Van Cortlandt Park

Cherokee High senior Marc Pelerin is stuck somewhere in the middle. He said he is happy to be one of 64 runners - 32 boys and 32 girls - competing in the Foot Locker Cross-Country Championships National Finals today in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. But he does not want to simply show up and run; he wants to finish near the top. Joining Pelerin in Florida is Council Rock sophomore Jess Cickay, who will compete in the girls' race. Pelerin finished sixth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championship in New York City's Van Cortlandt Park on Nov. 24. His success has been sudden.

Nate Miller set two goals before the season. Although the state high school cross-country season is over, the Highland senior and reigning Meet of Champions titlist is still working on his second goal. After going through the state season finishing in the top three in every race - he was third just once, early in the season - for goal No. 1, Miller will try to qualify for the national Foot Locker cross-country meet. Miller is one of a number of South Jersey runners who will head to Van Cortlandt Park in New York today for the Northeast Regional.

While Julia Pudlin has achieved national success this cross-country season, her team has emerged as a champion on the state and local levels. The Baldwin School junior wouldn't want it any other way. With Pudlin out front, the Bears won the Inter-Ac League and Pennsylvania Independent School titles. "I was really proud of my team and school," said Pudlin, The Inquirer's Main Line and Delaware County area girls' cross-country runner of the year. "It was exciting for us and the school.

Donna Fidler thought that the best she could hope for was a medal for finishing among the top 24 in Saturday's Foot Locker Eastern Regional Cross- country Championships in New York City. Instead, when the Norristown junior completed the 5,000-meter Van Cortlandt Park course, she had a round-trip ticket to the National Championships in San Diego. Fidler, the PIAA District 1 Class AAA cross-country champion and fifth- place finisher in the state meet, finished in sixth place at Saturday's meet, and thus became one of the eight national finalists from the East for the championship meet in Southern California on Dec. 11. "I was just hoping to medal," she said the morning after the race.

Cherokee cross-country runner Marc Pelerin completed the 3.1-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., in 15 minutes, 40 seconds yesterday to finish sixth in the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships. The finish enabled the senior to qualify for the national meet Dec. 8 in Orlando, Fla. Last year, Pelerin missed qualifying by a half-second. Runners from 11 states and Washington, D.C., competed yesterday. The top eight finishers advanced to nationals, which will feature just 32 runners.

Sheila Klick has won every cross-country race she's entered this season, but winning isn't necessarily the main objective for her next race. The Archbishop Prendergast junior is scheduled to compete in the Footlocker Northeast Regional championships tomorrow at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. At stake is one of eight berths and an all-expenses paid trip to the national scholastic cross-country championships, scheduled for Dec. 13 in Orlando, Fla. The eight-person Northeast team will compete against similar squads from the South, Midwest and West.

Lauren Brooke has quite a running resume for a freshman. She has been running competitively for five years. She has competed at the Junior Olympics. She's Archbishop Carroll's top cross-country runner, and she's on her way to being named all-Catholic League in her first season. Brooke added to her list of accomplishments by placing second at the Eastern States Cross-Country Championships on Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. And she did it despite spraining her left big toe moments before the race.

One of the surprises of the cross-country season has been the emergence of Bishop Egan senior Mike McClafferty as one of the leading runners in the area. Unbeaten in Catholic League competition, McClafferty has either won or placed second in every weekend invitational he has run. "I'll be surprised if he loses again this year," Egan coach Joe Maher said after McClafferty set a Catholic League record (Belmont Plateau course) in a quadrangular meet Wednesday. "He's getting better.

It was an all-inclusive, luxury vacation with a crown jewel of a cross-country race at the centerpiece. No expense was spared for the nation's top 64 boys' and girls' scholastic runners at the Foot Locker National High School Cross-Country Championships in San Diego. Once Rachel Hixson found her way out of the massive Hotel Del Coronado, the Penncrest senior finished 19th in the field of 32 in Saturday's race at Balboa Park. "The place was huge," Hixson said in a telephone conversation from the hotel that served as Bob Dole's headquarters during the Republican convention.

The race at Van Cortlandt Park offered the usual rigors associated with cross-country and some very special rewards. In Saturday's Footlocker Northeast Regional cross-country championship meet in the Bronx, N.Y., Penncrest senior Rachel Hixson finished third with a time of 18 minutes, 51 seconds over the treacherous 3.1-mile course. The first eight finishers in the race qualified for the national championship meet on Dec. 14 at San Diego's Balboa Park. Erin Davis of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., finished first at 18:23 in an elite field that included runners from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Inter-Ac power Malvern Prep, led by senior Matt McCullough, will try for its sixth consecutive Inter-Academic League championship. McCullough placed first in the McAlpin Invitational last week at Episcopal Academy, covering the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 30 seconds. One of his top goals this season is placing high at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships on Nov. 29 at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. Malvern Prep's other key returnees are senior Matt Willcox, sophomore Jack Morgenthaler, junior Drew Berrodin, and senior Chris Ferraiolo.

Paul Springer took up cross-country as a seventh grader at Charles F. Patton Middle School. He admits that he was not one of the team's most dedicated or enthusiastic runners. "I really didn't start working hard until my sophomore year in high school," Springer said. "Before that, I was just doing it to be around my friends. " Springer, a senior at Unionville, has come a long way since middle school. Heading into this season, he was ranked No. 6 among runners in the Northeast region of the country by one publication.

Even when elite high school runners have destroyed the competition at the state championships, they are still looking ahead to one race: the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Cross-Country Championships. The annual race at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx is the big kahuna of the season. The best of the best from 11 states plus the District of Columbia in the Northeast compete to finish in the top eight and earn a trip to San Diego to compete in the National Championships. Yesterday, being the best runner in the state of New Jersey wasn't enough to help Ocean City's Brittany Sedberry qualify.

Even when elite high school runners have destroyed the competition at the state championships, they are still looking ahead to one race: the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Cross-Country Championships. The annual race at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx is the big kahuna of the season. The best of the best from 11 states plus the District of Columbia in the Northeast compete to finish in the top eight and earn a trip to San Diego to compete in the National Championships. Yesterday, being the best runner in the state of New Jersey wasn't enough to help Ocean City's Brittany Sedberry qualify.

Stride for stride, a streak of bad luck trailed Marissa Murtaugh like the darkest storm cloud. But the West Chester Henderson standout finally shed the injuries and illnesses that dogged and dueled her for so many years. It's her senior year, and Murtaugh isn't stopping for anything or anyone. A captain with Allison Bushey, she led the Warriors to a third-place finish at the PIAA Class AAA cross-country championship on Nov. 6. It was the best finish at states for the Henderson girls, and Murtaugh was the team's top finisher with a 43d-place showing.

When cross-country historians sift through the statistics of the early 21st century, they'll see the name Steve Hallinan loomed large. In the headlines and on the hills. From an exceptional group of area runners that showed signs of great promise three years ago, the Cardinal O'Hara senior and Drexel Hill resident emerged as the undisputed leader this season. He kept winning and grinning the whole way, shaking opponents, baking courses, and breaking records. For his accomplishments, Hallinan is The Inquirer's boys' cross-country runner of the year in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Cherokee High senior Marc Pelerin is stuck somewhere in the middle. He said he is happy to be one of 64 runners - 32 boys and 32 girls - competing in the Foot Locker Cross-Country Championships National Finals today in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. But he does not want to simply show up and run; he wants to finish near the top. Joining Pelerin in Florida is Council Rock sophomore Jess Cickay, who will compete in the girls' race. Pelerin finished sixth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championship in New York City's Van Cortlandt Park on Nov. 24. His success has been sudden.

Cherokee cross-country runner Marc Pelerin completed the 3.1-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., in 15 minutes, 40 seconds yesterday to finish sixth in the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships. The finish enabled the senior to qualify for the national meet Dec. 8 in Orlando, Fla. Last year, Pelerin missed qualifying by a half-second. Runners from 11 states and Washington, D.C., competed yesterday. The top eight finishers advanced to nationals, which will feature just 32 runners.

While Julia Pudlin has achieved national success this cross-country season, her team has emerged as a champion on the state and local levels. The Baldwin School junior wouldn't want it any other way. With Pudlin out front, the Bears won the Inter-Ac League and Pennsylvania Independent School titles. "I was really proud of my team and school," said Pudlin, The Inquirer's Main Line and Delaware County area girls' cross-country runner of the year. "It was exciting for us and the school.

Sheila Klick accepted the awards, applause and attention with a gracious smile and a small wave. Accolades don't motivate the Archbishop Prendergast senior, who achieved national success as a distance runner in three separate seasons this year. Klick, The Inquirer's Main Line/Delaware County area girls' athlete of the year, would be training and racing even if the records and victories weren't so attainable. "I love to run," Klick said. Make no mistake, Klick is talented.