By Christopher Hunt
Suffern co-head coach Lou Hall will tell you that he can’t ask anymore of senior Shelby Greany than what she’s given since she started on the varsity as a seventh-grader.
She collected four county and Section 1 Class AA titles, five trips to the state championships and is a three-time Foot Locker Cross Country national finalist. She is certainly among the top distance runners in the country. But with all her accolades – and Greany has mostly considered herself a cross country runner – she is missing a state championship. And although that is on the to-do list for the season, Greany says it is by no means the focus.
“My goal is hopefully to improve on every course and just get better,” Greany said. “I’m really just trying to take it slow. I’ll go week by week and not get too far ahead of myself.”
Greany, although enjoying a mostly successful season last year, fell short of her own expectations. She finished second at the state meet in Class AA, losing contact with then-Saratoga Springs senior Hannah Davidson in the stretch. Then Greany finished fifth at the Federation championships and 24th at Foot Locker nationals. She struggled with her health during the championship season. She dealt with a bout of bronchitis and adjusting to weaning herself off her asthma inhalers.
“Last year, I didn’t have a lot of confidence because I was always sick,” she said. “I would be thinking that I’m going to get beat because this person feels better than I do or they aren’t feeling as crappy as I do. But now, I feel like I should be about to run with anybody no matter how I feel.”
The spring track season addressed what seemed to be Greany’s only weakness.
“The thing that we have been working on for years is her finishing kick,” Hall said. “We worked on that a lot during the spring. I definitely think she’s improved her leg speed.”
It showed while Greany ran personal bests in the mile and the 3,000 and showed her new finishing blast while winning the national championship in the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. Dealing with the stresses of the state, federation and Foot Locker meets are on hold for now. Greany left today for a visit to Boston College. She is also considering Providence, Georgetown and Villanova.
Greany will lead a team that will be competitive in Section 1 and has a shot at the state meet if the Mounties can get past Arlington, which returns a strong squad, that is, on paper, the best team in the section.
Greany said she is feeling stronger than ever and that she has increased the intensity of all training sessions in comparison with years past. Greany and Hall agreed that she is also more confident in her running and her main focus will be to stay focused for 5,000 meters.
“We always talk about improving, improving her times, improving on the little things,” Hall said. “We don’t really say we want to win a state championship. But if you improve and work on all those little things, you’ll get there.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.