The Johnston High School cross country team opened the dual-meet season on Monday against Bishop Hendricken and East Greenwich, two of the state’s perennial powerhouses. The Panthers lost to both, but their runners posted better times than they had the week before at the Injury Fund event.
It was a good microcosm for the Panthers’ season, where it’s all about improvement, regardless of team results.
“We basically just want to try to get a little bit better every week,” said head coach Brian Iafrate. “It’s tough for us to compete with Hendricken, East Greenwich, teams like that. For us, it’s more just improving on our individual performance from the week before.”
Johnston has a strong group of returning runners leading the boys’ team and two senior runners leading the charge for a small girls’ squad. The Panthers would like to improve a little on last year, when the boys won one meet and the girls went winless, but mostly, it’s just about taking the right steps.
And the Panthers are doing that.
“It’s a hard-working group,” Iafrate said.
Jake Hall and Eddie Gallucci led the way for the boys’ team on Monday and will likely set the pace all season. The group also includes Andrew Lema, Joe Vota, Philip Lemoi, Tommy Nguyen, Evan Pennacchia and Adam Bouchard.
“Just from last week at the Injury Fund to this week, they’ve all improved on their times,” Iafrate said. “That’s good for us. A lot of these guys started early in the summer. They’ve worked hard.”
The girls’ team is led by seniors Lia Cucinnota and Kayleigh Pensalfini. Both are four-year runners who also compete in track.
“They’re excellent runners,” Iafrate said.
Freshman Abby Hesner is the only other runner on the girls’ team at this point. All three runners missed Monday’s opener with illness.
“The expectation for us is just to get better each week,” Iafrate said. “Our big thing next year will be to get some more girls here.”
One thing that could help that cause is an initiative to bring cross country to Ferri Middle School, a charge led by new Johnston Public Schools Athletic Director Keith Cory.
“It can be tough to get a kid to try something they’ve never done before on the first day of high school,” Iafrate said. “It’s difficult. We’re looking to institute a program at the middle school level. If we can do that, it’s really going to help our numbers. It’ll help us dramatically.”
For now, the Panthers will just keep running hard.
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