Baloga and Montero win individual events
Karrie’s reasons for welcoming a new season
Karrie Baloga is glad to see the spring. That’s not unusual. Millions of other people feel the same way.
But Karrie has some special reasons to feel good about the new season.
But let’s back up a moment. The Cornwall junior wrapped up the indoor track season in typical Baloga style. On March 5, she won her third state championship as she led the 3,000-meter race from beginning to end. Then, in a national meet the following week, she ran the fastest indoor mile in Section 9 history.
Her reward was a week off before the start of practice for outdoor track. And why is she happy to see the new season? I counted a few reasons.
First, it’s an improvement on the past. Because of COVID, there was no outdoor track when Karrie was a freshman and no state meet when she was a sophomore. But this year the high school track world returns to normal. And Karrie heads outdoors after full seasons in the winter and fall. “It’s cool,” she said, “I feel really strong with those seasons behind me.”
In the state meet, Karrie expects to enter the steeplechase – a 2,000-meter run that includes hurdles and water jumps. It might be her favorite event because it’s a break from what she’s been doing.
As an eighth-grader competing against high school students from across the state, Karrie finished second in the steeplechase in 2019. Her time of 6:43 set a new Cornwall record and would have been good enough to win the state title in most other years.
There may be some college visits in Karrie’s spring itinerary. She’s made two official stops so far and she has two more to go. The four schools she’s considering (in alphabetical order) are Colorado, Mississippi, North Carolina State and Oklahoma State.
But there’s still another reason why this is an exciting season for Cornwall’s premier distance runner. After following her career for three years, I finally asked what she likes to do when she’s not running.
“I enjoy family,” she replied without the slightest pause. “It’s huge for me.”
Karrie is the daughter of Barry and Katie Baloga (if you combine their names you get “Karrie”) and she’s sandwiched between two brothers. Michael is a placekicker for Bloomsburg College and Jack is in seventh grade.
He recently started the middle school’s modified track program, where his mother is an assistant coach. After one day of practice, she came home and announced, “We might have another runner in the family.”
Karrie repeated that for me and then added her own opinion. “That’s exciting,” she said.
Montero’s busy day pays huge dividends
Marcsean Montero was busy at the state meet in early March, but he has a lot to show for it. The Cornwall sprinter was in four races – the preliminary and finals for the 300-meter dash and the preliminary and finals for the 800-meter relay. He was the first one across the finish line in both events.
At the beginning, he had his doubts about the individual race. He wasn’t seeded that high in the state. But his expectations rose considerably after he posted the fastest time in the preliminaries.
The 300-meter race has a staggered start. Everyone runs the same distance, but the runners in the outside lanes start in front of the people near the infield. It’s hard for competitors to know their position until late in the event.
At the beginning of the race, Marcsean had people in front and behind him. Even when the runners merged, it was hard to predict the outcome. Marcsean and Elijah Mallard of Washingtonville were side by side. They remained that way until they hit the finish line two-hundredths of a second apart.
The two Section 9 runners have a history of close races. And Marcsean admires his adversary. “He’s a great buddy,” he revealed, “and a close competitor. He’s a really good guy, too. It’s one thing to be really fast, but to be a good guy is more important.”
The relay brought more good news. Cornwall entered the meet with the fastest time in New York State for public schools. But Marcsean said that Cardinal Hayes and Holy Trinity were supposed to be just as fast. But neither school entered a team in the race.
In the finals, there was little space between Cornwall and Shenendehowa until the final lap. Then the capital area school lost a step on the handoff and its final runner could never catch up to Marcsean. The Dragons (including Jiles Addison, Charles Cypress and Christian Sterling) claimed the state title and set a meet record for 800 meters.
A week later, the same foursome ran even faster at a national meet in The Armory in New York City. All four athletes are due to graduate in June. Marcsean has committed to run for the University of Albany.
But first he’ll try to repeat his indoor success during the outdoor season. He volunteered some advice for runners who are hoping to succeed. “Work hard! You get what you put into it. Putting in the extra time and doing what everyone else isn’t doing will set you apart.”
