Laura Gallo (MOC)

Laura Gallo has proven that a little modesty can take you a long way or in her case get you places very quickly. The Cranford High School sophomore who began the season with a modest goal of breaking twenty minutes and placing high in the conference, sectionals and county races wound up as champion in all three races and on Saturday became the fastest runner in Cranford girls’ history by smashing her previous personal best with a 19:19 effort in the Meet of Champions (MOC) in Holmdel Park.

Gallo, who broke Mary Beth Hogan’s 1980 record of 19:23, was not even aware of that achievement until reading it in the newspaper the following day. “Mr. (Cranford Coach Ray) White always says to race people and not the clock. I was not trying to break the record, but was just trying to do my best,” said Gallo.

“She ran very intelligently,” said White, who has coached the Cranford girls since 1978.
“Laura executed our race strategy perfectly. She didn’t chase after the fastest girls but stayed with girls she thought she could beat.”

“At the starting line I tried to look for runners that I recognized and runners that had a close time to mine. Mr. White kept telling me to run a smart race. He wanted me to get out in the top twenty, so I would not get trapped behind the pack. My strategy was to run a steady paced race,” said Gallo.

Feeling strong at the two and one half mile mark, Gallo began a punishing finishing kick that enabled her to pick off several runners and finish twenty first, which lopped twenty seven seconds off her previous best of 19:46, run just a week ago when she finished third in the Group II race also at Holmdel. Saturday, Gallo was the second Group II runner, finishing only behind the overall second place finisher, Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield.

Gallo was pleased to defeat fellow sophomore Alexis Weiner of Caldwell who had defeated her the week before.
“She thought she should have beaten her the week before but Laura wasn’t worried about particular runners, just executing our strategy,” said White.

Although she came into the season as the Cougar’s top runner with a previous best of 20:42, records and championships were the furthest thing from Gallo’s mind.

“My goals kept changing throughout the season. After winning those races and breaking twenty early on, my goals were to make it to the MOC and to run in the low 19s. My time kept steadily improving each race, just as I hoped it would. After every race, even if I got my best time, I always thought I could have gone faster. This drive to go faster helped me to reach my goals for the season and to run 19:19 at the MOC,” said Gallo.

“She’s with the big girls now,” said White.
“She’s a smart kid and a hard worker so she should be able to handle the increased expectations,” said White.

Gallo will be the leader of what should be a powerful Cranford girl’s team next fall. There were no seniors on the Cougars, who just missed making the Meet of Champions, finishing fourth in Group II, one place out of qualification. Although Gallo was the only Cranford Girls’ runner competing Saturday, that didn’t stop her teammates from cheering her on.

“The girls’ team is always they’re cheering for each other. I was so excited and grateful that they would go on the school bus at 7:30am.on a cold rainy day, just to cheer the boys and I on. Even though we missed going to the MOC as a team, our team spirit will help us in making it as a team to MOC next year,” said Gallo.