:11 3200) and going on to win in 5:10.15 off a 2:35
pace.
Obviously, this is a girl with a future, if she chooses to follow it. She is not
very tall, which rules out any Division I basketball career and would also
limited her in the already limited world of women's college soccer. We shall
just have to wait and see whether she follows her obvious star.
Ed Grant
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