Catholic Conference Championships: NDA Takes Down Ursuline

GIRLS CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

NDA TAKES DOWN URSULINE

The following is recap is submitted by Notre Dame Academy Head Coach Steve George with photos/recap provided NDA Reporter Norm DePlume

The Catholic Conference Championship, for all intents and purposes, was a rematch of the October 9th dual meet between Ursuline Academy of Dedham (ranked 3^{rd in} D2) and Hingham’s Notre Dame Academy (ranked 10^th in D1.)  That contest was won by NDA on its tough 5K home course 23-32, with each team placing five runners among the top 10 finishers.   Senior Captain Taylor Kennedy, who has consistently led the Cougars during the past two years, led the way in that meet with a :16 second win over Ursuline standout, Senior Lindsay Baryluk. 

Both teams were coming off strong showings at the McIntyre Twilight Meet held just 4 days earlier in which Ursuline took the D2 title with an average time of 19:44.  Notre Dame placed 5^th in D1 with a team average of 19:22.  NDA had its sights set on winning the league championship all season long, seeking “redemption” for it loss to Ursuline in the same meet one year earlier.   On Wednesday,  each team was well prepared to meet its rival on the difficult Cunningham Park course. 

Cunningham Park in Milton is not a course on which a runner can expect to run  a PR.  It has been reconfigured from 2.9 Miles to a full 5K, and its terrain is varied with parts of the course run over asphalt, stone, grass fields and dirt trails.  It also boasts a steep hill, comparable to that found on the Gardner Golf Course, the site for this year’s All State Championship, which Varsity runners have to climb twice.  The asphalt precludes wearing spikes, and the steep hill is covered in pine needles which slow down times.  Add to that there are no fewer than 15, 90 degree turns and one can anticipate slow going.

Over the first mile of the course, Baryluk, Kennedy and NDA Sophomore Liz Costantino held a slight lead over Ursuline’s Erin Grela and NDA runners Grace Pixler and Elizabeth Harrington.  Over the next mile the three leaders stayed together, exchanging the lead several times, and at the two-mile mark the three were two seconds apart with Costantino moving to the front.   Behind them their teammates were making moves toward the front with Grela breaking from the pack, Harrington, Pixler and Ursuline Sophomore Kaia Corthell still in the hunt. 

With 400 meters to go Taylor Kennedy took the lead with teammate Costantino within a few feet of her.  Baryluk, who had been dealing with a bout of bronchitis, was still strong but faltering just a bit.  Erin Grela, who was 50 meters from the front at that point, put it in another gear, and started her finishing kick.  Corthell was also making a move and pulled ahead of Harrington and Pixler.  The final 200 Meters of the course takes two sharp right turns around an open grass field before heading a short distance to the finish line.  From the finish line Kennedy and Costantino could be seen, still within feet of each other but Grela moved past her teammate, Baryluk, and was closing in on the leaders.  It was too little, too late however as Taylor Kennedy sprinted across the finish line in 1^st at 19:59, with Liz Costantino just behind her at 20:01.  Erin Grela finished a very strong 3^rd in 20:09 with Lindsey Baryluk in 4^th at 20:14.  Back on the course Kaia Corthell was powering ahead of NDA runners Elizabeth Harrington and Grace Pixler and finished 5^th in an impressive 20:36.  Harrington crossed in 6^th place at 20:45 with Pixler in 7^thin 20:52.  NDA Junior Elizabeth Baker finished 8^th and  Freshman Caitlin Rodway taking 9th in 21:04.32 and 21:04.65, respectively.  10^th place went to Ursuline’s Sheila Orechia with a time of 21:07 to finish out the scoring for the two top teams.

Mount Alvernia 7^th grader, Carly Daley led the way for her team with a time of 25:47 finishing 30^th overall, while Fontbonne Academy Senior Collette O’Connor placed 32^nd overall with a time of 26:21 to lead Fontbonne Academy.

Notre Dame found redemption in its 24-34 victory over Ursuline in a very close, hard fought battle for the 2013 Catholic Conference League Championship.  It also took the CCL Title with an undefeated season.   The rivalry will continue in 2014 with both teams returning many of its top runners.  Ursuline Academy now turns it focus toward the D6 Eastern Mass Championship, which it won in 2012, while NDA prepares to compete in D3 with a goal of reaching the All-State Championship for the second straight year.

 

 

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