By Greg Scharen
With two bloodied and scraped up knees, Henry Hudson Regional High School’s Corina Vidal finished New Jersey’s Meet of Champions in 16th place in the women’s 1,600-meter race, a huge let-down after being tripped in the third lap of the four-lap race. Prior to the fall she was in fourth place.
Vidal sees her fall as a motivator for the future.
Vidal said next year she will be focusing on running a sub-5-minute 1,600, which was what she was on pace to do before the fall. Getting back to the Meet of Champions to prove what she is capable of doing is another goal.
The 2018-19 season for the junior was been nothing short of spectacular as she won three Group 1 championships, in the 5,000 during the cross country season, and both the indoor and outdoor 1,600. She finished second in the 800 outdoor, keeping her just shy of four Group 1 championships.
Vidal was named to the 2019 All-Shore team earlier this week for her accomplishments.
“A bright spot was the Group Championships outdoors, that was when I PRed (set a personal record) and I ran the whole race by myself. So that was a big moment for me to show I could do it alone,” said Vidal, when asked about her favorite moment of the year.
At last year’s NJSIAA Group 1 Championship meet, Vidal ran a 5:11.74 in the 1,600, coming in third place. This year, she was running a 5:02.94, dropping her time by nearly nine seconds and winning the Group 1 title in the process.
This huge personal best time did not just happen overnight.
“Over the whole summer I just basically doubled the mileage I did last summer. I got a lot more serious about track going into junior year,” said Vidal.
While putting in the mileage over the summer helped tremendously, Vidal and her spring coach, Sarah Scheffer, have been doing other small things to optimize her performances. Maintaining a healthy diet and sleep regimen of eight hours a night on weekdays and 10 on weekends, Vidal has gone all in on her commitment to excellence.
“We don’t have a track, we don’t have a weight room, she doesn’t have any other runners to run with her, even on the boys’ team. We’re a small school. She’s getting all these PRs on her sheer grit and determination,” said Tim Lynch, the indoor track coach at Henry Hudson.
With the lack of competition in Group 1, Vidal gets excited for Monmouth County championships and the Shore Conference, where she can race against other girls from the neighboring schools who match her ability.
“Monmouth County and Shore Conference are some of the most fun races of the season. Every season I go in and I’m ready for that moment,” said Vidal.
She showed everyone what she can do in those races winning the 1,600 in both the indoor and outdoor seasons at Monmouth County Championships and winning the 1,600 at the Shore Conference Championships during the indoor season.
Approaching her senior season, Vidal is looking forward to getting new PRs in her events while also looking to commit to a college to continue her running career.
“I don’t have any specific schools in mind, but I want to commit by next fall, so I don’t worry about that,” said Vidal. “I want to expand on what I’ve already done next year so I want to hit low 18s at Holmdel, I want to break five in the mile and low 2:10s in the 800.”
Next season is looking very promising for the three-time group champion.
