If last week's arrival of the first few conference contests meant it was officially time to shake the rust and cobwebs from our games as athletes and fans, this week's schedule demands nothing less than mid-season form sporting at least 4 meetings with Friends and other arch-rivals.
Last week, What's Bruin? reported on the impressive numbers trotted out by girls' cross country coach Kent Walker. In their first meet, quality apparently coincided with quantity as Park knocked off 3 out of the 4 teams with whom they were matched. Only St. John's managed to outpace the Bruins as they bested Lutheran, RPCS and Catholic. Next, rivalry week kicks off as the girls host Friends and BT, among others, Tuesday the 15th at our home course, Oregon Ridge.
Boys' soccer didn't fare quite as well as the young runners, though technically there's no loss to report. It was early last year when Pallotti provided an overtime wake up call, testing the Bruins who managed to pull out the victory minus their best effort. Last Wednesday marked the beginning of the '09-'10 campaign in much the same fashion. This time, the double overtime match ended in a 1-1 tie. The Panthers were indeed improved, but the Bruins again failed to exhibit a peak performance. The preseason's rash of injuries left little opportunity for cohesive practices, resulting in a somewhat disjointed appearance in their first conference game. Rain provided at least 1 extra day of "rest" by postponing last Friday's trip to Severn. Perhaps the best example of our week of rivals theme, Tuesday (9/15) the boys travel to Friends and Thursday (9/17) they head to BL. If you have the opportunity, both games are nearby and a Park cheering section at either locale is always welcome.
Coping with a particularly rough start to their conference calendar is field hockey, who found themselves on the wrong end of 1-4 tally at Seton Keough. The team dealt with its own injury bug (not an excuse, simply a fact), losing 3 key players for much of late August and early September. The ailing group has little time to recover as they face 2 road games this week, at 2-0 B-Conference leader Mt. de Sales on Monday (9/14) and 0-1 Maryvale on Wednesday (9/16).
Battling a swarm of Gilman runners, the inexperience of the Bruins' boys' cross country squad was made immediately evident in the first meet of the fall season. 2nd and 6th place finishes by Jaime DeMarco (who trailed the leader by only 6 seconds) and Kyle Long, respectively, were left unsupported as much of the remainder of the somewhat depleted team worked to find their stride. The result was not wholly unexpected as the true focus for this group may be the second half of their season gearing up toward a strong A-Conference Finals' finish. Still, Coaches Hulleberg and Kessinger are hoping all the aching ankles and shins return to form before this Tuesday's (9/15) meet at Loyola.
Girls' tennis began a very promising fall with a 5-0 sweep of Lutheran followed by an unfortunate, though equally impressive, 1-4 loss at McDonogh. The Bruins provided the Eagles all the competition they could handle, extending each point, game and set at every level, even warranting post-match compliments from the opposing coach. This week, the girls look to continue their excellent play, while hoping to add to their win total, as they take on St. Tim's on Tuesday (9/15) at Chestnut Ridge and St. Frances away on Thursday (9/17).
The girls' soccer squad had their only varsity contest of the week rained out by Friday's deluge. As a result, rather than confronting Mt. Carmel, Park will launch their IAAM schedule against the likes of last year's B-Conference Finals pairing. Our inaugural GAME OF THE WEEK pits the young Bruins against the defending champion Quakers of Friends School (who's only loss during their '08 10-1 run was to... you guessed it, your Park Bruins), September 14th at 4PM on Boys' Varsity Field. Wednesday the 16th holds further challenges as last year's runner-up, St. Paul's arrives on campus. Please make every effort to show your support in your classrooms, the hallways and especially along the sidelines both afternoons!
Best of luck all. Get healthy and...
GO BRUINS!
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