As the leaves turn from green to yellow, Tuesday afternoons will find all cross country teams across the Lehigh Valley competing in a grueling 3.1 mile race. Every Tuesday afternoon, the Nazareth Blue Eagles cross country team will fight to sustain their rich winning history.
Last year, Coach Ken Rolek had success on both the boys and girls side. The girls finished with an 11-6 record and placed 8th at the district meet, while the boys finished 13-4 with a 6th place finish at districts. The boys’ team was led by Travis Lahr, who qualified for the PIAA State Championship Meet last year, and they have proven themselves to be contenders for a district title year after year. Coach Rolek credits that to their incredible work ethic. When I asked him about the effort on the boys’ team he said, “It’s really about the work they put in over the offseason, they all are prepared for the first day of practice.” Rolek also stated that the accomplished group of upperclassmen “…want it more than anybody.” What do they want? The answer is simple: a district championship.
On the girls’ side, we shift focus to a talented group of underclassmen. Nazareth graduated their top runner Alysse Danyi last year, however, we saw lots of freshmen step up to be Nazareth’s next leader. I asked Coach Rolek about the importance of a talented, young core. He told me, “To have a great team, you need those young runners to come up and hopefully continue working hard throughout their four years as Alysse did.” After finishing with a winning record of 11-6 and a majority of their roster being underclassmen, the girls’ squad hopes to continue building what they started last year and give the top teams in the district a run for their money.
Both the boys and girls team had a strong season last year and hopes to have just as much success in the 2019 season. Led by longtime head coach and 2016 Lehigh Valley Live Track & Field Coach of the Year, Ken Rolek, the sky’s the limit for this Blue Eagle cross country team.
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