10/13/2011 - DiSomma Brings Home Title
After Watching Claudia DiSomma turn in a wonderful performance in winning the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Girls Cross County Championship, one question came to mind.
What would DiSomma do with a field hockey stick or a tennis racket?
After spending her autumns playing soccer her whole young life, including the last two on Sparta’s girls varsity team, the indoor and outdoor track star made the decision to give up soccer and concentrate on running so she went out for cross country this season.
Well, the junior put on quite the display Wednesday afternoon as she rallied to win the race in record-breaking fashion at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Frankford with a time of 17:34, topping defending champ Nisa Cicitta of Voorhees and High Point star, sophomore Sarah Disanza.
Not bad for a relative newcomer to the sport.
DiSomma was all smiles after the race, which was no surprise, but what also amazed me was that she didn’t even seem winded and she gave several eloquent interviews to various media outlets without missing a beat.
DiSomma said giving up soccer was tough after playing for 12 years. But she made the pragmatic decision that running is her future as far as college is concerned and now was the time to catch the eye of college coaches.
DiSomma was already a household name on track and field circuit after winning the 3,200 at the Meet of Champions her freshman year. But cross country is a different animal and luckily for DiSomma she is a quick learner.
She said she had to learn how to train for cross country, and after breaking her leg playing soccer last year, she didn’t want to put too much undue stress on her leg.
But after losing to both Disanza and Cicitta earlier in the year, she exacted her revenge and she is now peaking at the right time of the season.
Cicitta led the pack until the final 150 meters before DiSomma said she used her track training to out kick the pack and win the race in record-breaking fashion.
It is always an absolute pleasure to watch a superior athlete work their magic. I have no doubt that if DiSomma concentrated on field hockey or tennis she would excel in those sports as well.
The other outstanding quality DiSomma possesses is class. She was very gracious in victory giving credit to Cicitta and Disanza for pushing her and making her work to be the best at her new sport.
Now that she has won her first big title in cross country, don’t be surprised if she goes down to Garrett Mountain and wins the North 1, Group 3 race and the Group 3 title at Holmdel before making a great run at the Meet of Champions.
Her success in cross country will also serve as springboard to another great track season, and if she stays healthy, she will have her pick of Division I schools knocking on her door next year.
But I still would love to see her give field hockey a try.
The other big story out of the H/W/S the other day was the impressive performance by the Pope John boys team which brought home the title by nipping Sussex County rival Wallkill Valley.
It was the first championship for the Lions since winning the final Sussex County Interscholastic League Championship in 2008, a long drought for PJ standards, according to the Lions outstanding coach Brian Corcoran.
“It has been a while,” said Corcoran, in a confident, but not cocky way after the race. “I feel this is a top 5 team in the state and we are working our way to try to get to the podium at the Meet of Champions.”
The Lions ran in a pack and stayed within each other piling up the points as they entered the chute at the finish line.
Scott Meehan (eighth), Chris Hatler (ninth), Joe Galica (12th), Nick Bertoline (14th) and Peter Spinks (21st) executed the Lions game plan to perfection, holding off a scrappy Wallkill Valley team.
The Rangers were paced James Corti who placed second overall to P-Burg star Jon Harper.
The effort was typical of a Corcoran-coached team. In both cross country and track he pushes his teams to peak at the end of the season when the meets mean the most. It is not that he doesn’t care about dual meets, but he feels championships at the end of the season are the true measure of a team.
If I have said it once, I have said it a 1,000 times, for my money there is not a track or cross country coach around better than Corcoran. He has brought the programs to the next level and he continues to do so with new faces every year.
And here is another thing that struck me about Corcoran. After the varsity meet, I asked him to do a quick interview, he said yes, but he asked if I could wait until the jayvees were done because he wanted to watch them cross the finish line.
That’s right. The jayvees mean just as much to him as the varsity. In my eyes, that is the mark of a great coach. I know he is not the only coach to do that, but after winning a big race, he never lost focus on his kids---all of his kids. That was neat to see.
It was a great day for cross country and the staff that put the race together was well organized and made it a pleasure to cover.
I always felt that cross country was a special sport with special athletes and after watching the H/W/S at the Fairgrounds, I haven’t changed my mind.
That’s it for now see you on the sidelines.
|
