The moment has finally arrived for the Rowan women’s cross country team, as they’ll look to repeat as New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) champions when they head to Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey, this weekend.
Leading the charge for the team will be Gabriella Pagano. Pagano has succeeded as the leading runner for the team throughout the season, with first-place finishes at the Osprey Open, Salisbury Fall Classic, and seventh and eighth place finishes at the Interregional Border Battle and Paul Short Run, respectively. Last season, she finished fifth at the NJAC.
Pagano and the team went down there to stay familiar with the course ahead of the race, and Pagano herself took the extra time to make herself fully prepared for what the track had to offer.
“Practices are good. A couple of days ago we went down to Stockton and we did a workout,” Seratore said. “I have a friend who goes there so I slept over and ran there again.”
Pagano described some of the challenges the track itself brings and how the extra preparation will be one of the keys to success.
“Just getting to see the course another two times definitely helps,” Pagano said. “There are roots on the ground you’re trying not to trip over, there’s little bits of sandy parts you wanna try to avoid and figure out what path you’re running.”
Another key runner that will help Pagano lead the charge will be Shannon Stakelbeck. Stakelbeck finished eighth and sixth at the Salisbury Fall Classic and Osprey Open, respectively, and finished fifteenth at the NJAC last season. Look for her and Ally Wernik to be behind Pagano in the race to help the team rack up points.
Stakelbeck feels that the energy the NJAC brings makes it one of the best races of the year, and is looking forward to what it brings now that it’s finally arrived.
“I’m feeling really excited. I feel like NJAC’s is something we’ve talked about since preseason and is something we’ve always had in the back of our minds and now that it’s finally here it’s kind of unreal. I’m really excited to get out there with everybody,” Stakelbeck said. “It’s one of the best meets of the year, everybody’s family and friends come and it’s really a cool environment.”
Stakelbeck’s energy also resides with her confidence in the rest of the team, as she believes the team has only gotten better as the seasons progressed and the changing weather will play a role in both success and morale this weekend and onward.
“We’ve really gotten a lot faster I feel,” Stakelbeck said. “Every single meet a lot of us have PR’d and there’s a big group of us where we’ll get a weekly email from our coach (Eric) Dubois and it’ll be like PR, PR, PR cause we all keep getting better and better. Now with the weather changing and I think we’ll PR again.”
Other key runners for the team to look out for this weekend include Jezena Aponte, Juliana Sieminski, and Zoey Doelling. It’ll take a team effort this weekend, and Pagano wants the team to be aggressive and have no regrets when the race is over.
“I’m looking for everyone to be a little more aggressive,” Pagano said. “If you see somebody go out and chase them, don’t sit and wait because if you sit and wait, eventually the race is over. If you wanna make a move, you gotta be decisive.”
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