Cranford Girls Sections

Cranford sophomore Laura Gallo and her teammates arrived three and one half hours before their scheduled 11:30 starting time on Saturday morning at Holmdel Park.
It was so early that veteran coach Ray White thought it best that they walk through the course to test how it was affected by the damp conditions. The walk proved worthwhile as Gallo perfectly timed her move away from the field and never looked back in cruising to an easy triumph in the Central Jersey Group II Section II race.

Gallo ran 19:59 to defeat Martine McGrath of Shore Regional by 45 seconds and led the Cougar Girls to a strong third place finish behind Rumson Fair-haven and Shore Regional, two highly rated teams that were running on their home course.. The team finish qualifies the Cougars for the state finals held November 13 at the same venue.

“We accomplished what we came here for,” said White, who also coached the boys to a section championship Saturday.. “The girls all stepped up and did an excellent job. I know they can run even better in the finals.” White expects the performance to launch the Cougars into the top ten of Group II teams.

Gallo took command of her race at just after the one mile mark and by the halfway point had already opened up a large lead. Afraid to turn around, Gallo kept her concentration until she saw White on the side of the course.


and I told her nobody was close,” said White. “She ran a very nice, relaxed race.” Gallo’s victory completed a strong two week period where she also had defeated Mary Shashaty of Scotch Plains to win the Watchung conference title at Warinanco Park.

Cranford Assistant Coach Timothy Styler, a state champion runner for the Cougars , sees some special championship qualities in Gallo.
“Laura has a desire to win all the time and that is what makes her a special athlete ,” said Styler.

Sophomore Jen Hanke continued her fine season with a 21:29 (6:55 per mile), good for 13th place and junior Nicole Cabrera, who has missed much of the season was the third cougar, 25th overall in 22:16

“It was great getting Nicole back. She’s one of the leaders of the team and everybody was
happy to have her competing again ,” said White.
Junior Kristen Ford in 32nd and sophomore Allison Stolte in completed the scoring runners.. Cranford’s other two competitors, freshman Erin Hannen (36th) and junior Jennifer Stolte (60th) completed an all underclassmen lineup that bodes well for the future.

But White also believes the present can also be pretty successful.
“We would have preferred Warinanco because it was so close but now that we’re at Holmdel we hope to use our experience to help us in the state finals.”