After three days of rain, the clouds finally cleared on October 28 for the women’s cross country team to win the IAAM ‘A’ Conference Championship, for the first time since 2006, in a close 33-36 victory over heavily favored McDonogh.
The early race favorite, junior Elizabeth Tauber, knew it would not be easy. The defending champion was a marked woman from the beginning, with many feeling the race would come down to her and McDonogh’s junior Madeline Dulac. Tauber and Dulac have clashed continually in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, with a different victor coming out of nearly every battle.
In 2009, the two had already met twice, once at the Peter Geraghty Invitational at Mt. St. Mary’s on September 5 and again at a dual meet at home later in the month. At Mt. St. Mary’s, Tauber and Dulac traded the lead back and forth before Tauber outkicked Dulac in the last 200 meters. At the dual meet, Tauber defeated Dulac again, this time soundly by over a minute, setting a new JC course record in the process. However, McDonogh proved to be victors in that race, providing the only blemish on the Patriots’ regular season record with a 26-29 victory.
Tauber had also been one of the hottest runners in the state, going unbeaten in the IAAM regular season and losing only once, at the Bull Run Invitational on September 26 to junior Maura Linde from Century, the Baltimore Sun’s Runner of the Year for 2008, in a race that came down to the last 150 meters.
Besides Tauber, the Patriots also needed the rest of coach Rob Torres’ athletes to step up. These athletes included senior Katelynn Colgain, who finished seventh at the 2006 championship meet and was back on top form after missing her sophomore and junior years due to injuries. The Patriots were also counting on sophomore Taylor Battaglia, the fourth place finisher in 2008, and junior Sara Stifler, who came on strong during the 2009 campaign, to contribute.
At the gun, an early pack formed, with Tauber in fourth place. However, the pack was quickly whittled down to just four runners: Tauber, Dulac, McDonogh junior Jo Baird, and McDonogh freshman Lauren Egan. The four easily gapped Colgain, Battaglia, and the rest of the field before going through the mile in 6:12, a blistering pace considering the terrain, which was saturated from three days of rain.
In the second mile, Tauber slowly pulled away, pushing hard down a steep downhill before throwing in a midrace surge, daring her competitors to stay with her or fall by the wayside. On the team side, McDonogh held tight to second, third, and fourth places, while Colgain held fast in fifth with Battaglia close in seventh place. At this point, with McDonogh’s pack of three so far ahead, it appeared as if the team crown would fall to the Eagles.
By the end of the second mile, Tauber had increased her lead to about 15 seconds, a gap nearly insurmountable, barring catastrophic collapse or act of God. Cresting the final hill and making the final turn to the finish, there was no let up or surrender in her stride on her way to becoming two-time IAAM Cross Country Champion. She flew down the home straight, finishing the three mile course in a time of 19:26, 19 seconds ahead of Baird, who finished in 19:45. Egan and Dulac were a bit farther back, finishing with times of 20:03 and 20:04, respectively.
After the top four finished, things got interesting. Colgain held her fifth spot in a time of 20:11, closing hard in an attempt to catch the pack of McDonogh runners. Battaglia salvaged the sixth spot, holding off Bryn Mawr’s Olivia Uddin. With both the Patriots and McDonogh having their top three runners across, the Eagles held a slight lead of 11-12. The race would come down to the fourth and fifth runners from each team.
The Patriots proved to get the edge, with freshman Rebecca Driver surprising the field and sneaking in to the top ten at ninth place with a time of 21:22, behind Bryn Mawr’s Melissa Hexter, who ran 21:17. McDonogh’s fourth runner, freshman Claire Sinnott, finished 11th in 21:28. After four runners, the Patriots had re-taken the lead, 21-22. This left it to both teams’ fifth runners: junior Sara Stifler for the Patriots, and freshman Rachel Perler for the Eagles. Stifler had a scare in the second mile, as the back of her left foot was stepped on by a St. Mary’s runner and her shoe flew off. After a few frantic moments of indecision, she took off. Perler proved to be no match for Stifler, even with only one shoe, as Stifler had almost closed on Sinnott and took 12th in 21:29, while Perler was 30 seconds back in 21:59. Score: Patriots 33, Eagles 36.
This was not the end of the anxiety, however. No one was quite sure who had won yet, so the pressure was still on the sixth and seventh runners for both teams in case of a tie. McDonogh’s sixth, Ariel Levin, got across in 22nd place in a time of 22:24, while the Patriots’ sixth, junior Amanda Hudak finished in 23:00. Freshman Shannon Vinton closed out the Patriot runners in a time of 24:15, good for 43rd place, while McDonogh’s Maggie Gill finished in 25:51.
The anxiety carried into the post-race time as well, as the IAAM officials counted the results twice to make sure there was no question as to who the champion was. As the results were announced, the Patriots exploded into shocked cheering, as the initial result had looked pretty grim. The Patriots were once again champions, ending a two-year reign in 2007 and 2008 by Notre Dame Prep, who finished in third with a score of 82 this year. Archbishop Spalding and Bryn Mawr rounded out the top five.
The title is the Patriots’ third this decade, adding to their 2005 and 2006 titles. The team now sets its sights on the state title on November 14 at the Washington, D.C. and Maryland Private Schools Cross Country Championship at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood, MD.
Additional coverage, including complete results, photos, video, interviews, and more, can be found on Running Maryland.
Ian Richardson is a contributing writer for “The Patriot” and can be reached for comment at [email protected].
Daniel Gallen can be reached for comment at [email protected].
Additional reporting by Chris Kunkel and Derek Alban.