Cranford Track Team Lives Up to Expectations So Far

With high expectations going into the 2009-2010 winter track season, the Cranford High School varsity team is off to a strong start.

On opening weekend, head coach Peter Kane took three athletes, Kelly Burke, Natalie Englese and Jeff Sun, to the 168th Street Armory in New York for the Bishop Loughlin Games, the oldest running indoor high school meet in the country. The meet dates back 56 years and includes teams from eight different states.

There the Cranford athletes made their mark. Burke, who recently gave a verbal commitment to attend Notre Dame, won the pole vault and tied her indoor county and school record of 11'6. The senior also placed fourth in the triple jump at 36'9.5". Both of these marks qualified Burke for the national meet held in March, and both marks are tops in the state in those events.

"Kelly had a great first meet last weekend," said Coach Kane. "Her performances in the pole vault and triple jump were great this early in the season.  Track is a sport that you aim to peak at the end of the season and you spend your time working towards your ultimate end of season goal.  I'm very excited that Kelly is starting her season off at such a high level."

In the 300 meter dash, Natalie Englese ran the third fastest time at 40.14 seconds, qualifying her for the six-girl final, an impressive feet considering there were 41 heats in the race. Englese, though, did not run in the final because she was under the weather, but she did come back to compete on Sunday. She can take consolation that her time in the 300 meter time is also the state leader.

"Natalie has been eating up workouts in practice and I was expecting a fast time out of her," said Kane. "I seeded her at a fast time to get her with the fast girls that she belongs with. I wasn't concerned that the season was young. She doesn't care who else is lining up, she wants to beat them."

Jeff Sun competed in the 1000 meter run and ran a personal best of 2:44, which placed him 20^th of 90 runners. His finish also placed him No. 1 in the state in that event.

"Jeff Sun is one of the hardest workers I've ever had in track," said Kane. "He wants to be the best. He does not just come to practice to try, he comes to race. He comes to meets determined to leave everything he has on the track and he did that on Saturday.

Sun's main race is the 800 meter with a personal best of 2:01. During the opening weekend race, he came through the 800 meter split in his 1000 meter run in 2:09.

On Sunday, the Cranford Track and Field team traveled to Bennett Indoor Complex in Toms River for the Burns Relay and had another solid performance. Part of the early season is used for the coaching staff to get a look at as many athletes in multiple events as possible so that they can piece together a competitive team come championship season in January and February.

Although there was no team scoring, there were plenty of highlights for the Cougars, starting with the girls 4x200 meter relay, which placed fifth and just .01 off the school indoor record.

Senior standout Kelly Burke jumped 11'6 and continues to lead the state in that event, while Natalie Englese split a fast 25.0 in the 200, and then split another fast split, 58.0, in the 4x400 meter relay.

Coach Kane saw some up and coming athletes perform well including Dan Cleary in the 4x800 meter relay and Tyler Ainge in the same event.  Also, freshman Bryanna Grant raced to the fastest time on the team in the girls 55 meter Shuttle Hurdle relay.

"Overall, the team is a very dedicated, hard working group," said Kane. "This team knows what is expected of them and the demands the coaching staff puts on them. We had practice the day after Christmas, and in blistering cold weather over the break, they were all there, ready to work. As a coach you have to love that. They want to do more and be successful. I'm very excited to see them compete this indoor season and see how their hard work can pay off."

Kane and his staff will get to see more this morning, as Cranford will suit up for their second meet of the season again in Toms River for the Merli Invite.  This is an individual meet with a team title on the line as well.