Pomperaug cross country captains (l-r): Mason Fitzpatick, Michael Schenk, Kim Theleen, Emma Cavanagh
BY ROGER CLEAVELAND
Republican-American
SOUTHBURY – With the South-West Conference Championships just a little over a week away on Oct. 19, both the Pomperaug girls and boys teams find themselves in great position right now.
Each of the Panthers’ teams is 11-0 in dual meets heading into today’s Wickham Park Invitational, and coach Mark Goodwin loves the depth of talent he sees on both squads.
During their undefeated run so far, the girls team has knocked off both Newtown, winner of eight of the last 14 SWC titles, and Immaculate, a two-time conference champion during that stretch.
The girls are led by talented sophomore Ivy Walker, who finished third in last year’s Class L state championship meet to lead Pomperaug to a second-place finish as a team.
Nina Koobatian (14th) and Kathleen Schenk (17th) also finished in the top 20 of the Class L meet, and eight of the runners who finished ahead of them were seniors.
“I knew our girls were going to be pretty good, because we had some good freshmen coming in and we had some talent coming back,” Goodwin said. “We don’t want to lose our head over it. We are basically taking each meet as it comes. I am trying to give them the perspective not to go too gaga over the whole thing. We have a long way to go. We haven’t won anything yet.”
In addition to the three top 20 runners returning from last year, the Panthers have also received strong performances this year from senior Emma Cavanagh, junior Ashley Wargo and freshmen Maddy Villa and Molly Flanagan. All of them are capable of running in Pomperaug’s top five to score for the team in meets.
“The girls run a very tight pack,” Goodwin said. “There is good bunching up front, and that has been a key for us. They feed off each other a lot. Ivy is very good. She lost to the girl at Immaculate (Angela Saidman) who is very good. Ivy ran well against her last year and lost by about 15 seconds this year. We will wait and see what happens when they face each other at the SWCs, the class meet and the State Open.”
The Pomperaug boys finished third last season in Class L, and four of the five runners who scored for them in that meet have returned. The Panthers’ highest-placed runner from that meet, Michael Schenk, was 26th, but the lowest-placed scorer returning, Chris Holguin, wasn’t far behind at 39th. Scott Gafney was 31st and Mason Fitzpatrick 32nd.
“This year our No. 1 usually is Scott Gafney, who is a senior, but sometimes it has been Mason Fitzpatrick or Michael Schenk,” Goodwin said. “It kind of flips back and forth. Eric Rosenhein has been in our top five and so has Robbie Moore. We have one kid who has a sprained ankle right now, William Terrill, and he will be back. He’s been in the top five as has Riley Fitzpatrick.
“We don’t really have someone you would say is a Top 10 open scorer, but we have a pretty good tight group. That is really important when you get into big meets. The times are close.”
Three of New Milford’s runners who finished in the top 15 of the Class L boys meet last year return. The Panthers run against New Milford on Tuesday.
Goodwin isn’t sure what to expect, but he loves the great leadership provided by Gafney, Fitzpatrick and Shenk that has forged really good team chemistry.
“We just have a good mix,” Goodwin said. “What has really helped on our team is that everyone is really supportive. They really like each other on the team, and that is a big key to have your teams do well.”