Crusader runners experience renaissance, take conference title

Posted: October 6th 2023

The Wildwood Catholic girls cross country team has captured the Cape-Atlantic National Conference title. Pictured are (from left): assistant coach Linda McGovern, LJ Belasco (the program's lone male runner), Kaitlyn Nordberg, Sloane Manni, Sophia Vitti, Angelina Richards, Ally Grandizio, Zeleste Martinez Vanesso, Lauren Crouthamel, head coach Michael Scythes.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

For the past few seasons, the Wildwood Catholic Academy girls cross country program had trouble fielding a full team.

Now, the Crusaders are conference champions.

The influx of some talented younger runners and the persistence and dedication of the team’s lone senior have led Wildwood Catholic to finishing atop the 10-team Cape-Atlantic National Conference standings. Wildwood Catholic completed an unbeaten season in conference competition with a win over Cape May Tech on its home course on Thursday.

“The season was quite a surprise, based on what we’ve been going through the past few years,” longtime Crusader coach Michael Scythes admitted. “We were struggling to field a team. We couldn’t get girls to come out. Then this year, to have all those freshmen come out for the team … Within the first week, we could see we had a very talented group here. It was just a matter of getting them thinking about what they needed to do to compete and they’ve responded to that.”

Wildwood Catholic has been led by senior Ally Grandizio, a four-year member of the team who went through some lean times before experiencing this season’s championship.

“Ally’s been through the ringer with this team,” Scythes said. “It was such a struggle for us, yet she stuck with it through thick and thin and kept at it and never gave up, even though she also had some injuries to deal with. To see her experience such a great season for the team, she deserves it. And this has been her best year yet. She’s dropped two or three minutes off her times from previous years.”

The rest of the team consists of sophomore Angelina Richards and freshmen Lauren Crouthamel, Sloane Manni, Zeleste Martinez Vanesso, Kaitlyn Nordberg and Sophia Vitti.

“The girls did a really good job,” Scythes said. “They ran a bunch of good races. They executed the plan that we wanted them to do. It’s been a very satisfying experience. It’s a great group of kids.

“They’re all pretty well dedicated. They all come from a background in athletics. A lot of their parents were runners or other athletes, so they have that background coming from within their own families. They like sports and they like competing and they’ve really taken to cross country.”

Scythes also mentioned the work done by the program’s lone male runner, junior L.J. Belasco, who’s been forced to compete without teammates in all of his races. Belasco has been one of the area’s most improved male runners. He placed fourth at the Big Five meet a few weeks ago.

“He’s having a good year because he’s much more focused than he’s been,” Scythes said. “Being on the (Wildwood Crest) Beach Patrol this past summer really helped him. You get around that environment, with a bunch of other people focused on being good athletes and being physically fit, it’s a big help. It’s been a little bit disappointing that he doesn’t have any (male teammates) to run with. We have to work on that and try to get more kids out.”

The dual meet season is complete for the Wildwood Catholic girls team. The larger, invitational-type meets are up next, beginning with next Wednesday’s Cape May County Championships at county park.

“That’s the next step, for the kids to learn how to do those bigger kinds of races,” Scythes said.