Abrams became the first Cherry Hill West boys cross country runner in 42 years to win a sectional meet when he finished in first place in the South Jersey Group III meet on Nov. 5
In seasons past, Cherry Hill High School West boys’ cross country senior Robert Abrams has had the speed, stamina and determination to be one of the fastest runners for the Lions.
In 2016, however, Abrams added a new skill to his repertoire.
“In the past, he liked to go out and lead the race and do all the work,” head coach James Cox said. “This year, we told him sometimes it’s better to let the race come to you rather than leading.”
Abrams’ strategic running has paid off in a big way over the last month. Abrams won the Camden County Championship on Oct. 14, dashed to a personal best time in a second-place finish at the Olympic Conference Championship on Oct. 21 and became the first Cherry Hill West runner in more than 40 years to win a sectional title when he won the South Jersey Group III sectional race last Saturday.
Abrams was the first Lion to win an individual sectional race since Marty Ludwikowski in 1974.
“I was kind of surprised,” Abrams said about how long it had been since a sectional champion at Cherry Hill West. “That was really a good feeling.”
Abrams began running cross country in the seventh grade at Carusi Middle School, but said he didn’t really take the sport seriously until his junior year at Cherry Hill West in 2015.
“I made a lot of friends from cross country in middle school and high school,” Abrams said. “I also saw the people that were better than me. I wanted to get to that same level as them.”
In 2015, Abrams had a number of good runs. He finished sixth in the Camden County Championships, and was the fast runner for Cherry Hill West in both the Olympic Conference Championships as well as the South Jersey Group III sectional meet.
For his senior year, Abrams knew he had the ability to contend for wins and put extra emphasis on training.
“I’ve done more volume than I had last year,” Abrams said. “That’s helped my times improve. Getting in some summer training also helped.”
Cox feels Abrams’ biggest improvements occurred in the second half of the season. Early in the year, Abrams came up short of first place at meets such as the South Jersey Open on Oct. 8. In that meet, Shawnee High School senior Mark Miller and Cherry Hill High School East seniors Tyler Parsons and Marc Meltzer all beat Abrams by more than 10 seconds.
Two weeks later in the Olympic Conference Championships, Abrams ran against those same three runners again. This time, he beat all three, finishing with a season-best time of 15:56.74, his first time under 16 minutes in a major varsity meet.
“Knowing we had Cherokee there, knowing we had Cherry Hill East kids, the strategy that day was to sit and let them dictate what was going to happen,” Cox said.
“He beat kids he hadn’t been able to beat before,” Cox added. “Right now, he has more confidence.”
Abrams said the Olympic Conference Championship performance gave him confidence heading into sectionals. With many of the top Olympic Conference runners in South Jersey Group IV, Abrams felt he’d have no issues tackling South Jersey Group III.
“I knew Group IV was better than Group III, and I had known I had beaten a lot of the Group IV guys,” Abrams said.
Abrams is proud of his sectional title, but he has a bigger goal of reaching the NJSIAA Meet of Champions on Nov. 19. To qualify, he has to finish in the top five in the NJSIAA Group III state championship meet at Holmdel Park on Saturday. Last year, Abrams finished in 60th place with a time of 17:42.
Cox feels Abrams’ achievements this season will serve as an example for Cherry Hill West’s cross country program moving forward. In his first year as boys cross country head coach, Cox is hoping to build the program so it can compete on the team level with conference rivals such as Cherokee High School, Cherry Hill East and Shawnee. Cherry Hill West boys cross country’s only sectional team title came in the same year as Ludwikowski’s sectional win in 1974.
“A lot of these kids have seen him run from middle school up,” Cox said. “They see how hard he works and ask ‘Why is he so good?’ He’s so good because he puts an effort in.”
“The harder you work and the more you put into it, the more you’re going to get out of it,” Cox said. “I think that’s what’s going to change this program.”
