Senatore Hopes to Measure up in Big Ten
Oct 28 | Women's Cross Country
By Frank Kineavy
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- On Oct. 10, the Rutgers women's cross country team captured the prestigious Metropolitan Championship for the first time since 1997, highlighted by Paige Senatore's individual title. The junior from Delsea, N.J., completed the course in 18:19.
To follow her teammate Brianna Deming's Metropolitan Championship in 2011 meant a lot to Senatore, especially because they train together every day. What was even more important to Senatore was her role in bringing the Metropolitan Championship team title back to Rutgers.
"It is more rewarding to say that I helped my team win the Metropolitan Championships," she said.
Senatore arrived at Rutgers following a highly successful high school career at Delsea Regional High School, where she was a key to a 2010 Nike National Championship team.
"Paige is the definition of a student-athlete," said head coach James Robinson. "She is a tireless worker and hard-nosed competitor. Every year she returns to Rutgers in better condition and hungry to improve her performances from the previous season."
With her high school success and transition to Rutgers, Senatore has continued a pipeline of sorts for the Scarlet Knights' cross country program to the South Jersey high school. Senatore arrived `On the Banks' to find former high school teammates Ashley Deckert and Felicia O'Donnell - both seniors now -- already entrenched in the program. Freshman Celine Mazzi is also from Delsea High School.
This familiarity has not only benefitted the team performance on the track, but has been a nice transition to college for Senatore.
"Having Ashley and Felicia with me during my first year at Rutgers really helped me with the transition. I was able to ask them questions about anything," said Senatore. "High school to college running was the most difficult transition for me, and having them helped me push through it."
The Delsea High School connection is one Robinson is grateful to have, terming it "a wonderful bond."
"It started six years ago with the recruitment of Ashley Deckert," Robinson said. "The cross country/distance coach at Delsea Regional is Ron Deckert (Ashley's father). He has been a tremendous source of support and wholly believes in the training program (assistant) coach Jan (Merrill-Morin) has developed over the years.
"It has been a privilege to continue to recruit and land the Delsea student-athletes and I hope that our connection continues to flourish."
Senatore first began running cross country competitively during her junior year of high school. The move to cross country was spurred by the realization that her favorite part of soccer was doing perimeters along the field after practice.
"I always challenged myself to run hard even when there was no point in it. To me the running part was the only thing I looked forward to," she said.
In her first year, she helped her team win the State Championship for the first time in school history. She got hooked on running so much she plans to run competitively after college while embarking on a career in education.
Her decision to continue running in Piscataway was due in part to the facilities and landscape Rutgers offers.
"Running can be monotonous but being able to change the places where I run was what I loved about Rutgers," she said.
With the victory at the Metropolitan Championships behind her, Senatore and the team have their sights set next on the Big Ten Championships. For her, this is an ideal opportunity for Rutgers to cement its place as one of the elite programs in the conference.
"I have been training since the beginning of June for this opportunity and now I feel like I need to go out there and prove to myself and the other Big Ten schools that Rutgers deserves to be in this conference," she said.
Senatore will also use the event as a measuring stick to identify where she stands against the rest of the conference's top long distance runners.
"Right now I am almost blind because the only thing I can compare myself to the other girls with are times," Senatore said. "Being able to go out in the Big Ten, staying in the middle pack, trying to work from there, and using the other girls to help me succeed will ultimately be my goal for the Big Ten."
The 2014 Big Ten Men's & Women's Cross Country Championships are on Sunday, Nov. 2, at the Ashton Cross Country Course at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.
Players Mentioned
