Loughran’s Bulldogs may surprise track powers

doug Mckenzie

The Hub

Dan Loughran is pretty happy with his new job. The first-year coach of the girls track team at Rumson-Fair Haven has inherited a young team loaded with potential, and is looking forward to helping his team build upon the success it has begun to experience in the past few seasons.

"We’re a young team with very few seniors (six)," he said. "We have 19 freshmen out of the 42 kids on the team. But we’re trying to set up a routine to establish a good program. We could be pretty good for the next few years if things break the right way."

Coming off a 6-1 season in which the Bulldogs finished second in the C South Division to perennial powerhouse Red Bank Catholic and had its 4x400 relay team advance to the Meet of Champions for the first time ever, Loughran is confident that his team will once again be competitive with some of the top teams in the area, including RBC, Freehold Boro, Holmdel and Shore Regional.

Caitlin Moscatello

"RBC is always tough, and I expect to really battle against Holmdel (on April 12)," he said. "Freehold Boro is going to be awesome. I watched them run and they scare me."

Loughran, who coached track at Raritan High School for seven years before coming to RFH, is especially looking forward to the Holmdel match-up, because his brother Bill coaches the boys team at Holmdel, while the girls coach, Sue Caffrey, was his first track coach while he was on the St. Agnes team.

"Here I am finally getting to coach against her," he said. "And it should be a very close meet."

The Bulldogs should also expect quite a challenge from a surprising Colts Neck team on Monday.

Last Saturday, the Bulldogs competed in the GMCTCA Relays at Perth Amboy and walked away with 27 medals.

Loughran said that he told the team before the meet that it would serve as a "glorified practice with uniforms," as a means of reducing the jitters. "The whole month I’ve been trying to be pressure-free," he said. "I try not to get too excited or pumped up early on because that tends to make the younger girls nervous. I wanted them to go out there and practice, and I expected to see some mistakes. And we all made some mistakes, including myself, but it came out all right."

The Bulldogs were hoping to make a strong showing against Monmouth Regional on Wednesday as a means of preparing for tomorrow’s Husky Relays at Matawan, where they’ll compete in the small school division. The Bulldogs’ biggest test before the states will be during the first week in May, when they will face Freehold Boro on Monday and RBC on Wednesday. Loughran will be relying on his seniors to provide leadership for the team’s younger runners. The seniors on the squad, who are all captains, include Meredith Brenner (sprints/long jump), Nicole Corre (middle distance), Jen Guarino (distance), Kristen Randall (distance), Lauren Randall (distance) and Jessica Wassel (distance).

Loughran said that he will be looking for some big performances in the state meets from Brenner; sophomores Christy Planer (middle distance/distance), Caitlin Moscatello (distance) and Kristen Guarino (sprints/long jump); as well as juniors Kristen Krueger (throws), Rachel Wilkin (hurdles) and Alissa Van Deventer (hurdles/ middle distance).

He added that he likes what he sees so far from newcomers Lexi Sawch, Caitlin Dudick, and Stephanie Hodnett, all freshmen with impressive speed.

He also is impressed with the work ethic of freshmen Wilson Murphy, Danielle Tardiff and Kate Gasienica, each of whom has been perfecting the high jump and hurdling.

Although he’s only been coaching at RFH for a short time, Loughran is enjoying his experience, and is very complimentary toward the entire school. "We are a small school, but we’re very much results-oriented," he said. "Our kids are focused in the classroom, and out on the track is no different." He points to the school’s success in a number of girls’ sports as a measure of the quality of its athletic program.

"I love it because the entire school is into athletics," he said. "The kids are very competitive and they all work hard." He has been pleased with the team’s work ethic to this point, noting that it has successfully handled some grueling workouts. "I’ve had a few kids asking if the pains in their legs were normal," he said. "I reminded them that if their muscles were not feeling sore right now, then our training was inadequate."

Although he recognizes that his team is in a building stage, Loughran is looking forward to surprising some people down the road. "If we can do well next week, it will be a taste of things to come," he said.