High Point trail named after cross-country star

By Sue Kvanali
WANTAGE — Sarah Disanza was surrounded by friends and fellow student-athletes on April 17 as the cross country trail at High Point High School was renamed "Disanza Trail" to commemorate her accomplishments.

“After a stellar high school career: state champion, Meet of Champions, 10th in the nation all-American, I think it’s only fitting to have the trail named after such a phenomenal student-athlete like Sarah," said High Point Athletic Director Todd Van Orden.

“I was so proud. It was really such an honor to have my athletic director and coaches come up with such an idea to begin with,” Disanza said.

She added that she felt satisfied knowing she was leaving a great legacy behind and was touched to have a trail named after her.

“I was more ecstatic than I could describe,” said Disanza.

She went on to explain that the cross country team is a close-knit group, they talk all the time, see each other everyday and have pasta parties before every race. “We’re really like family to each other,” said Disanza.

Disanza ran the Meet of Champions in Holmdel on Nov. 21, 2012. She described the course as being "one of the hardest in the state, it’s pretty rough."

“From the start, about 100 or 200 meters in, there’s a really large hill, and rolling hills and then they have a hill in the middle of the course, nicknamed the bowl, because it’s a bowlish shape,” said Disanza.

But Disanza had human markers of encouragement dotted along the course to help pull her through.

“My coaches and my teammates have been so extremely supportive,” said Disanza. “They all came to my Meet of Champions race. They bought face paint and chest paint. They were cheering me on and going to different places on the course the whole way."

Disanza placed first in the Meet of Champions 5k with a finish time of 17:47.

Although satisfied with her performance at the Meet of Champions, Disanza’s most defining moment of her high school career was her finish at the Nike Nationals in Portland, Oregon. The previous year she came in 53rd, a disappointing finish for the competitive Disanza. She vowed to not let that happen again and devoted her summer to training.

“I doubled my mileage and I trained so much harder and I changed my diet,” said Disanza.

Leading up to the race, she had a series of other competitions — a difficult itinerary of tough races scheduled days apart.

“I came in first in the Meet of Champions, a couple of days later I came in third in regionals and then when I went out to Nike Nationals I came in 10th, despite all the crazy mud,” she said.

Disanza was racing against approximately 200 other girls for the all-American title on an extremely difficult and notoriously muddy course. Finishing 10th in the nation was no small feat.

“That was probably my proudest moment. Just going back to the course that I really didn't do that well on and wanting to change the way that I left it," said Disanza.

Disanza has also left her namesake at High Point and now looks forward to continuing to break records at University of Wisconsin this fall.