September 11, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHA cross country cruises past Shipley
by TOM UTESCHER

?CHA freshman Dustin Wilson, who finished first with a 15:53 time. For more photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photos by Pack Jr.)

Freshman Dustin Wilson showed why he is considered one of the rising running talents in the Inter-Ac League, and other Chestnut Hill Academy harriers provided a strong supporting cast as the Blue Devils won their opening dual meet last Friday.

Wilson won by more than a minute and senior Mike Fitzkee, sophomore Mike Fuery, and junior Dylan Ward placed third, fourth, and fifth respectively, as the Devils knocked off visiting Shipley School, 20-38.

Wilson needed just 15 minutes and 53 seconds to complete the CHA course, which measures just about three miles even. Arne Anderson led the visiting Gators by taking second place overall in 16:54, while Fitzkee, Fuery, Ward and Shipley’s Nate Kuntz (sixth place) all finished in the 17-minute bracket. Ryan Ansel was Chestnut Hill’s fifth scorer and the seventh finisher overall, and his junior classmate Justin Anglin came in eighth.

The compact, streamlined Wilson took command early and was never challenged after that.

“He’s on target to break Ned Cunningham’s [‘08] school and course record,” longtime CHA coach Paul Hines said. “Right now he’s only six seconds off of that.”

The Blue Devils’ mentor added, “Michael Fitzkee, Michael Fuery, Justin Anglin and Ryan Ansel all ran PR’s today. I can’t remember a team we’ve had that’s run this well this early. We had six guys go 18:32 or better.”

When the Devils started practice in August, it was clear that Wilson, Fitzkee and Fuery had benefited from following a training regimen over the summer. Overall, the CHA program experienced a popularity boom; a total of 32 runners tried out for the team, including 13 sophomores and six freshmen.

The challenge for the Chestnut Hill varsity will be to have some of the other Blue Devils move up closer to the talented Wilson, so that rival teams aren’t able to place a pack of runners in between CHA’s first- and second-place finishers.

In the Inter-Ac League, it looks as though defending champion Malvern Prep could once again set the standard for the rest of the league. Malvern graduated Brian Fulton, the 2006 champion and 2007 runner-up at the Inter-Ac championship meet. However, Matt McCullough, the Inter-Ac winner last year, is back as a senior to lead the Friars, and they have a few other solid performers to provide depth.

Meet Results

1) CH Dustin Wilson 15:53

2) SH Arne Anderson 16:54

3) CH Mike Fitzkee 17:11

4) CH Mike Fuery 17:28

5) CH Dylan Ward 17:40

6) SH Nate Kuntz 17:55

7) CH Ryan Ansel 18:30

8) CH Justin Anglin 18:32

9) SH Chris Henry 18:36

10) SH Dan Brown 18:59

11) SH Mike Litner 19:51

12) SH Carter Brown 20:05

13) CH Greg Baird 20:06

14) SH Bakari White 20:24

15) SH Armand Leaks 20:41

16) SH Brendan Pailet 20:46

17) CH Sam Brenman 20:54

18) SH Steven Wadden 21:11

19) CH Grant Rauch 21:20

20) CH Dan Dilulio 21:41