Hawks set for 2019

Defending champs ready to protect title

By RYAN D. MURRAY
Posted 8/27/19

By RYAN D. MURRAY Bishop Hendricken is poised to defend its cross country state crown this fall. Last season, the Hawks placed 4th in the Nike Cross Nationals. And as always, the La Salle Academy Rams, who are ranked No. 1 in the Northeast in the

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Hawks set for 2019

Defending champs ready to protect title

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Bishop Hendricken is poised to defend its cross country state crown this fall. Last season, the Hawks placed 4th in the Nike Cross Nationals.

And as always, the La Salle Academy Rams, who are ranked No. 1 in the Northeast in the preseason pre-rankings, will be Hendricken’s toughest threat.

“La Salle has an outstanding team,” Hawks head coach Jim Doyle said. “They have a lot of students from last year’s team back.”

Following La Salle at No. 2 is CBA, Lincroft, New Jersey, and then the Hawks sit at 3.

“We graduated some of our top performers,” Doyle explained. “But, we have four guys that are coming back to us that were in our top seven last year that are outstanding runners. And we’re trying to build around those four. So, it’ll be an interesting season.”

Three out of those four are Matt St. Jean, Evan Reynolds, and David Delbonis and they were all members of Hendricken’s All-American indoor Track and Outdoor Track 4X1 relay teams.

“But I say this every year, we were ranked pretty high last year and I tell the team to ignore the rankings and take it one week at a time,” Doyle said. “Our goal right now is to do well during the season with the ultimate goal of winning the state championship. That would be our No. 1 goal.”

Doyle believes anything after that is icing on the cake.

“Whatever happens postseason is always a plus,” Doyle said. “We have the New England championship following the states, and then two weeks after that, we have the Nike Northeast Regionals. And there, they take the top two teams from that meet and those are the two teams that get to go to the National Championship.”

However, if the Hawks fall a little short, there’s a different way they could sneak into the Nationals.

“There’s also an at-large bid,” Doyle explained. “So, if we were to run well enough in the Nike Northeast Regionals, we’d have to finish at least third, and be at an impressive third, and do well the entire season, and then we might be chosen for an at-large bid for the Nike Nationals.”

“But like I said, we’re going to go at it one week at a time,” Doyle said. “A lot can happen, it’s a long season. It really begins next week with the injury fund and extends right to the end of November and into December if you have a chance to make the Nationals.”

Luke Henseler, a senior, figures to be the Hawks top runner this year.

“Last year’s captain Jack McMahon went on to college and he and Luke were inseparable last year,” Doyle explained. “And Luke is kind of following in the footsteps of Jack. He’s a team leader. He is one of our captains. He’s running well. He’s trained hard all summer. I expect him to be one of the top finishers in the state. He’s training extremely well.”

Behind Henseler will probably be Evan Reynolds.

“Reynolds, who was only a sophomore last year, really only burst on the season late in the season in the varsity state meets,” Doyle explained. “Evan had to come off an injury the previous year, a year-long injury. He came to Hendricken last year after transferring to Prout, and made his way into the varsity lineup at the New England Championships, and then after the New England’s, he went to the Nike Northeast Regionals, and then to the Nationals. And this year he should play a major role in our team’s success. He’s going into his junior year. He’s a strong guy, a 4:19 miler. And also a sub 8:50, 3000- metre runner. So, a big, tall, strong runner, who will likely be another guy up there with Luke.”

Another top-four runner for Hendricken will be David Delbonis.

“David is entering his senior year,” Doyle explained. “He’s a 4:16 miler, who was on the team last year right through to the Nike Northeast Regionals. He didn’t quite make the team in the Nike Nationals and he wants to have the opportunity of doing that. He is a very successful miler and he was an important part of our state championships. He’s training very well this summer and is very strong and should make it and also be a big contribution to the cross country team. He helped us out tremendously last year.”

Delbonis’ counterpart is senior Matt St. Jean, another captain.

“Matt is running his fourth cross country season,” Doyle said. “He’s another outstanding miler, whose got a 4:18 miler and made a big impact on the team last year. He consistently was the third man, sometimes the fourth man on the team. He was always there with Luke, and it’s good to have those four guys up front for us.”

Now the Hawks just need to find three more runners to help them secure the rest of the points.

“We have the third guy we picked as a captain beside Luke Henseler and Matt St. Jean, in Andrew Woodbine, who never made varsity,” Doyle explained. “He’s trained well. A lot of people are going to be surprised. He’s in great shape this year.”

In addition, Michael Feret, a senior, is another runner that is in great shape and is contending for a top seven spot.

“Michael again has never played varsity, but he’s a 9-minute, 3000-metre runner and he’s been running well,” Doyle explained. “He’s been running as well with the other four guys and he expects to have a great season.”

Then, there’s senior Ian Hopkins, who will compete for a spot.

“Hopkins is another guy that’s never made the varsity team, contending for the top seven and he’s a great half-miler,” Doyle said. “He ran a 1:59 in the 800m and is coming off a strong summer of training.”

Doyle said James Kiernan, a senior, who’s never had any varsity experience, but a strong summer of training will also be in the mix, as well as sophomore Evan MacGregor, who had a great freshman year, and Ryan Dyer, a junior.

“It should be interesting,” Doyle said. “We’re probably set for the top four, but we have about six or seven guys contending for the last three remaining spots and that will be the key to how successful our team is this year.” 

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