Irvington's Annie Field Establishes New Course Record

Heading into the 2010 girls Varsity Cross-Country campaign, Irvington head coach Chris Barry held lofty expectations for senior Annie Field.

Field, one of the most acclaimed runners in Westchester County, has already lived up to and exceeded those expectations. The long distance specialist recently cemented her status as a highly-decorated runner by earning a berth in last year's New York State Championship.

While Field's primary focus is on steering the big Bulldog boat back into league championship waters, the senior added another performance to her cross-country resume reel on Oct.5, setting a record at the Bulldogs' home course.

Field overtook teammates and opponents at the official 5K cross-country course, opening up her stride while subsequently opening up a page in the Bulldogs' all-time record book.

After 3.1 miles, Field found her way to the finish line first in 20 minutes, 19 seconds.

And so the previous course record has become a shattered afterthought.

"I was hoping that I'd race better than I did on Saturday, because I've been sick for two weeks now," said Field, who has dealt with a mean case of strep throat which triggered a minor case of insomnia. "So I was just hoping to come back a little better and see some improvement,"she said.

Through Field's constant emphasis on team success, it's clear that personal accolades are much less important to the senior. She was happy to establish a new course record and post season best—19:56 5K—at Hastings last month; ultimately, though, Field was more concerned about cutting the distance between herself and Irvington's Christina Paparo, the second place finisher who hounded her throughout the course. 

Field wants to dictate the pace. She wants to leave her mark as a leader who pushed her teammates' intensity and fueled their development. This mentality, Field knows, will help Irvington keep their unblemished record (6-0) intact.

"Now we have a 40-second gap between (Christina and me), which is exactly what
we wanted," said field, who clocked a career-best 19:42 during a race at Sleepy
Hollow High School last year.

Paparo churned out a time of 20:51 for second place, while Lindsay Shapiro
placed sixth with a 22:20.

Sasha Zweibel, Aislinn Raftis, Julia Canning, and Kira Murphy all provided
insurance, placing in the top-15 to rack up much-needed points.

Irvington defeated Ardsley and Pelham by double-digit margins, recording
20 points.

On paper, Irvington contains more firepower and depth than any team in the
conference. The Bulldogs came out like gangbusters during the St. Anthony's invitational this weekend. Subscribing to the traditional tenet of pack running, Irvington was methodical in their approach.

The Bulldogs were paced by a considerable 1-2 punch. Fields emerged as Irvington's  front finisher in the shorter distance event by clocking a 16:20 in the 4000-meter race.

"I'd say as far as lofty aspirations for myself, my immediate goal would be to
break 19 minutes (in the 5K)," said Field. "I'm hoping to go below my personal best this year, it would be a nice way to finish [a five-year career]."

Her team goal is simple: To defend the league championship and run to wherever
the road takes this tight-knit nucleus of long distance runners.

Field and Bulldogs coach Chris Barry are cognizant of the fact that the Oct.12 league meet will be  the ultimate litmus test.

Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, and Irvington have never been this talented and evenly-matched at the same time. This makes it a barometer meet for the trio of Rivertowns teams, to see where they truly measure up on the local landscape.

Still, the Bulldogs are the hunted.

"I give credit to Hastings and Dobbs Ferry for definitely getting better and better year by year," said Barry.

"It obviously puts pressure on us to keep working hard and I certainly think our kids are motivated by trying to stay on top. We go up to camp with runners from Hastings and Dobbs Ferry and are friends with many of them. It's a great thing to kind of have a friendly rivalry; we all respect each other."

With the meet taking place at Irvington's home course, Barry--a strategic cross-country mind who analyzes personnel development, race results, and the level of each course-- looks to put his runners in the best position to succeed. He's worked his girls since the summer to repeat the glory, but he is not expecting an edge in any area.

"I think I'm too smart of a coach to say we have the upper hand going in," said
Barry.

"We've gone head-to-head and we've all seen what we have. We know how strong
Hastings' top-three is, we know what a great runner Sarah King is and I know what kind of coaches Denis Kiely and J.P. Kaminski are."

Barry continued, "That being said, I think on the girls side we have clearly the best depth in the league. I know we can run better than we have so far. I think we've had a good start but I know we can run better, they know they can run better. So I think we're ready. We'll see how the chips fall."