Palisades’ Thomas Smigo is going for the four-peat this season, and early indications are he’s on the right path.
The Palisades senior recently began the season as the defending three-time Colonial League cross country champion as well as the three-time District 11 Class A champion. Last year, he added to his trophy case with a state Class A individual crown.
He will be the centerpiece for a budding Palisades team this fall.
This season, Smigo began the season by taking top honors at the Moravian Invitational in a time of 16:33. A few days later at a regular meet with Moravian, Smigo clocked in at 16:28.
Smigo attributes his success to self-imposed breaks during the track season.
“Last season, I took a three-and-a-half week break during the track season,” he stated. “This season, I took a two-week break. I still maintained a lot of speed and strength from track.
“It has been a great physical break to just rest. But more importantly, it is a great mental break. For two weeks, I didn’t have any pressure on me to do anything running-wise.”
Smigo will set the pace for a young Palisades unit.
Head coach Scott Antoni has been impressed in the early going with freshmen William Zaleski, and Aidan Corcoran on the boys side; and sophomore Brooke Brzezicki and freshmen Mikayla Irvine and Courtney Reguera on the girls side.
“Thomas is the only senior on the team,” said Antoni. “Both our girls and boys teams are extremely young this year.
“Both teams will be focusing on improving their performances each week. Thomas looks to improve on his performance from last year with regionals, and hopefully, nationals being his goal.”
Smigo wants to enjoy every moment this season. His current goal is to be under 15 minutes at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh Sept. 30, and to be under 16 minutes at the state meet in Hershey.
He would like to be a repeat winner at Hershey, and place in the top 10 at the Eastbay regionals, which would automatically qualify him for the nationals in San Diego.
Before that happens, Smigo has his sights set on being a first-time, four-time Colonial League and District 11 champion. He wants to set new records on every school course, and wants to lower his home course record below 15 minutes. Being around the 16:30 mark would satisfy him.
Smigo has yet to make a college choice.
“Being a senior is kind of crazy,” he said. “ I’m going to miss Palisades cross country whenever the season ends. I still have the track season, which will be my main focus after cross country ends.
“I am looking forward to the challenge of cross country and track in college. It has been an amazing three years, and I am really looking forward to one more great year.”
For Smigo, it likely will be another rewarding year ahead.
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