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Favorites Philip Fans and Emily Casey with Atlantic County Cross Country Championships
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HAMMONTON - Philip Fanz of St. Augustine Prep, the heir-apparent to the Atlantic County Boys Cross Country Championship, didn't disappoint as he scored a 20-yard victory Thursday at Hammonton Lake Park.
Emily Casey of Holy Spirit High School won her second straight Atlantic County Girls Cross Country Championship.
Fanz and Casey saw their teammates behind them come through too, as both the Prep boys and the Holy Spirit girls captured the county team championships.
Fanz, a senior, won the boys race in 15 minutes, 2.97 seconds, and the Prep ended Mainland Regional's nine-year reign as county boys team champion. Fanz was fourth last year behind three Mainland runners, all of whom graduated in the spring. The rebuilding Mustangs finished third in the team scoring with 83 points behind St. Augustine's winning 51 and second-place Atlantic City's 81.
"It's fantastic to win it," said St. Augustine coach Ed Fanz, Philip's father. "Mainland had so many dominating wins for so many years. It was one of our goals this year to do well at this meet. To win it is icing on the cake. We have three seniors who've been with us four years. They've been working hard and it's starting to pay off."
Holy Spirit's Tony Krez was 20 yards behind Philip Fanz in
second place in 15:10.33 and Prep's Ryan Mathews took third in 15:26.81, 40 yards in back of Krez.
"Phil had a great race, after he started a little slow. He's had good practices and he's getting himself ready to do well at states. Ryan is setting the pace for the team next year," Ed Fanz said.
Casey, a junior, took the lead in the first mile of the Atlantic County girls race and pulled away to win by about 70 yards in 17:57.36. Holy Spirit's Catherine Nolan finished second, as she did last year, giving the Spartans a big edge on their way to a second straight county team title. Nolan's time was 18:18.57. Teammate Angelina Bongiovanni finished fifth.
"I didn't want to take it out too quickly, I just went out and ran my race," Casey said. "Once I got to the lead I pushed it as hard as I could. It was nice to win it again. It was an important goal to win it again. Last year, I didn't know what to expect, but this year I knew a little more."
The Holy Spirit girls team had a low total of 41 points, and Absegami was second for the third year in a row, scoring 57 points. Atlantic City had 119 for third.
"We were hoping that Emily could break the county (meet) record of 17:39, but she wasn't feeling too good," said Holy Spirit assistant coach Ricky Pfeifer, the son of head coach Dave Pfeifer. "The race went out a little too fast and she was affected by it. Plus, it's hard for her to break the record with no one around her.
"Catherine (Nolan) ran by far her best race of the year. She had shin problems the during spring track and the early part of cross country season. She's finally running how she wants to. Angelina, our third girl, had by far her best race of the year. She definitely stepped up."
Fanz didn't gain the lead from Krez until about the two-mile mark, but then took control.
"Winning the County race was one of my biggest goals this year," Philip Fanz said. "I planned to pace the first mile and let them do the work. I got to the lead in the woods. Towards the end I really pushed it. It feels good to win it."
Contact Guy Gargan:
609-272-7210
Posted in Sports, Highschool on Friday, October 23, 2009 12:45 am Updated: 1:06 am.
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