Upperclassmen set pace for Palisades

Palisades head cross country coach Scott Antoni is confident his training procedures will still work.
Since he took over the Pirates’ cross country and track program, Antoni has followed the advice of his predecessor, legendary head coach Jim Beck.
“He always said not to run them hard at the beginning of the season to avoid burning them out,” Antoni said. “It is a matter of doing the right things and having them peak at the end of the year.
“We have been fortunate that it has been working.”
Despite having a relatively young club, Antoni is confident this year’s squad will meet the mark.
Junior Thomas Smigo along with seniors Mitch Campbell and Matt McClintic again will pace the boys squad. Smigo is a two-time district champion, and he is on track for another record-setting season. The junior won the season-opening Lions Invitational at Moravian Academy with a time of 16:19. He also finished first in the team’s two league meets this season.
Antoni believes Smigo can further raise his performance.
“Honestly, I think he can turn it up a couple of more notches,” Antoni said. “He has all the ability. Mitch Campbell is running very well, and he and Thomas are good friends who push each other. Matt also has the ability to be one of the best runners in the league. Matt McClintic is coming back from injuries last year, and he is moving his way up.
“But we have told everyone to take one meet at a time.”

Smigo is optimistic his team can reach its peak.
“At Pen Argyl, myself and Mitch Campbell finished first and second,” he said. “I was really happy with that. I was happy with my time (17:02) because I had some tightness in my hip muscles and Pen Argyl is known to be very hilly. But it showed to me how much we have improved as a team.
“Looking forward, my ultimate goal individually is to be a state champion in Class A and as a team I want us to win the District 11 Class A championship.”
On the girls’ side, senior Sara Reguera is leading a core that is primarily freshmen and sophomores.
“Sara has been running well,” said Antoni. “She has been a solid runner for us since she was in middle school. Sara will be a leader for a very young team.”
Before their multi-team meet at Salisbury, the Pirates’ boys team had an overall 4-5 mark, while the girls unit was 6-6.
Antoni expects it to be a methodical maturation process.
“We’re an inexperienced team,” stressed Antoni. “This is what we thought it would be. But our kids are lowering their times, and we can exceed expectations. You never know what can happen, and we’ll see what happens over the next month.”

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