Boy’s Cross Country Finishes Season 12-3

The Pirates boy’s cross country squad enjoyed a 12-3 season in 2015 that also featured a 5-0 mark in the Patriot Division and a Patriot Division title.

“They can see the work they are putting in; they are improving,” head coach Dan Fourney said. “Every kid who returned from last year was so much better this year. The more work you put in, the results show.”

Cinnaminson got off to a strong start, going 4-1 at their first batch meet with wins over Burlington Township, Pennsauken, New Egypt and Riverside. The loss came against Moorestown.

The Pirates then moved their record to 6-1 with wins over Maple Shade and Westampton Tech.

At their next batch meet, the Pirates ran to a 2-2 result with wins over Delran and Palmyra and losses to Rancocas Valley and Northern Burlington that brought their record to 8-3.

“I think this year, R.V. was the strongest team we faced,” Fourney said. “They had a host of frontrunners.”

Those were the final two losses of the Pirates batch meet schedule, going 4-0 to finish the year with a 12-3 overall record.

Boy’s cross country relied on youth this season to win the division crown, as five of the nine members of the team were underclassmen.

“From the first practice to the last practice, they were pretty much doing everything I asked,” Fourney said of his squad. “From their summer training, putting in more miles, the success showed right from the get go.  You just can’t show up in the fall. You have to put your miles in during the summer. I knew they were doing that all summer.”

At the BC Open, the Pirates finished 6th as a team and Mike Ungvarsky was the runner-up. Justin Arnold finished the race in 13th place.

At the BCSL Open, the Pirates won the Patriot Division meet by just two points over Maple Shade. Ungvarsky finished first and was named to the Patriot 1st Team with Arnold and Max Adams.

At the Group 2 sectional race, the squad finished 7th overall. Ungvarsky finished 2nd and Arnold finished 9th, advancing both to the state, Group 2 race.

“It started in the summer. He (Ungvarsky) was the one who got the guys together all summer long. He set very high standards for himself,” Fourney said.

“At the Meet of Champions he set his personal record and he still wasn’t happy with the race. He was disappointed. He said he could have done better. I love that in him; not satisfied with what he is doing and wants to improve.”

At the Group 2 state race, Ungvarsky finished in 8th to move onto the Meet of Champions. Ungvarsky set a new PR of 16:24 at the MOC, finishing in 29th place.