Cougar Running is Back!

The Martin Luther cross-country team won the IPPSAL Championship yesterday, October 23. It was the first time they have won it in four years.

The Individual Private and Parochial Schools Athletic League used to be dominated by the Cougars until recently. Head Coach Ken Johnson has dedicated so much time and energy to building the program back up to what it was.

This year, he knew what his guys were capable of and so he told them before the race “We’re taking no prisoners today, Lets go all out and win this thing.”

Johnson commented “And that’s exactly what they did. Right from the start they went flying out there and it was done. ”

To say they did well would be an understatement. The boys dominated the competition. With seven out of the top nine, they brought the IPPSAL trophy back to Martin Luther.

Captain of the team, Thomas Mcloughlin commented on the race, “ We stuck together as a team for almost the whole race pushing each other knowing what had to be done and working for it”

Mclouglin came in first in the race followed by Tyler Feconsolo, Devin Barrios, and Nate Glossen. A runner from Lawrence Woodmere finished in fifth followed by Grant …… followed by a runner from Long Island Lutheran. John Lawrence and Jeremiah… were eight and nine.

Mcloughlin added, “Today took a team effort and our cards fell into place towards the end.”

The next challenge for the cross-country team will be to bring the PSAA title back to Martin Luther. That race is at Van Cortland Park , always a challenging place to run.

Coach Johnson commented, “We have a lot of young guys who have not even seen Van Cortland, so they are definitely in for a fun surprise.”

Right now Coach is happy for what his team has accomplished. IPPSAL was the first step to bringing about another dominant era of Martin Luther running.

By: Aaron Maldonado