The top four teams in the region all in one race.
Really? Does it get any better than that?
That’s what recent state champion Cumberland High will be facing on Saturday when the Lady Clippers hit the trails of Bowdoin Park in New York for the Nike Cross Regionals – Northeast. The Clippers have faced their share of battles this season, but this one will undoubtedly be their biggest.
According to rankings on DyeStat.com, Cumberland ranks No. 2 in the northeast heading into this weekend’s meet. At the top of the rankings is Union Catholic (NJ), which is also currently No. 20 in the country. Princeton (NJ) and Champlain Valley (VT) will also toe the line, and are ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the region.
“Number are numbers, but I think at the end of the day, it’s whose got it in the tank,” said Cumberland coach Kerrie Carpenter. “(We’re) exactly where we want to be. I believe we got another level. We set out in our first practice in September, we set out to get to the late championship races. I think we are in a very excellent place, especially if we can put seven healthy bodies out there.”
On paper, this one has the potential to be close, really close. The top two teams in each region earn a berth to Oregon for the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN). In addition, four at-large teams are also chosen from the eight regions nationwide. It’s very possible one of those at-large bids come out of this race, depending on the closeness of the outcome.
The pre-race favorite is Union Catholic, which this past weekend captured the team title at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions. The Vikings have the best 1-2 punch in the field with the sophomore duo of top-seed Paige Sheppard and teammate Cayleigh Kaiser. Kaiser is a low-to-mid 18-minute five-kilometer runner. Sheppard, who has a best of 4:43 for 1.600 meters, is the only one in the race that has broken 18 minutes for 5K, and she’s done it four different times. But perhaps her most impressive performance came back on Sept 28 at the Bowdoin XC Classic, held at the same treacherous 5K for this weekend’s meet. As part of her unbeaten season. Sheppard cruised to the individual title with a time of 18:11. It was the fastest of the day for the two varsity races by more than 30 seconds!
The Bowdoin meet also displayed just how strong Union Catholic can be on Saturday. At the late September competition, the Vikings earned the title in their race by scoring just 35 points. Perennial power Saratoga Springs (NY) was second with 93 points, while Princeton was third with 96.
Cumberland has not competed at Bowdoin Park this season, but has tested its mettle on some challenging terrains this season where it’s held its own with the top teams its faced. In the Large School race at the Manchester (NH) Invitational on Sept. 2`at Derryfield Park, the Clippers were fourth out of 31 teams. Cumberland was second to Oyster River (ME) at the Wickham Park (CT) Invitational on Sept. 28, and in its return trip to Wickham six weeks later, was a runner-up to Champlain Valley at the New England Championships where 24 points separated the two schools.
“I think (Bowdoin Park) falls in line with a very gritty race calendar we had this year,” Carpenter said. “Manchester is a great course. Wickham is at its own level, it’s own world. There weren’t a lot of blingy times. That kept us under the radar. I think this is right in line with the race calendar that we experienced this year. I’m very much looking forward to it. I think they’re going to attack it very well.”
A healthy Cumberland squad could certainly be lethal at NXR-NE. At the State Meet three weeks ago where the Clippers defended their title by scoring just 34 points, six of their seven varsity runners were under 20 minutes. The Clippers are led by freshman Cecelia Ludwig and senior Kiley DeFusco, who were third and sixth, respectively at the states. The remaining five include junior Charli McCue, senior Rose Toumisto, sophomore Anna Bianchi, sophomore Gabby Stoothoff and senior Emily Bourke.
Ludwig, in particular, has been a bright spot for the Clippers in her inaugural high school season after winning back-to-back state titles as a middle-schooler.
“She’s amazing,” Carpenter said. “She’s fierce, she’s smart, she’s like a sponge. She takes in everything that we are trying to come across in practice every day. She’s building her training IQ and her racing IQ…I am really proud how she was able to take on her freshman year given her middle-school experience.”
Carpenter, who took over the boys’ program from longtime mentor Tom Kenwood back in 2017. is in her first season as the girls’ coach after Cumberland Athletic Director Marty Crowley stepped down from the position this year. Could her initial X-C season at the helm for the girls continue to be a special one with a ticket out west to NXN?
“I think at the end of the day it comes down to the teams that are just going to wake up and have their best day,” Carpenter said. “We’re hoping to be healthy. At the New England’s no one knows this but Charli McCue ran with pneumonia and Kiley DeFusco, who has been battling sicknesses all season, had a sinus infection. I am just hoping, as well as every other coach out there, that we have seven healthy bodies on the line. These girls, and these guys, can put forth their best race. That’s really what you want for every kid.”
“Our goal since the summer is to try and do some special things,” she added. “We knew we wanted to defend the (state) title, but we wanted to do something special and on Nov. 2. I think we did that. Obviously, second in the New England’s was ginormous for us. We’re just hoping to do special things again, swing our hardest at bat and see what we can do.”
