Ed Grant's Cross Country News Letter
Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
Week eleven of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
A good beginning did not make for a good ending for New Jersey
athletes at the Northeast Footlocker trials Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park.
The day could not have started off better for the Garden State
contingent with victories in the first three class races. Greg Bredeck of
Cherokee started things off by winning the frosh boys race in 17:15. Brian
Dennis of Hillsboro was 7th and Joe Ennis of West Windsor-Plainsboro South
9th.
Less than half of the talented frosh girls crew were in that race,
but all finished in the top 10 with Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield an easy
winner in 19:32, almost exactly the time she had run two weeks earlier in
winning the Gr. III title. Carolyn Calhoun of Ewing was 4th in 20:03, Jenn
Ennis of Roxbury 7th in 20:11 nd Amy Van Alstine 9th on 20:13.. The Junior
Olympic girls---Jen Croghan of Lacordaire, Brittnee Bynoe of Willingboro and
Kellee Hand of Howell---skipped the race, Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City
chose the championship event, running 19:48, and Jen Clausen of Jackson
rested her injured leg.
Chris Pisano of Toms River North made it three in a row as he
defeated Sean McLaughlin of Cherokee by 70 yards in the boys sohomore race
in 16:45. Tom Yersak of Cherokee was 5th and James LaGreca of Demarest 6th.
Our top soph, Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's naturally chose the
championship event.
The girls' title race saw the trotter twins start off conservatively
as Saratoga frosh Nicole Blood led the field into the hills with a fast
pace. Katy and Amanda were at least 50 yards back at the mile mark, running
around 30th, but obviously ready to make a move.
But when the runners came out of the hills, the twins had separated
for only the second time this season. Katy was running comfortably in 4th
place (she eventually finished 3rd in 17:54, joining the very exclusive
sub-18:00 club at Van Cortlandt), but Amanda was struggling back in 10th
spot, which she lost to Jesse Mizzone of Passaic Valley who ran 18:39.
Lindsay Van Alstine of Hawthorne Christian gave some idea of what
might have been had she not missed six weeks of practice and competition as
she finished 17th in 18:57. Parochial A champ Bridget Skeuse of Immaculate
completed NJ's top five in 25th at 19:11. Though their score definitely
added up to 66 points, it somehow came out as 64 and gave the girls a narrow
edge over Massachusetts for second place in the team standings. New York, as
expected, won handily..
The boys' field was the most well-balanced ever and NJ had an
ouitside hope of one qualifier even though AG champ Mohammed Khadraoui
skipped the meet to rest an aching toe which had bothered him through the
last month of the season.
The race was, indeed, a close one with seven seconds separating the
first seven runners. Unfortunately, the closest we came to a qualifier was a
typo which put winner Brendan Fennell of Pearl River in "NJ"---it might, in
fact, not have been a typo since it could be that he lives in a part of that
border down serviced by a NJ post office.
It was not surprising that the first NJ runner over the line, in
10th place, was Justin Scheid of Pope John who had something to prove after
placing 6th a week earlier in the AG meet. Justin took 13 seconds off his
time there as he ran 15:52, the only NJ leader to improve on his AG
performance.
Keith Krieger of Cherokee made it four "seconds" in a row as he
placed 12th in 15:56 and then came Chris Pannone of Hunterdon Central in
15th at 16:00 (his third race in a row around the 16-minute mark), Greg
Hughes of Mainland in 22nd at 16:13 and Peter Hess of Toms River North in
23rd in 16:14.
Papazian had the most to prove of any NJ runner in the race and he
did just that by finishing two two paces (and one second) behind Hess,
followed immediately by Paul Kornaszewski of Clifton. Among the other high
finishers behind him were Jon Anderson of Cinnaminson in 32nd at 16:20, Dan
Deihcert of Eastern in 33rd, also in 16:20, and John Richardson of Ocean
City in 39th in 16:27 He was also the second sophomore overall to finish in
the race.
The races which followed the title event continued the NJ success
story. Robert Dennis of Red Bank led neighbor Conrad Laskowski of Red Bank
Catholic in a 1-2 finish in the junior race in 16:24 and Joe Kingsbery of
red Bank, stright off the soccer field, was 4th in 16:49, not quite matching
older brother Walton's victory in similar circumstances four years ago.
Robin McDowell of Shawnee and Justine Lupo of Ridgewood finished 2-3
in the girls' junior event in 19:53 and 20:02 with Liz Hankinson of Oak
Knoll 5th in 20:09.
Matt Piccarello of RBC made it five wins as he took the senior race
in 16:44, while Grace Nuzzi of St. Joseph, Hammonton was 2nd in the senior
girls event in 20:13.
Week ten of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
TOPS TENS
BOYS GIRLS
1. Mainland 1. Shawnee
2. Toms River North 2. Toms River East
3. Christian Brothers 3. Middletown South
4. Hunterdon Central 4. Jackson
5. Cherokee 5. Hopewell Valley
6. Haddonfield 6. Moorestown
7. Cinnaminson 7. Voorhees
8. Old Bridge 8. North Hunterdon
9. Bridgewater-Raritan 9. Montville
10. Ridgewood 10. Princeton
With the all-group titles decided, now comes the individual
highlight of the 2002 cross-country season, the Footlocker Northeastern
trials at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday, beginning with the freshman boys
race at 9:45 a.m.
New Jersey hopes are high for at least three places in the national
meet which will return this year to Balboa Park in San Diego. The Trotter
twins are certainly favored to take two of the eight girls' places, while
any one of half a dozen boys has a shot at the trip to California.
The competition will be tough. New York champ Nicole Blood of
Saratoga heads a strong girls' field. With Brian Dalpiaz of Sayville,
NY.having opted out of the boys' compeition to rest for the indoor
season---he had an appendectomy just before the cross-country season
began--- there is no natural favorite among the boys, but a carload of
talented runners.
The Trotters reverted to their usual "tie" at the all-group meet
last Sturday at Holmdel, Katy confounding the officials when she stopped
dead just before crossing the line, allowing Amanda to take the honors. (New
Jersey Track, having no compulsion to respect the silly "no tie" rule, will
list them as what they really are, co-champions)
Their time, however, was a little disappointing. The strong winds
which swept Holmdel that day made a sub-18:00 attempt inadvisable, Their
chance at joining the four girls who have broken that mark at Holmdel was
lost when they didn't go for it during the perfect weather of the
sectionals two weeks earlier.
The girls' individual race followed form only to third place, taken
by Jesse Mizzone of Passaic Valley, who had finished 2nd a year ago. After
that, it fell completely apart with a combination of major advances by some
athletes and complete breakdown for others. This was symbolized by the
fourth-place finish of Mendham soph Karen Guthrie, who had finished 7th a
week earlier in the Gr. III race.
Hardest hit were the freshman girls, only two of whom repeated their
group form, Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City placing 5th in 19:24 and Alison
Root of Toms River East 10th in 19:43. Jen Clausen of Jackson, biggest
winner among the frosh this fall, limped home in 108th position, more than
two minutes behind her best time at Holmdel this season. Jen Croghan of
Lacordaire, the Parochial B champ, was a minute slower this time in 39th
place at 20:25.
Guthrie, of course, had the greatest improvement, but not far behind
was Kathy Henry of Ridge, who finished 9th after placing 11th in both her
sectional and group outings. (She only advanced to the group meet as leader
of a 5th-place team.)
Shawnee repeated its Gr. IV victory over Toms River East with a
wider margin, 69-84. This was the Renegades' third all-group victory and was
also a going-away present for retiring coach Mike Yurcho. As usual, it was
team balance that did the trick, KIm Bonner leading the way in 10th place at
19:43 and the other four finishing within 14 seconds, three of them within
three seconds after TRE had put three runners over the line,
Middletown South concluded a great season as it finished third with
defending champ Moorestown having its best outing of the season in fourth.
Hopewell Valley had its one bad race of an otherwise great season at just
the wrong time and wound up sixth, its team average being some 30 seconds or
more slower than in its three previous Holmdel outings this season.
The boys' individual race saw a mild upset as Mohamed Khadraoui of
Paterson Kennedy edged Keith Krieger of Cherokee in 15:47 with favored Peter
Hess of Toms River North another 50 yards back in third. This was only
Khadraoui's second race at Holmdel and he evidently learned a lot in his
first race on the muddy course a week earlier.
All three of these boys nurse Footlocker hopes, but the next three
cannot be entirely counted out either. Chris Pannone of Hunterdon Central
almost exactly duplicated his Gr. IV time at 15:58 Robert Edwards of
Bridgeton improved by some 37 seconds to 15:59 and Justin Scheid of Pope
John, caught in heavy traffic at the start took 10 seconds off his winning
Parochial B time at 16:05. They will, if nothing else, make a formidable
team in the state contest at Van Cortlandt and may well be augmented by prep
stars Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's---who has been running up a storm
the past few weeks in Junior Olympic competiton---and Mike Kerrigan of
Blair.
The boys showed much better consistency in the AG race than the
girls with no really noticeable failures. But there was one notable
improvement, Oskar Nordenbring of Montclair-Kimberley Academy taking 38
seconds off his disappointing PB time with a 16:24 to place 15th.
And it was also a big day for Jeremy Zagorski of Parsippany Hills,
who had been written off as a cross-country runner by many after mid-season
failures on the local level. His "renaissance" began with a sectional
victory, followed with a 4th place finish in the Gr. III race and climaxed
with a 10th place last Saturday with a Holmdel PR of 16:16.
It was, in fact, a pretty good day all around for the state's miling
elite. There was, of course, Edwards' sub-16:00 race, while John Richardson
of Ocean City was 12th in 16:21. We should expect some very fast eight-lap
races early this winter as all three bid for a place in the scholastic mile
at the Millrose Games.
The only surprise in the boys' team competition was its closeness.
Mainland, No. 1 team all season, won as expected, but with only a
three-point margin over Toms River North, CBA finishing 3rd with 147as
Hunterdon Central suffered a fifth-man failure. All three teams will be very
much in the picture next year: Mainland and TR North lose only one of their
top six, CBA gets its top five back.
Several top 10 teams ran without regulars last Saturday. Haddonfield
had two regulars missing, notably No. 3 man Tim Vitez, Cherokee was without
No. 2 man Sean McLaughlin.
A word about the Top Ten rankings. They are based on teams'
full-season performaces with the group and all-group races given almost
equal weight. It is our experience that only teams with a real shot at the
AG title will, for the most part, give a full effort in that race, for
example, resting any athlete who may have nursed a slight injury through the
group level. (Some years ago, we actually gave the No. 1 ranking to the team
which placed second in the AG race, since it had beaten the winner in two
major races the two previous weeks and also had an early season victiory to
its credit.)
Coming up soon: a review of NJ efforts at the Footlocker meet and
the all-state teams, varsity and, later, freshmen.
Again, if you want a permanent reecord of highlights of the
cross-country and other seasons, it is available through a subscirption to
New Jersey Track. Just write to us at 101 Greenwich Court, Madison, NJ 07940
Week nine of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
TOP TENS
BOYS GIRLS
1. Mainland 1. Shawnee
2. Christian Brothers 2. Toms River East
3. Toms River North 3. Hopewell Valley
4. Hunterdon Central 4. Jackson
5. Cherokee 5. Middletown South
6. Haddonfield 6. Voorhees
7. Old Bridge 7. North Hunterdon
8. Bridgewater-Raritan 8. Montville
9. Ridgewood 9. Moorestown
10. Hillsboru 10. Princeton
It was a day of survival for both athletes and spectators at the 84th
annual New Jersey group CC championships Saturday at Holmdel County Park and
the athletes may actually had the best of it.
While the course itself was mostly on a gravel surface laid down a
few years ago, the spectators had to trampt through acres of mud to get back
and forth between the starting and finish, which are about 300 yards apart
at Holmdel. And their constant migrations as each race went off and finished
only made matters worse.
Despite the weather---chilly with a light rain at the start that
grew heavier as the day progressed--there were some excellent performances,
headed by an 18:20 from Katy Trotter in the Gr. III girls race and a 15:44
for Peter Hess of Toms River North in the Gr. IV boys event
Twenty-seven girls ran under 20:00 in the six girls races, including
Lindsay Van Alstine of Hawthornhe Christian, who, while unable to make it
four in a row in the Parochial B race, finished an easy 2nd in 19:40, not
bad after a six-week layoff with a stress fracture.
No less than 52 boys ran under 17:00 and it would have been a lot
more had not the weather hit hardest during the Parochial A event, which had
the second-strongest field going into the day.
The changing weather helped to confuse the team pictures for next
Saturday's all-group meet. Toms River North and Mainland had identical team
averages of 16:41 (with Hunterdon Central just a second behind), but the
latter was running in inferior conditions later in the meet. And CBA, which
ran only 16:57, had the combination of no real team threat and the bad
weather already alluded to.
Shawnee and Toms River east had much the best girls; performances,
but again enjoyed better conditions than did Hopewell Valley, which ran
later in the day.
Individually, the girls' AG race still looks like a cakewalk for the
Trotter twins, with Jesse Mizzone of Passaic Valley heading the battle for
third place.
The boys' race is still wide open with Hee perhaps having a slight
edge over Chris Platt of Haddonfield, Keith Krieger of Haddonfield, Mohamed
Khadraoui of Paterson Kennedy, Greg Hughes of Mainland, John Richardson of
Ocean City, Jon Anderson of Cinnaminson and Justin Scheid of Pope John
A quick look at each of the group races::
Boys
Gr. IV: Hess won the race in a driving finish with Kreiger, who at
times seemed more worried about the bad footing of the closing yards than
catching his rival.Khadraoui, in his first race at Homdel this year, was not
far back, also under 16:00.
TR North edged Hunterdon Central, 89-91, in the first of several
close team races, the difference coming when TRN picked up 11 points on the
respective third-men finishes. The first five teams made the AG race,
Cherokee, Old Bridge and Bridgewater-Raritan trailing in that order.
Gr. III: Mainland had no trouble winning here, 38-108, over Ocean
City and also picked up the individual title as Hughes reversed last week's
sectional loss to Richardson, winning by 10 yards in 16:14. The surprise
here was the excellent race by miler Jeremy Zagorski of Parsippany Hills, an
inconsistent CC runner, who was 4th in 16:24. Mainland
showed good depth with four boys under 17:00 and two more just over that
mark.
Gr. II: This was a double repeat for Haddonfield, which reversed
an early season loss here to Cinnaminson, 45-57, and also for Platt, who
atoned for a 4th-place finish in that October race with a 20-yard win
Anderson in 16:10. Junior Matt Klypka of third-place Indian Hills surprised
by taking 3rd from outdoor 800M champ Robbie Edwards
of Bridgeton in 16:31.
Gr. I: Shore Regional just missed making it a third double as it
reversed a sectional loss to Bernards, 71-75, o retain its team title, but
saw ace Marc Altenau lose his indidvidual crown to Evan Geilich of Bernards,
who ran 17;04 in the day's opening race. Maple Shade was only
another five points behind Bernards in 3rd.
PA: CBA did make it three doubles with something to spare as it
defeated Delbarton, 42-95, in this one and got a 1-2 finish from Will
Melofchik and Pat Ryan in 16:29 and 16:39. But it couldn't come close to its
earlier sub 16:50 averages. Don Bosco picked up the third qualifying slot,.
PB: A long-awaited duel between two-time defender Oskar Nordenbring
of Montclair-Kimberley Academy and Scheid, both undefeated this season in
NJWeek eight of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
TOP TENS
BOYS GIRLS
1. Mainland 1. Toms River East
2. Hunterdon Central 2. Hunterdon Central
3. Christian Brothers 3. Shawnee
4. Toms River Noth 4. Moorestown
5. Haddonfield 5. Jackson
6. Cherokee 6. Middletown South
7. Ridgewood 7. Voorhees
8. Cinnaminson 8. Shore
9. Old Bridge 9. Red Bank
10. Bridgwater 10. Princeton
Hillsboro
The biggest news leading into this Saturday's group championships at
Holmdel County Park happened not at the four sectional sites last weekend,
but in a doctor's office on Monday when defending girls' all-group champ
Lindsay Van Alstine of Hawthorne Christian was given the go-ahead to compete
in the Parochial B race.
There are, of course, question marks about her condition after a
layoff that began more than a month ago, but presumably Lindsay has engaged
in cross-training to maintain the condition which marked her early victories
this fall. She should have no trouble wualifying for the all-group meet, so
she will go into the all-group meet with 10 days of training and racing
behind her.
She will have to be in prime condition to win a second all-group
title against the double challenge of the Trotter twins, who had a season's
low of 18:16 apiece in the Central Jersey Gr. III race last Saturday. One
thing is sure: the return of Van Alstine means that we just might see an
all-out race by the twins for the first time in NJ this season.
While the Trotters obviously provided the individual highlight of
the 16 girls' sectional races, it was more difficult to choose the top boy
performance, though it certainly came from the South Jersey meet at Delsea
HS. Peter Hess of Toms River North won a close Gr. IV race from Keith
Krieger of Cherokee in 15:18; Chris Platt had an easier time taking the Gr.
II title from Robbie Edwards of Bridgeton in 15:24. And there were excellent
performances from Mohamed Khadraoui of Paterson Kennedy in the North Jersey
1 Gr. IV race at Garret Mountain and from Justin Scheid of Pope John in the
New Jersey Catholic Track Conference race on the muddy and no-spikes course
at Warinanco Park.
Teamwise, the top boys' performance was undoubtedly Hunterdon
Central's winning effort in Gr. IV at Holmdel, a race that had four strong
candidates for all-group places. But Mainland wasn't that far behind as it
easily defended its South Jersey crown and remains No. 1 in the state, a
post it has held all season.
Toms River East, however, took over top place among the girls with
its 19:31 average in the Gr. IV race at Delsea. This rates quite a bit
faster than the 20:22 turned in by Hopewell Valley in taking the Gr. II race
at Holmdel. And Shawnee was only eight second a girl behind the Raiders.
Let's now take a look at the group meet, with a review of sectional
action included:
BOYS
Gr. IV: There could be five AG team qualifiers from this race, but
there are six contenders, so someone will get hurt. Hunterdon Central and
Toms River North, which easily defeated Cherokee in South Jersey, are the
top pair, with Bridgewater, Hillsboro, Old Bridge and Ridgewood scrapping
for the other spots. Only four points separated Bridgewater, Hillsboro and
Old Bridge in the CJ race. And the Knights ran much out of order with usual
leader Rich Lafergiola their 5th man over the line.
Individually, this will probably be a repeat of the SJ race between
Hess and Krieger with CJ champ Chris Pannone of Huntdreon Central and
mystery man Khadraoui (who has never run off the Garret course) the dark
horses.
Gr. III: No question about the team winner here; Maianland is in a
clas sby itself. The scrap will be for the other two places among Ocean
City, surprise CJ winner Middletown South, Red Bank (which had three in the
top 10 last Saturday, but got a terrible race from usual No. 2 man Jovannie
Cortez) and Cranford.
Individual favorites are SJ champ John Richardson of Ocean City and
CJ winner Robbie Dennis of Red Bank, who has "home court" advantage, having
run four major races at Holmdel this year. The dark horse is indoor state
1600 champ Jeremy Zagorski of Parsippany Hills, who suddenly came alive last
Saturday to upset Ed Clinton of Cranford for the North Jersey 2 title.
Gr. II: This will be the rubber match between Haddonfield and
Cinnaminson, which have split their two meetings this fall. The Haddons,
defending AG champs, are at top form right now, but could still use a little
more help from John Bernetich, who has yet to show his sophomore form. The
other three sectional champs, Matawan, Hanover Park and Indian Hills are
well-matched for the third AG qualifying spot.
Platt seems back in top form and, if so, will have no trouble
defending his individual title.against Edwards, who was 75 yards back last
Saturday on a course more suitable to his talents. The dark horse here, and
probably successor to Platt next year, is Matawan soph Thomas Walsh who won
the CJ title and has been simply sensational since joining the Huskies in
mid-season.
Gr. I: Bernards shocked group defender Shore to win a close Central
Jersey race, while Maple Shade ran away from its SJ rivals. These three
should qualify easily, but in what order is still a question.
Marc Altenau of Shore salvaged his individual crown and seems to
have no serious rival from the other sectional winners, though newcomer Tom
Gemignani of Keansburg and Evan Geilich of Bernards were pretty close to him
in the CJ race.
Parochial A: Christian Brothers outclases the field here, but there
will be quite a battle for the other two AG alots among Morris County champ
Delbarton, South Jersey Parochial winner (and Camden County champ) Paul VI,
Red Bank Catholic and Don Bosco.
The individual field is a strong one, led by Will Melofchik and Pat
Ryan of CBA, Sean Swift and Peter Gerboth of Don Bosco, Paul Rosa of
Delbarton and Andrew Vernon of Paul VI. Gerboth, Rosa (who rested last
Saturday) and Vernon are all county champs as is John Laracy of St. Peter's.
Parochial B: Sussex County champ Pope John heads this field with
Bishop Eustace, Oratory and Montclair-Kimberley Academy the other all-group
contenders.
The indidvidual race will be a hot one with Scheid going against
Oskar Nordenbring of Montclair-Kimberley Academy, who has won all his races
this fall and is going for a third straight PB title.
GIRLS
iv: The big question here is how Mara McInerney, who led Old Bridge
to the title last year, will fare in her first major race of the season. The
Knights managed to win the CJ title last weekend, but their perfroamce left
them looking like a wild card hopeful behind Toms River East, Shawnee and
Jackson. Their competition will come from Brick, Cherokee and Morristown and
there is no guarantee that there will be any spots available after the Gr.
III finish later in the day.
After a lapse at the Shore Conference meet, Jackson frosh was back
to her winning ways at the SJ meet. Her competion will come from another of
the yearling class, Morris County and NJ 2 champ Jenn Ennis of Roxbury. A
third frosh, Kellee Hand of Howell, took the CJ crown.
Gr. III: This could be one of the closest team races of the day with
Moorestown and a suddenly-revived Middletown South team the main contenders.
Red Bank had the fastest average last Saturday, but that was entirely due to
the twins as the Bucs were only third behind Middletown South and a
surprising Princeton team in CJ. Also in the wild card picture are the 1-2
NJ 2 finishers, Morris Knolls and Montville.
There is naturally only oner question about the individual
winner here: which twin will get the official's nod. Defender Jesse Mizzone
of Passaic Valley, Dilshanie Perera of Princeton and NJ 2 winner Ashley Wolf
of Montville will scrap for third. Missing, unfortunately will be Ewing
frosh Colleen Calhoun, who ran 19:28 for third behind the twins last
Saturday, but committed the heinous offnse of wearing a pair of tiny
earrings which, as Ed Scullion put it, "probably made her run a lot faster,
Gr. II: This will be a repeat of the CJ race between Hopewell Valley
and Voorhees, with HoVall having an obvious edge with its closeknit pack.
The third spot will probably go to Haddonfield, though Pinelands, which also
had a season's best race last Saturday, its closest rival
Sara Best of Voorhees heads the individual field with her 19:34 win
at Holmdel last saturday, but she has two interesting rivals: the versatile
Megs DiDario of Berkeley Heights, who is undefeated this fall, and
Haddonfield frosh Vanessa Wright,one of six frosh to win sectionals titles
last Saturday.
Gr. I: Unlike the boys, the Shore Regional girls came through with
flying colors last Saturday and should have no trouble retaining their
title. Three teams will battle for the other two AG places, SJ winner Pt.
Pleasant Beach, Gloucester and NJ 2 champ Mountain Lakes
The inidvidual race could be a repeat of the Central Jersey contest
which saw Julie Ullmeyer of Shore finished 25 yards ahead of Grace deMarrais
of Bernards. There is an interesting possibility, however, in the presence
of Amy Van Alstine of Midland Park, kid sister of Lindsay, who was another
of the frosh sectional winners in NJ 1.
Parochial A: Probably the most wide open team race of the day with
five possible winners: Red Bank Catholic, which took the NJCTC title last
Saturday; Paul VI, the South Jersey Parochial winner; Msgr. Donovan, another
of the "come alive" teams last Saturday with a second in the NJCTC meet; Mt.
St. Mary's and Bergen County champ Immaculate Heart Academy. RBC naturally
has home court advantage and also the best bunched team of the lot.
There seems little doubt, however, about the individual winner,
Bridget Skeuse of Immaculata has been running up a storm this fall, taking
the Somerset County title and the NJCTC crown with the best time at
Warinanco that day. Battling for second will be Lead Brogan of Msgr. Donovan
and South Jersey Parochial winner Erin Sigwart of Paul VI.
Parochial B: Lindsay Van Alstine will not have an easy time here
aginst Lacordaire frosh Jen Croghan, who finished only 10 yards behind
Skeuse in the NJCTC race. The race for third will be between Liz Hankinson
of Oak Knoll and Grace Nuzzi of St. Joseph, Hammonton, runner-up to Sigwart.
The team batte should be close among Bishop Eustace, Pingry and
newcomer Oak Knoll, which has enjoyed quite a fall, taking both conference
and county honors.(Its coaches certainly, as CC runners in their time,
outclass any other combination in the state: Tim Lear and Anthony
DeBenedictis)
Week seven of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
TOP TEAMS
BOYS GIRLS
1. Mainland 1. Hopewell Valley
2. Christian Brothers 2. Toms River East
3. Toms River North 3. Moorestown
4. Old Breidge 4. Shawnee
5. Huntedon Central 5. Jackson
6. Haddonfield 6. North Hunterdon
7. Cherokee 7. Voorhees
8. Cinnaminson 8. Middletown South
9. Red Bank 9. Southern Regional
10. Ridgewood 10. Red Bank
Action gets under way Nov. 9 in the 64th annual state cross-country
championships with one new site for the sectionals, inevitably in South
Jersey at Delsea High School. The group and all-group meets will, as usual,
be at Holmdel County Park on Nov. 16 and 23, respectively.
So let’s take a look at what may happen:
BOYS
GROUP IV
Defending Old Bridge is going to have its hands full this time with Toms
River North and Hunterdon Central, the latter in both sectional and group
meets. The Knights’ balanced lineup will likely have to come from behind
after each of its rivals puts three runners over the line.
The other sectional winners seem apparent: TR North in South Jersey over
defending Cherokee, West Orange for the first time in North Jersey 2 and
West Milford in North Jersey 1. And this group could get five places in the
AG meet with Cherokee and West Orange joining the top three as wild cards.
Individually, Peter Hess of Toms River North and Keith Krieger of
Cherokee, who have not met this season, seem the class of a strong field,
but the question mark is Mohamed Khadraoui of Paterson Kennedy who has not
run out of Garret Mtn all fall. The other sectional favorites are Dave
Alfano of West Orange in NJ 2 and Chris Pannone of Hunterdon Central in CJ.
GROUP III
Mainland has this one to itself, with Red Bank and Cranford the other
probable qualifiers and also sectional favorites in CJ and NJ 2. River Dell
should continue its season-long winning ways in NJ 1.
The individual field is dominated by SJ, with Greg Hughes of Maianland,
Eddie Baynes of TR South and John Richardson of Ocean City, but they could
be trumped at Holmdel by home-standing Robbie Dennis of Red Bank who will
be running his 5th major race there this season. The NJ favorites, soph James
LaGreca of Demarest in 1 and Ed Clinton of Cranford in 2, do not figure.
GROUP II
Strictly a SJ affair with defending Haddonfield and Cinnaminson well
ahead of the other sectional favorites: Indian Hills in NJ 1, Hanover Park in NJ
2 and Matawan in CJ. It’s the same individually, with defending Chris Platt
of Haddon-field and Jon Anderson of Cinnaminson having the edge on the
other putative sectional winners: Matt Klypka of Indian Hills, Shawn Shokry
of Hanover Park and soph Thomas Walsh of Matawan.
GROUP I
Defending Shore may have a lot of trouble with Maple Shade in this one.
Neither one should have any trouble on the sectional level and the other
local favorites, Palisades Park in NJ 1 and New Prov-idence in NJ 2 are not
in the same league.
Marc Altenau of Shore should defend his group title, with his main
competition coming from the “Three Amigos” of NJ 1: Steve Begley of
Cresskill, Sean Emmerling of Palisades Park and Rafael Abreu of Leonia.
Chris Voss of Woodstown heads the SJ field and Paul Theratill of New
Providence looks best in NJ 2.
PAROCHIAL A
No one figures to bother Christian Brothers here and Delbarton may have a
lock on the second spot with the other contenders---St. John Vianney, Red
Bank Catholic, Don Bosco and Paul VI---lacking its balance.
The individual race here is wide open, led by Will Melofchik and Pat
Ryan of CBA, Morris County champ Paul Rosa of Delbarton, Bergen County
champ Peter Gerboth of Don Bosco and his teammate, Sean Swith, Conrad Laskowski
and Matt Piccarello of Red Bank catholic and Camden County champ Andrew
Vernon of Paul VI.
PAROCHIAL B
Pope John is the solid favorite here, with the other two all-group
spots up for grabs among Bishop Eustace, Oratory and Montclair-Kimberley
Academy. Individually, Oskar Nordenbring of MKA goes for his third in a row
with Justin Scheid of Pope John the only one in his way. Both are juniors
and, next year, could give this oft-scorned group a 1-2 finish in the AG
meet.
GIRLS
GROUP IV
South Jersey has three of the four top teams here: Toms River East,
Shawnee and Jackson, while Central Jersey contributes defender Old Bridge,
still hoping for some assistance from 2001 leader Mara McInerney. Westfield
and Ridgewood should win the North Jersey sections, but probably won’t run
fast enough to gain the other wild card slot.
Two freshmen should win their sectionals and may go 1-2 in the group
race,
Jen Clausen of Jackson and Jenn Ennis of Roxbury. Shaneika Bernard of
Hackensack is the class in NJ 1, but had to drop out of the Bergen County
IV race two weeks ago. The CJ race is up for grabs with another frosh, Kellee
Hand of Howell, going against Middlesex champ Shannon Robinson of Old
Bridge.
GROUP III
Defending AG champ Moorestown jumped a group this year and, despite some
personnel problems, has won all its big ones this fall. Its competition will
come from CJ rivals Middletown South and North Hunterdon, both of whom ran
well in their most recent races, and Montville, which also was in Gr. II
last year and has just welcomed back its lead runner, Ashley Wolf. Old
Tappan and Wayne Valley will contend for the NJ 1 title.
The individual picture is very clear and yet muddled: which of the Trotter
twins will get the official nod and will they go all out for a sub-18:00
Valley---who has won the past two years---in NJ 1, Wolf in NJ 2 and Meghan
Hughes of Moorestown in what could be a very close race with Brittnee Bynoe
of Willingboro.
GROUP II
Hopewell Valley has been No. 1 all season and should continue here,
though it will get some competition from Voorhees in both sectional and group
races. These two will certainly advance to the AG meet, probably joined by
the South Jersey favorite, Haddonfield. Kittatinny and Summit had the NJ
fields.
This is one race where all the sectional favorites have a shot at the
title: Meghan Gaffney of Pompton Lakes in NJ 1, Megs DiDario of Berkeley
Heights in NJ 2, Sara Best of Voorhees in CJ and frosh Vanessa Wright of
Haddonfield in SJ.
GROUP I
Unlike its boys’ team, defending Shore is a certain winner here after its
4th place finish in the Shore Conference meet. The other AG slots will be
contested by NJ 1 favorite Glen Rock and SJ contenders Schalick and
Gloucester. Mountain Lakes looks like a repeater in NJ 2, but could get
trouble from New Providence.
After her travails of last year, Julie Ullmeyer of Shore seems back in
her frosh form and should win sectional and group titles han-dily. Jenn
Lippincott of Schalick heads the SJ field, Katie Chambers of Mountain Lakes
is in a class by herself in NJ 2 and NJ 1 offers the interesting prospect
of a win by frosh Amy Van Alstine of Midland Park, younger sister of 2001 AG
champ Lindsay.
PAROCHIAL A
Immaculate Heart Academy claimed favored status here after winning the
Bergen County MC so handily. Red Bank Catholic and Mt. St. Mary’s have the
best shot at the other two AG spots, with Paul VI and St. Dominic Academy
perhaps a year away.
Two girls dominate the individual field, Somerset County champ Bridget
Skeuse of Immaculate and Leah Brogan of Msgr. Donovan.
PAROCHIAL B
Oak Knoll goes for its first state title with a four-meet string of
victories behind it. (This could be broken this weekend when the Royals
meet PA favorite IHA in the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference meet.) Pingry,
Bishop Eustace and Pope John will battle for the other AG slots
With three-time winner Lindsay Van Alstine apparently out of the
picture, the individual race is up for grams with onetime classmates Liz
Hankinson of Oak Knoll and Amanda Smith of Pingry probably chasing frosh
Jen Croghan of Lacordaire over the line.
Week six of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
TOP TEN
BOYS GIRLS
1. Mainland 1. Hopewell Valley
2. Christian Brothers 2. Toms River East
3.Haddonfield 3. Shawnee
4. Old Bridge 4. Moorestown
5. Hunterdon Central 5. Brick
6. Toms River North 6. Jackson
7. Cherokee 7. Southern Regional
8. Cinnaminson 8. Old Bridge
9. Red Bank 9. Voorhees
10. Ridgewood 10. North Hunterdon
A generation ago, the Hunterdon Harriers, as they were known, twice
won national Junior Olympic team honors, first as 11-12-year-olds, then,
with a slightly altered lineup, as 15-16-year-olds/
Essentially, the Harriers were composed of the same boys who led
North Hunterdon to the AG CC championship in 1983---Andy Martin, Gavin
Sloane and Billy Babcock (Brad Hudson was not a member of the team in either
race; his JO orientation was in a different direction.) Among those who
joined them for one or both teams were two of Bill Weingart's St. Francis,
Metuchen, products, Joey O'Connor and Jake McCarthy, Jim Herdman of
Hunterdon Central (on the 15-16 team only) and Andy O'Donnell, who had run
in George Miller's Hunterdon County programs from an early age and later was
part of a great Delbarton team, and Randy Valentine, scion of one of the
state's more notable CC families.
Since then, we have seen the Shore AC girls, led by Julie Ullmeyer,
win a couple of girls' national crowns and now, it seems some of the state's
top freshman girls of this season are poised to make an assault on the 13-14
division.
The first round come up this Sunday at Stockton State College and
this will be merely a training session for the likes of Jen Croghan of
Lacordaire School, Jenn Ennis of Roxbury, Brittnee Bynoe of Willingboro and
Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield. Among others who may join them is Lauren
Gregory of Morris Knolls, who had quite a duel with Ennis in the Iron
Division of the Iron Hills Confernce last Saturday at Warinanco Park.
Bynoe and Wright have no scholastic action this week, as Brittnee
completed her local season last Friday with a stunning upset of Meghan
Hughes in the Burlington County championships at Mill Creek Park in
Willingboro, whileVanessa has no conference race race since the Colonial
Conference prefers to decide its champion in dual meets only.
But it will be a busy week for Croghan, who goes for a double in the
state prep meet on Wednesday at Blair Acadamy and the Essex County
championshsips Friday at Brookdale Park, Bloomfield. The prep race will be a
walkover whichever division she winds up in, but the county meet pits her
against defender Kerry Maybaum of West Essex, who won the other half of the
Iron Hills meet last Saturday.
Ennis and Gregory will go at it again in the Morris County
championships on the difficult Nabisco course on Saturday. Jenn, who came
into the season off a mono bout, seems in top form now after outkicking
Lauren (who had beaten her several times in early meets) in 19:49, excellent
time on Warinanco's rain-soaked course.
Another putative member of that JO team is Jen Clausen of
Jackson, who will try to continue her in-state winning streak in the Shore
Conference meet on Saturday at Holmdel against awesome odds.. This is easily
the cream of the local meets this season with three top-10 teams in the boys
meet and thre also in the girls, not counting Southern Regional, who did
not qualify as it ran only four girls in the Ocean County meet.
Individually, the boys' race has four of the state's best: Pete Hess
of Toms River North, Ed Baynes of Toms River South, Robbie Dennis of Red
Bank and Will Melofchik of CBA. The girls' race, of course, is headed by the
Trotter twins and Clausen, all of whom seem headed for first-team all-state
honors at the end of the season and could just be the three best active
runners in the state.
A major challenger to Clausen's No. 3 position, Jesse Mizzone of
Passaic Valley, ran away with the Passaic County title at Garret Mountain
last Friday, running a modest 18:51. She was joined in the winner's circle
by Mohammed Khadraoui of Paterson Kennedy who again defeated Paul
Konaszewski of Clifton in 15:40. (Khadroui, by the way, is a junior by age,
though a sophomore by class status)
The Bergen County group meet on saturday at Darlington saw a close
battle for the girls' Gr. IV title, Ridgewood extending its long winning
streak by a single point over Immaculate Heart Academy. It could be
different in this weeks Meet of Champions, as there was a huge gap between
the teams' 3rd finishers in favor of IHA.
In Saturday's Sussex County meet, Justin Scheid of Pope John led
his team to the boys' title with a runaway win in 16:11.
Old Bridge swept both halves of the Middlesex County meet on
Saturday at Thompson Park, the boys going 2-3-4-5-6 behind Alex Shatskov of
East Brunswick. The girls, who are beginning to put their act
together---still without 2001 leader Mary McInerney---going 1-2-3 in this
one with Shannon Robinson, Stephanie Zottoli and Kaitlyn Regan and bringing
up frosh Stephanie Lafergola---who finished 6th--to bolster its lineup.
Also on tap this week are the Union County meet, which has been
moved to Thursday at Warinanco Park, and the Olympic Confernce meet at
Gloucester County College.
The Union meet features, in the boys' race, another clash of
Cranford and Scotch Plains, who still have the sectionals and the group meet
to go (they will battle for the third AG qualifying slot in the latter),
Cranford drew first blood in the Watchung Conference meet last Thuesday.
The girls' race sees Westfield hoping to extend its long winning
streak at the expense of a challenging Oak Knoll squad. Megs DiDario of
Berkeley heights, who last last year when she went off course late in the
race, is the favorite to win this time.
The Olympic meet has Cherokee favored on the boys' side and Shawnee,
coming off its defeat of Moorestown in the Burlington County meet, on the
girls. The boys; individual field will be headed by Burlington champ Keith
Krieger of Chrokee, with Dan Deichert and Andrew Riviello of Eastern and
Camden County champ Andrew Vernon of Paul VI the competition.
Finally, there are the prep boys; races at Blair Academy on
Wednesday. Unfiortunately, newly-crowned Somerset County champ Bobby
Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's will be in theB reace and Mike Kerrigan of
Blair, who won the Collegegiate School invitational in 13:02 at Van
Cortlandt last Saturday, will be in different races. Papazian will get his
competition from teammate Billy Young, Kerrigan from defending teammate Jon
Phillips and from, possible, Bryan Scotland of St. Benedict;s, though the
Gray Bees may pass up the meet to rest for their defense of the Essex County
title against a strong challenge from West orange on Friday. . .
Week five of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
TOP TENS
BOYS GIRLS
1. Mainland 1. Hopewell Valley
2. Christian Brothers 2. Moorestown
3, Haddonfield 3. Toms River East
4. Old Bridge 4. Shawnee
5. Hunterdon Central 5. Brick
6. Toms River North 6. Jackson
7. Cherokee 7. Southern Regional
8. Cinnaminson 8.. North Hunterdon
9. Red Bank 9. Middletown South
10. Ridgewood 10. Red Bank
The first week of local action in New Jersey made little change in
the Top Ten rankings, the principal one being Haddonfield's elevation to the
No. 3 boys' slot off its victory in the A race at the Eastern Championships
Oct. 19 at Van Cortlandt Park, beating Old Bridge, 95-100, behind a sterling
12:38 effort by Chris Platt.
The top two teams, Mainland and Christian Brothers took turns
"psyching" each other in their respective county wins. CBA struck first with
a 12:43 average at Holmdel as it got even for last year's loss to Red Bank
Oct. 15 at the Monmouth County meet. Robbie Dennis won that one for the Bucs
in 16:16, but Will Melofchik was 2nd for the Colts in 16:24 and three more
finished between 16:32 and 16:53.
Mainland came back three days later with a perfect 15-point score in
the Atlantic County meet at Hammonton with Greg Hughes, Jimmy Wyner and
Brian Gertzen all under 15:00 on the flat, short course. Mainland also
welcomed back Spenser Popeson, who finished 6th in 15:46, providing a
necessary backup for the top five.
CBA got the last word for the week when it traveled to Providence,
RI. on Saturday and won the title race at the Brown Invitational, 88-115,
from Bishop Hendricken, Melofchik again leading the way in 4th at 15:35.
Old Bridge was missing a couple of hands in the Eastern race, but
will have its full team on hand for this Saturday's Middlesex County race at
Thompson Park. Hunterdon Central was idle, waiting for today's (Friday's)
Hunterdon-Warren meet at Delaware Valley,
Cherokee, which had put in a good race at the Manhattan meet Oct. 12
at rainy Van Cortlandt Park, placing third to Hendricken and Warwick Valley
of New York, took last week off, skipping the Burlington County league meet
where Cinnaminson ran away with its division, led by Jon Anderson The
showndown between these two comes this Saturday in the county open meet.
Red Bank moved into the top 10 with its strong showing behind CBA in
the Monmouth meet with Ridgewood hanging on to the last spot after a
1-2-3-4-5 finish in its own depleted invitational meet on Oct. 19. The
Maroon begin their two-stage county meet Saturday at Darlington.
New Jersey teams swept all four races at the Easterns, Bridgewater
taking the B event, 73-11, from LaSalle, Pa., Bernards the C, 45-51, from
Walter Johnson (Md.) and Maple Shade, in an iron man stunt (it had won its
BCSL division the day vefore), the D, 43-79, from Holmdel, which provided
the individual winner in Leo Vignone.of Holmdel.
The main girls' action last week came in the Ocean County meet where
four of the top 10 were in action, though Southern Regional again chose to
enter only four girls, three of whom finished in the first 10, with two
others going 1-3 in the frosh race (Shore coaches winner Jenna Lombardo did
not run.)
Toms River East confirmed its No. 3 state ranking with a solid win,
but Brick jumped over Jackson and Southern into 5th place as it finished
second. Frosh Jennifer Clausen of Jackson had her fourth win of the season
with Jen Blank a close 2nd for TRE.
Hopewell Valley was idle, but second-ranked Moorestown ran away with
the Liberty Division at the BCSL meet, where Meghan Hugles won a close
individual due with frosh Brittnee Bynoe of Willingboro. Shawnee skipped
this meet and ran third in the A event at the Easterns, well ahead of North
Hunterdon It will match up Saturday with Moorestown at the Burlington open
meet.
Middletown South and Red Bank maintained their top 10 positions
with a close finish in that order at the Monmouth County meet with Red Bank
Catholic not far behind. These three will join the three Ocean clubs in a
red-hot Shore Conference meet Nov. 2 at Holmdel (Southern's top three will
be there, but its failure to field a full team at the county meet will
prevent it from competing for team honors.).
There was other relevant action last week among challengers to the
top echelon. Delbarton made a strong bid for top 10 recognition with its
25-40 win over West Orange in the Skyline Division of the Northern Hills
meet on Oct. 18 at Lewis Morris Park, led by Paul Rose in a course record of
15:36. In the girls' Skyline race, Jesse Mizzone of Passaic Valley completed
a four-year sweep in 18:51.
The Mountain Valley meet the day before at muddy Pleasant Valley
Park saw two teams with county title hopes, Ridge and Oak Knoll, take the
girls' divisions, while Megs DiDario of Berkeley Heights ignored the course
conditions for a 19:16 win in the Mountain Division.
Ocean City completed another sweep of Cape May County, Even with
John Richardson taking a day off, the boys tallied 16 points, while the
girls had a perfect 15 points for the eighth time in taking a race they have
never lost.
The state's longest winning streak went to 22 years in the Jersey
City meet where St. Dominic Academy grabbed seven of the top eight places,
led by soph Christine Capetola. But St. Peter's topped that with a perfect
score in its ninth straight boys; win, the first time the meet had seen this
in 53 years.
However, St. Peter's lost its bid to unseat Memorial Oct.. 19 in the
HCIAA meet when the West New York school overcame a 1-2 Prep finish for a
27-37 win. This battle will be reprised in the Hudson County open meet Nov.
2 on the same Bayonne County Park course.
Bridgeton swept honors in the Cumberland County meet Oct 18 at
Cumberland HS. Robbie Ewards led a boys; victory in 15:32, Melshonda Speed
showed her family has distance stamina as well as speed (pun intended) as
she led the girls in 20:26.
A few hours before this is being written, Cranford, led by Ed
Clinton in 16:16, defeated Scotch Plains in the first of a probable six open
meetings to win trhe National division of the Watchung Conference meet,
while Kathy Salmon hit 19:43 to head another Westfield win in the girls
National race.
Week four of the Ed Grant's Weekly Roundup
TOP TENS
BOYS GIRLS
1. Mainland 1. Hopewell Valley
2. Christian Brothers 2. Moorestown
3. Old Bridge 3. Toms River East
4. Hunterdoin Central 4, Shawnee
5. Toms River North 5. Jackson
6. Cinnaminson 6. Southern Regional
7. Red Bank Regional 7. Brick
8. Cherokee 8. North Hunterdon
9. Hillsboro 9. Middletown South
10. Ridgewood 10. Ridge
The first big weekend of the 2002 cross-co8untry season is now
history and what did it tell us?
1) That we probably have at least three solid candidates for the
girls' Footlocker finals in Lindsay Van Alstine of Hawthorne Christian and
the Trotter twins of Red Bank.
2) That at least half a dozen boys, maybe a dozen, have a solid
chance for the gold medal at the All-Group meet.
3) That the rest of the field will be chasing Hopewell Valley all
season for the girls' AG team title and may never catch them
4) That the boys' AG team title is still up for grabs with four
teams, possibly five (Toms River North having been absent last Saturday)
still having a solid shot at the crown.
It was the first time both leading individual performances came out
of the smallest school races, Van Alstine running 18:29 in the girls event
and Oskar Nordenbring of Montclair-Kimberley Academy 16:11 in the boys race.
Both won their races with plenty to spare, in Lindsay's case, it was almost
two minutes before Liz Hankinson of Oak Knoll came over the line.
While the Trotters ran 15 seconds or so slower than Van Alstine,
they also had no competition and had a bit more heat and humidity to contend
with. The final resolution of this rivalry is unlikely to happen until Nov.
23.
Less than 10 sconds separated the top eight runners in the boys'
event and there were three significant absentees: Mohamed Khadroui of
Paterson Kennedy, Paul Kornaszewski of Clifton and Peter hess of Toms River
North. This story is far from over; it really hadn't even started.
The Shore meet traditionally has been a good forecasting tool tfor
the group championships even though its six divisions do not exactly match
the six at the Nov. 16 meet. So let's sort things out a little.
BOYS
Gr. IV: All the team contenders save TR North ran in the A race
Saturday with Old Bridge winning on balance from Hunterdon Central. They
left Cherokee and Hillsboro far behind. The HC problem is simple; it had
three runners over the line before the first Old Bridge finisher on
Saturday, but had to wait too long for its last two in a three-point loss.
What effect TR North would have had on this result is anyone's guess
Individually, the absence of the Passaic boys and Hess still leaves
some questions, but Keith Krieger of Cherokee had a solid race and will
probably go in as favorite to retain the title Marc Pelerin won for the
Chiefs last year.
Gr. III: Mainland's 42-55 win over Christian Brothers in the B race
confirms its status as an overwhelming favorite to retain its title. But the
individual race here will undoubtedly be the best of the group events. Greg
Hughes of Mainland won the B race by a nose from Ed Baynes of Toms River
Soiuth and John Richardson had a slightly better time in the C race,
Gr. II: Cinnaminson had a big day in the E race, easily defeating
Haddonfield with Jon Anderson taking individual honors from Justin Scheid of
Pope John. The Haddons had a 4-5-6 finish, but need to get one more boy up
closer if it is to defend its title,. Anderson will have to deal again with
Robbie Edwards of Bridgeton and Chris Platt of Haddonfield in the group
meet.
Gr. I: This group was simply buried in the E and F races on
Saturday. Shore managed a 4th in the E race with a slightly better
performance than Maple Shade had in the same place in the F event. Bernards
was also close enough to be a group threat. Individual defender Marc Altenau
was easily the fastest with the first Gr. I runner in F finishing no better
than 10th.
PA: Christian Brothers was by far the fastest team in this group and
second best of the entire day. Don Bosco was absent, but Delbarton showed
well in taking the D race from Red Bank Catholic. (The Iron Men won at a
meet in Brewster, NY, with a 1-2 finish from Sean Swift and Peter Gerboth).
Will Melofchik of CBA was the fastest individual with teammate Pat Ryan also
faster and RBC's 1-2 finishers in D, Conrad Laskowski and Matt Piccarello.
PB: Pope John had much the fastest team effort of this group and a fine
individual race is shaping up between Nordenbring and Scheid. It's too bad
that most of the boys who chased Oskar home will not be in the race as well,
but they will make up a strong field at the state Prep meet on Oct. 30 at
Blair, where the home school, will battle St. Benedict;s in A and Gill-St.
Bernard's will have the B race to itself.
GIRLS
IV: A very interesting team race shapes up in this one with the
1-2-3 A finishers, Toms River East, Shawnee and Jackson, the B winner Brick
and Southern Regional (which split up its team between varsity and frosh
events on Saturday) all in the picture. Four of these are Ocean County
schools, so they have at least three dates coming up before Nov. 16.
Frosh Jen Clausen of Jackson won the A race by 45 seconds from Jen
Blank of TR East and will definitely be the one to beat in the group meet.
III: Moorestown won the C race easily even with Meghan Hughes just
back from another college trip and using the race as a workout. Middletown
South and Ridge, 2-3 in this one, and North Hunterdon, 2nd to brick, will
probably have to be satisfied with a close battle for the other two AG
qualifying spots.
This will be the strongest individual race with the Trotters. D
winner Jesse Mizzone and Hughes all capable of beating 19:00.
II: Hopewell Valley had a big margin on Voorhees in the D race and
the Vikings will have to get its back troops much closer if it is to make
any kind of contest out of the group race. But they could salvage the
individual title with Sara Best, though she will get quite a race from E
winner Megs DiDario of Berkeley Heights and Kate Willever of Hopewell Valley
(if she gets back to her spring track form)
I: Defending Shore Regional was way faster than anyone else here on
Saturday, placing 2nd in the E race, but Mountain Lakes chose to hold out
its top four runners in the F event.
Julie Ullmeyer of Shore, evidently recovered from the injury that
blighted her sophomore year, was at least a minute faster than any other Gr.
I runner on Saturday, but again the Lakers could provide the competition
with Katie Chambers.
PA: Immaculate Heart Academy, even with Caitlin Smyth playing
soccer, was still the class of the field here with its 5th place finish in
the B race, but Red Bank Catholic could improve its lineup by group time
with additions from a good freshman class.
Bridget Skeuse of Immaculata was much the fastest individual from
this group with her 20:27 in 4th place in the D race.
PB: There being no question about the individual favorite here (this
would be four in a row for Van Alstine), the interest will center on what
could be a tight team battle. Oak Knoll was the surprise winner in the F
race Saturday, even though one runner fell and another was part of a large
group which went off course entering the woods for the final run down the
hill (they almost wound up at Holmdel's football field).
Pingry was only 10 points back and Pope John and Bishop Eustace were
within striking distance with their times in the E race., But Tim Lear and
Tony Benedictis---probably the youngest coaching combine in the
state---could give my daughters' school their first state title.
Remember: copies of the just published fall Edition of the New
Jersey High School Track and Field Annual are available, at $6 each, from
Edward Grant, 101 Greenwich Court, Madison, NJ 07940. Also subscriptions to
the 33rd year of New Jersey Track at $25 each. Next issue will be out Oct.
15 with coverage of the first month of the current season.
After three weekends of triumphs on courses from upper New York
state to North Carolina, the majority of New Jersey cross-country teams will
make the annual October pilgrimage to Holmdel County Park this Saturday for
the Shore Coaches Invitational.
Just about every one of the state's top-ranked indidviduals and
teams will be on hand. The major exception will be Peter Hess and the Toms
River North boys' squad which, as usual, will be at an out-of-state meet.
Toms River North was among the teams which made the long trek to
Charlotte, North Carolina , last weekend for the ill-fated Great American
Invitational. We say ill-fated because it was again hit by bad weather
which, after a Friday night college session, left the course almost
un-runnable on Saturday, among other things wiping out course markings.
This led to the disqualification of the top five finishers in the
boys' championship race and probably cost state champ Lindsay Van Alstine a
victory in the second-seeded girls' event. In typical fashion, Lindsay
bolted to the lead and held it until she went off course near the end and
had to settle for a second-place finish in 19:58.
This also left her 19 seconds behind Katy Trotter of Red Bank, who
finished 3rd in the girls' title race behind Nicole Blood, the veteran
freshman from Saratoga, NY. Katy had a rare distance win over twin Amanda,
who finished sixth in 19:56.
Two of the sterling NJ freshman class had good races Jen Clausen of
Jackson was 2nd in the girls' "invitation" event in 20:29 and Brittnee Bynoe
of Willingboro won a junior varsity event in 20:56, a chade faster than Jen
Blank of Toms River East who won another of the invitation events in 20:59.
The state's top boy runner at Charlotte was Justin Scheid of Pope
John who finished 9th in the seeded boys' race in 17:05. This race had the
largest concentration of NJ entries with Chris Pannone of Hunterdon central
finishing 14th in 17:14, four places ahead of teammate John Fox, who ran
17:17. Despite this "1-2" finish, Central finished a plkace behind Old
Bridge, which finished 4th.
Up at the giant McQuaid Invitational in Rochester, Ridgewood won the
seeded AAA race, 123-125, from Lakewood, Ohio. with Rodolfo Crispin running
14th in 15:27 and Ari Zamir18th in 15:41.
Two other NJ teams won in Empire State meets over the weekend.
Christian Brothers totally dominated its race at the Red Raider Invitational
at Bear Mountain, taking five of the first nine places. Will Melofchik had
his second win of the season in 16:08. finishing 120 yards ahead of Steve
Furst of Goshen, son of former Nutley star Rich Furst, who is also his
coach.
At Van Cortlandt Park, Eastern got a 1-2 finish from Andrew Riviello
and Dan Deichert in 13:35 and 13:37 and defeated Regis, 60-83, at the Xavier
Invitational.
There were only three in-state meets last weekend. On Thursday, the
second Bog Iron class meet at Allaire State Park ran into timing problems in
three of the six full course races. Red Bank Catholic got two winners, Matt
Piccarello in the senior race (no time) and Conrad Laskowski in the junior
race in 16:13. Marissa DeTata of Brick had her first CC win in the senior
girls' event, the only one with a time, running 19:44.
The Passaic Coaches meet at Garret Mountain was visited again by
Moorestown which easuly won the Gr. III girls event behind a 19:48 victory
by Meghan Hughes. Frosh Jen Croghan of Lacordaire was 2nd in that one at
20:00.
Paterson Kennedy soph Mohammed Khadraoui featured the boys' action
with a 15:48 win in Gr. IV, finishing 75 yardds ahead of Paul Kornaszeski of
Clifton. Unfortunately, neither of these boys will be at Holmdel this
weekend.
There was an interesting battle in the Gr. II boys race where St.
Benedict's beat brother school Delbarton, 41-42, The Green Wave did get an
individual win from Paul Rosa in 16;14, third best time of the day.
Two-time Parochial B champ Oskar Nordenbring of Montclair-KImberley
headed the action in the Stewart Memorial meet at Warinanco Park, taking the
C race by a full lap from teammate Mike Dulong in 16:14. Eddie Baynes of
Toms River South continued his comeback with a 16:34 win in the A race. Ed
Clinton of Cranford took the A race in 16:55.
Hopewell Valley was most impressive as it went 1-2-3-4 in the girls'
B race, even with Katie Williever on the sidelines, reasting for this
weekend. Annie Carney led the sweep in 20:35, a time that was shaded by
Morris Knolls frosh Lauren Gregoy, who led her team to the B title.
It's easy to pick out the top team race this weekend. It will be in
the boys' B event which has three of the state's top five teams in the
field: Ridgewood, Christian Brothers and Mainland. The other two, Old Bridge
and Hunterdon Central, will be in the following A race, along with Cherokee
and Old Eastern.
The girls leaders are a little more thinned out. Hopewell Valley
will go off first in the morning D race with Montville its main competitoon.
Moorestown is in the C race with Middletown South, Ridge and Red Bank, which
means a hot individual battle between Hughes and the Trotter twins. The
concluding A race has Ocean County rivals Southern Ocean, Toms River East
and Jackson, along with an Old Bridge team weakened by the temporary absence
of Mara McInerney, and Shawnee.
The opening boys F race is a prep school affair with non-NJSIAA
teams St, Benedict's, Blair Academy and Gill-St. Bernard;s going against
Montclair Kimberley. This should be quite an individual race with
Nordenbring challenged by Mike Kerrigan of Blair, Bobby Papazian and Billy
Young of Blair and Bryan Scotland of St. Benedict;'s, all, like Oskar, with
at least one more year of high school before them.
The E race has Haddonfield, led by Chris Platt, going against
defending Gr. I champ Shore Regional and Pope John, with one of the state's
hottest runners at this point, Justin Scheid. Following is a D race which
matches Morris County powers Delbarton and Morris Hills with Monmouth
County's Holmdel, Red Bank Catholic and St. John Vianney.
The C race which opens the afternoon action has Scotch Plains, a
Passaic Coiaches winner, Red bank and Ocean City, which took the Kiwanis
Invitational. Jeremy Zagorski of Parsippany Hills and Zack McGuire of Scotch
Plains head the individuals.
Van Alstine will be defending her title in the girls' F race with
Croghan the only one likely to stay anywhere near her.. The team competition
is wide open and includes several teams with state title ambitions, among
them Oak Knoll (Parochial B) and Mountain Lakes (Gr. I)
The Gr,. I defender, Shore Regional, with its entire team returning,
is in the E race against Bishop Eustace, Haddonfield, with frosh star
Vanessa Wright, Lawrencevilleand Pope John.
Jesse Mizzone, who led all the girls at last year's meet, is in the
D race with Willever her main rival.
A well-balanced B field has Toms River South, Brick, North
Hunterdon, Morristown and Immaculate Heart Academy, most of whom have won at
least one race already this year.
Note:
Copies of the New Jersey High School Track and Field Annual
will be available all day at the announcing position near the finish line.
They are priced at $5 and have a full review of the 2002 outdoor season.
Also available will be copies of the spring annual, which reviews last
year;s cross-country and indoor seas
The second weekend of cross-country action in New Jersey was
highlighted by an incredible effort from defending all-group champion
Lindsay Van Alstine of Hawthorne Christian, two summit meetings of top boys'
teams and further proof that this class of freshman girls is something
special.
Van Alstine made her big meet debut at the Season Opener last Friday
at Darlington Park in Mahwah, On a warm, humid afternoon, she sliced 11
seconds off Jenna Rogers; course record, covering the 3M course in 17:38 to
win the B title. The itme would have tied her for 4th in the boys' B race.
To make the day a perfect one for the family, kid sister Amy won the frosh
girls event for Midland Park.
Lindsay's time was all the more incredible in that it came on the
opening week of the season in unsuitable weather. Rogers had set her mark on
a November date at the Bergen County Meet of Champions.
This weekend, Lindsay joins a small, but elite group of NJ runners
at the Great American Invitational in Charlotte, N.C. She will run there
against the No. 2 finisher in last year's AG meet, Jesse Mizzone of Passaic
Valley, who last Saturday won the senior race at the Bernie Madee Class meet
at Warinanco Park.
The Trotter twins (yes, both are running this fall) will be in the
championship race there after coasting to a 1-2 finish in the senior event
at last Saturday's Battle of Monmouth meet at, appropriately, Monmouth
Battlefield.
The two boys' meetings took place on Friday at Darlington and on
saturday at the Briarwood Invitational at Philadelphia's Fairmont Psrk. The
Darlington race was a direct clash between Ridgewood and Christian Brothers
and it couldn't have been closer. Ridgewood won, 35-37, but only after an
agionizing few moments as soph Peter Glackin of CBA went into rigor just
before the finish line and didn't get over it until he was passed by two
Maroons. (Ironically, his older brother Nat had a similar experience on
CBA's ;ast visit to the meet, but it made no difference that time)
At Briarwood, Hunterdon Central and Mainland won separate races, the
Red Raiders taking the title event and Mainland the large school consolation
event. They also had the individual winners in Jon Fox and Greg Hughes.
Mainland would have won on a comparison of team times, but then CBA also had
the edge that way at Darlington
While both courses are 3M long, it is impossible to compare times
between them since Fairmont Park is much hillier, while Darlington has that
peculiar problem of running through sand twice for a total of close to half
a mile. (CBA averaged about 10 seconds less than Mainland, however)
What started out as the "Three Musketeers" has now become the "Gang
of Six" and possibly more in the girls' freshman derby. Jen Clausen of
Jackson, one of the newcomers, remains number one, following up her Randolph
victory with a near record 13:22 freshman triumph at the Magee meet.
But the big frosh race was at the Cherokee Challenge where Vanessa
Wright of Haddonfield (daughter of former Camden coach Billy Wright) led
home two of the JO stars, Brittnee Bynoe of Willingboro and Jen Croghan of
Lacordaire (who is also making the Caroline trip this weekend) in 11:38 over
the 3200M distance.
The other clash came at Roxbury where Randolph winner Lauren Gregory
of Morris Knolls finished 50 yards ahead of Jenn Ennis of Roxbury, who was a
surprise entry given some recent physical problems which threatened to
cancel her entire season.
Another such comeback came at the Regis Invitational at Van
Cortlandt Park where Ed Baynes of Toms River South shrugged off his "aching
back" to finish 2nd in 13:07. Don Bosco Prep followed the suit of Hunterdon
Central and Mainland by scoring an easy team win behind the 3-4 finish of
Sean Swift and Peter Gerboth
Some other meet highlights:
Season Opener: Will Melofchik won the A race for CBA from teammate
Pat Ryan in 16:05, while Sean Emmerling led Palisades Park to the boys' B
title in 17:04.
The girls' A team race was a close one with Memorial needing a
sixth-girl count to defeat Passaic after both tallied 60 points with their
first five. Shaneika Bernard, another recovering star, took the individual
title for Hackensackin 19:56.
Magee Memorial: Something of an upset in the boys'; junior race here
as Justin Scheid of Pope John kicked away to an easy win over Jeremy
Zagorski of Parsippany Hills in 16:30. Ken Sinkovitz of Bergen Catholic used
his great speed to come from way back on the track and win the senior event
from Matt Piccarello of RBC in 16:48. The soph race was "won" easily by
Bryan Scotland of St. Benedict;s in 16:45, but he was wearing spikes and was
disqualified, promoting Andrew Sharkey of Rumson to a 17:53 victory.
Mizzone was easily the fastest of the girls; winners in 19:46
with Becky Crossin of North Hunterdon taking the junior event in 20:47 and
Emily McMillan of St. Rose the frosh race in 21:37.
Roxbury: Sara Best had much the best of the 3.1M performances here,
taking the girls' junior-senior race from Marissa Detata of Brick (another
soccer convert) in 19:17. The soph race went to Erin Reddan of Brick in
19:39
With Zagorski, a two-time winner here, missing, David DosSantos and
John Rashap of Randolph went 1-2 in the senior boys race, but Kyle Alpaugh
of Voorhees turned in the fast time in the junior event in 16:37.Second
generation runner Brian Trembley won the soph race for West Orange (he was a
solo entry, accompanying the Seton Hall team which is coached by his dad
Steve) in 16:56.
Battle of Monmouth: The Trotters did just about that as they
finished in 19:34 apiece in the senior race, more than a minute ahead of
Vanessa Gibens of West Windsor Plainsboro North.Laura Saffer of Manalapan
took the junior race in 21:24 and Lisa Miller of WWP South the soph event in
20:32. Jellee Hand of Howell may make that frosh group seven-fold, winning
bit here in 12:25.
The toip boy runner was Alex Shatskov of East Brunswick in
16:47.John Smith of Matawan took the junior race in 17:06 and James
Kavialauskas of Highland the soph event in 17:20
Cherokee: Chris Platt of Haddonfield joined the comeback crew here
with a 9:32 win over Peter Hess of Tims River North (another Great American
entry) in the senior event. Haddonfield also had Tim Vitez run 3rd in 9:55
and Brian Goldberg take the junior event in 9:56. The soph race went to
Chris Pisano of Toms River North in 10:19, Missing from the senior race was
Keith Krieger of Cherokee Old Bridge had five boys under 10:20 in the
various races.
Jen Blank of Toms River East topped Kate Willever of Hopewell Valley
in the senior girls race in 11:54, third best time of the day behind the
frosh stars. Lauren Lewis won the junior event for Southern Ocean in 12:05,
with Moorestown taking four of the next eight places (Meghan Hughes skipped
the senior race) The soph winner was another soccer convert, Katie Van Horn
of Triton, in 12L06 from Megan O'Leary of Cherokee, latest member of that
running clan.
Kiwanis Invitational: This one moved to the new sectional site of
Delsea while repairs are being made to the usual Williamstown layout., The
boys; race matched two of the state's top milers with Robbie Edwards of
Bridgeton outrunning John Richardson of Ocean City by 40 yards in 16:21. The
girls event went to still another recovering star, Kathleen Galan of
Highland in 10:07 over Amanda Shute of Clearview. Ocean City took both team
titles.
Briarwood: Hunterdon Central topped Pennsylvania power Council Rock
for the title, 55-86, with Fox running 16:12 and Pannone 16:33. Hughes
clocked 16:09 to take the Division I race, with newcomer Jimmy Wyner 4th in
16:49.
Shawnee was 2nd in the girls' race, 83-88, to North Penn, with Robin
MacDowell 8th in 20:17. Paul VI ran 3rd in the Division I race with Erin
Sigwart 7th in 21:35.
.
Two freshmen girls and a slew of prep school boys stole the show
during the first week of cross-country action of the 2002 season in New
Jersey.
But overshadowing all this was the return to action of Katie
Floersheimer of Morristown, who finished 7th in the St. Dominic
Invitational, just 408 days after suffering a life-threatening injury while
surfing at the Jersey Shore
Katie had attended last year's St. Dominic meet, wearing a neck
brace and with her running future very much in doubt. But she was back with
the Colonial team by the outdoor season and, while she didn't compete, it
was obvious that she was ready for action.
Her finish last Saturday at Jersey City's Lincoln Park made the
difference in Morristown's 61-73 defeat of Lawrenceville. Teammate Amy Maier
led the Colonials in 2nd place in 20:56 on the 3.35M course, with Katie next
over the line for the winners.She finished between Maggie Taverna of Msgr.
Donovan and Emily McMillan of St. Rose, two girls who, as freshmen, ran just
over 20:00 last year at Holmdel.
The individual winner at the St. Dominic meet was freshman Jen
Croghan of Lacordaire School (Upper Montclair), who finished 25 yards ahead
of Maier in 20:32. Croghan will be among those heading for the Great
American race in Charlotte, NVC, this weekend.
Matching Croghan's race was freshman Jen Clausen of Jackson, who was
the fastest of the four group winners at the Randolph Invitational at
newly-opened Freedom Park. This night meet was a huge success, with schools
coming from as far as Camden, Ocean County and Rockland County (NY).
Clausen took the A race there in 19:10, much the fastest of the four
winners, with teammate Jenna Prendergast next best at 19:44.Despite the 1-2
finish, Jackson was beaten by Ocean County rival Toms River East, which took
the next three places for a 29-42 victory.
Montville scored a 39-42 win over Ridge in a B race which gave a
partial preview of Gr. III acrion in the state this fall. Kathleen Henry of
Ridge won the race in 20:37, followed by Takeesha Carter and Lindsay Thomas
of Wilson, The Montville team ran as a group, taking four of the six places
between 5th and 10th.
The other team winners were Parsippany in a walkover in C and
Keansburg in D. Megs Didario of Berkeley Heights took the C race in 20:01
and Jessica Guth of Newton the D in 21:39.
Three of the state's top runners were in action in the boys' events.
Jerery Zagorski of Parsippany Hills coasted to a 16:47 race in B, but Peter
Hess of Toms River North was pressed by David Alfano of West Orange in A and
ran 16:22, with Alfano at 16:27. TRN also took team honors
Hanover Park, Matawan and Morris Hills were the other team winners.
Shawn Shokry(16:57) and Verun Talihani went 1-2 for Hanover Park in D and
Billy Kelly of Manasquan took C in 17:04.
Morristown also won the boys' title at the St. Dominic meet as
Christian Brothers and Hillsboro---two teams that figure to be in the Top
Ten this fall---held out their top runners. The individual winner was Sam
Berberian of Msgr. Donovan in 17:41.
But the top boys race of the weekend came at the Newark Academy
Invitational at the Livingston campus of the state's oldest high school. Six
boys finished within 12 seconds of each other (the top five within four).
The winner was sub 4:20 miler Mike Kerrigan of Blair in 15:20 with two of
the state's sensational sophomore group, Bob Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's
and Bryan Scotland of St. Benedict's. next over the line.
Gill-St. Bernard's defeated St. Benedict's, 37-49, with Billy Young
6th in 15:42 and two more in the top 10, but the Gray Bees were missing
junior ace Andre Fearon.
Oak Knoll took all the girls' honors here, Elizabeth Hankinson
topping Caroline Bugg of the host school in 19:56 and the Royals topping
Chatham, 47-82.
Note: Copies of the 2002-03 Fall edition of the New Jersey High
School Track and Field Annual are now available at $6 each from Edward J.
Grant, 101 Greenwich Court, Madison, N.J. 07940, They contain a full review
of the 2002 outdoor season.
The following preview appeared in the August issue of New Jersey
Track which will be entering its 33rd year of publication next month. There
are 12 issues a year, the cost is $25, Information payment can be sent to
Edward J, Grant, 101 Greenwich Court, Madison, NJ 07940
The listings of the 10 teams and 25 individuals for boys and girls
is strictly alphabetical. A Top Ten listing will be posted on this site
following the Shore Coaches meet and each week therafter,
Jump to girl's
BOYS
The only sure thing about the coming cross-country season is that a new
team champion will be crowned in the all-group meet. Haddonfield lost two of
its “Big Three” by graduation and, while John Bernetich should return to at
least his sophomore form this fall, there will be serious fifth man
problems.
The two teams with the best hopes going into the season will be reigning
Gr. III champ Mainland, which comes back with five of its top six from last
year, and Hunterdon Central, which has its top five back.
And what about Christian Brothers, which saw its six-year AG string ended
last fall? The Colts will have a young team this fall and may be a year away
from reclaiming the crown, but will be ready if either or both of the top
two run into depth problems through injuries.
Chris Platt of Haddonfield, runner-up in the AG last fall, looks like the
favorite to succeed Marc Pelerin, but two other Top Ten finishers also
return, Pete Hess of Toms River North and the 2001 pace-setter, Dan Deichert
of Eastern. There will also be a flock of juniors in the picture.
TEAMS
(As usual, this is done in alphabetical order with no attempt at a
pre-season Top Ten ranking.)
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS: There are at least a dozen candidates for the top
seven places here, but three of them will definitely go to juniors Will
Melofchik and Pat Ryan and soph Pete Glackin. The senior class will probably
be represented by Angelo Petraglia with Andrew Tignanelli a possible
addition, Sophs Connor Campanella and Nick DiChiara and junior Brett
Fiorovanti are other candidates.
DON BOSCO: Seniors Peter Gerboth and Sean Swift, 2-3 in the Parochial A
race last fall, will head the lineup here and they will be supplemented by a
strong sophomore group, led by first team all-state selection Brent
Napoleon.
HILLSBORO: There is an awesome 1-2 punch here in Mike Klueber and Nick
Vaccaro; the question is how well last year’s soph-omore class will come
along.
HUNTERDON CENTRAL: Another big 1-2 punch in senior Jon Fox and junior
Chris Pannone, but this one is backed by Brian Fraser and William Rowland,
who finished in the top 15 in the Gr. IV race last fall and contributed to a
6th-place AG finish.
MAINLAND: Still another top two in Greg Hughes, who got down to 9:23.8 for
3200 last spring, and Brian Gertzen, who hit 4:21.12 for 1600. Spenser
Popeson, Matt McGroarty and Alex Palmentieri---all juniors like
Hughes---fill out the well-balanced lineup which, if past practice holds
true, will probably be seen seldom outside SJ this fall.
MORRISTOWN: The Colonials are definitely a dark horse, but their sectional
win last year, while led by graduated Gray Reinhard, had two juniors, Derrin
Peirret and Jamie Mahoney, and two frosh, Chris Beyrent and Mark Hess,
finish in the top 15.
OLD BRIDGE: The state’s largest squad has a lot of places to fill, but
retains two of its best, Ryan Bennett and Rich LaFergola, plus a lot of
talent from two consecutive strong frosh teams.
RED BANK: A surprise defeat of CBA in the Monmouth County meet highlighted
the 2001 season for the Bucs, who hopefully will profit by the migration
from the soccer team this fall, namely the addition of Joe Kingsbery to his
junior classmate Rob Dennis. Jovannie Cortez, Steve White and Shane Kimmins
would then fill out the lineup.
RED BANK CATHOLIC: With James McCarthy ready to join Matt Piccarello
in the van this fall and a hot soph prospect in Joe Hafey, the Caseys seem
ready to challenge for an AG position in the always strong Parochial A
division.
RIDGEWOOD: Two years ago, Ridgewood had the top freshman team in the
state. This didn’t pay off last year, except in a sectional win, but it
should be a different story this fall with seniors Rodolfo Crispin, Jeff
Khoury and Rob Nelson joining the junior crew, headed by Erik Nygaard and
Kyle Engelken.
OTHERS TO WATCH: West Orange hasn’t been a factor for many a year, but,
with Dave Alfano and John DeFilippis in the van, the Mountaineers may give
Morristown a run for NJ 2 Gr. IV honors this time…St. Benedict’s has a fine
crop of juniors and sophs, led by Andre Fearon, Justin Tavares and Bryan
Scotland, but will have to confine its targets to defense of the Essex
County title, not being eligible for Parochial B honors…Another Essex team
to watch is Montclair-Kimberley, with Oskar Nordenbring and Mike Dulong
getting a little more help this fall…Haddonfield, as noted, needs only one
more solid runner to be a Top Ten threat and the same goes for Cherokee and
Mount Olive.
INDIVIDUALS
(The numbers in parentheses indicate the athlete’s finish in last year’s
AG race.)
JON ANDERSON, Cinnaminsaon (16): Jon was the second soph finishers in the
AG last fall and, after taking the winter off with the rest of the Pirates,
had a great spring, running a 4:21.4 1600 and a 9:25.19 3200.
ED BAYNES, Toms River South (12): Had a brilliant junior season, winning
the Gr. III and Ocean County titles. Finished 3rd in the indoor AG 3200, but
lost the outdoor campaign to injury.
DAN CIAMBRONE, Middletown South (26): The Eagles had the top frosh team in
2000, but Ciambrone was the only one available last fall and made the most
of it with two sub-16:50 races at Holmdel during the state meet.
DAN DEICHERT, Eastern (7): Was responsible for the fast AG race last fall
with his early pace, but wilted in the last mile to finish 7th. Took the
indoor AG 3200, running 9:25.86, and had an early 8:53.23 3K outdoors,
before a late season letdown.
ROB DENNIS, Red Bank (30): Led the Red Bank wins in the Monmouth County
and sectional meets (where he won) and went on to run 4:24.63 and 9:33.82
outdoors.
ROBERT EDWARDS, Bridgeton: Did very well last fall until he got to
Holmdel, which might indicate some problems with hilly course. But he really
came alive last spring, winning the AG 800 in 1:53.38 and placing 3rd in the
1600 in 4:15.51.
MATT FORYS, Howell (15): Had a very up and down junior year, highlighted
by his AG finish in CC. A fair indoor campaign, but disappeared outdoors
after running 9:36.44 in the Monmouth County meet.
JON FOX, Hunterdon Central (26): Another runner whose outdoor season went
to pot after he had run a 9:32.14 at the Hartford Invitational. Ceded team
leadership to Chris Pannone late last fall, but could take it back this
year.
BRIAN GERTZEN, Mainland: Another one who had his trou-bles with Holmdel,
but, like Edwards, he had a big spring with a 1:55.07 in the 800 and a
4:21.12 in the 1600.
PETER HESS, Toms River No. (4): After a great CC season last fall,
Hess fell victim to an illness which, for practical purposes, side-lined him
for the rest of the year. He returned midway in the outdoor campaign but
never regained his form.
GREG HUGHES, Mainland (23): Was no worse than 3rd in any major race last
fall until the AG meet where he ran only a 2nd slower than in his 2nd-place
Gr. III finish. Nothing indoors, but a 9:23.8 sectional 3200 win outdoors.
MIKE KLUEBER, Hillsboro: Ran strongly through the section-als last fall,
with wins in the Somerset County and Skylands meets, but ran into physical
problems after that and never quite recovered.
PAUL KORNASZEWSKI, Clifton (13): Led the strong soph showing in the AG
meet last fall and continued from there with a best 3200 of 9:33.0. Seems
even more adapted to longer distances and ran right through the summer,
including some fast JO 5K races.
KEITH KRIEGER, Cherokee (11): Though overshadowed by teammate Marc
Pelerin, Krieger had a first-class junior campaign, capped by his 9:28.2
3200 outdoors. Will have the leadership burden for the Chiefs this fall.
RICH LAFERGOLA, Old Bridge: Had an in and out junior campaign with the
tops being a 4:33.95 1600 outdoors.
WILL MELOFCHIK, CBA (29): Showed enormous improve-ment in his soph year
with marks of 4:24.74 and 9:32.59 in a very consistent outdoor campaign.
OSKAR NORDENBRING, Montclair-Kimberly: Only a junior, he already has two
Parochial B titles to his credit despite missing parts of both seasons due
to illness. Finally got healthy last spring and ran 4:19.7 and 9:31.85.
CHRIS PANNONE, Hunterdon Central (20): Took over top spot on the Red
Raider team in the AG meet and kept it the rest of the year with a 4:18.13
1600 and 9:33.91 3200 outdoors.
CHRIS PLATT, Haddonfield (2): Though illness bothered him both indoors and
out, Chris had individual marks of 4:18.7 in the 1600 and 9:27.61 in the
3200 and ran near 4:15 as the Haddons scored a big DMR triple indoors. The
one to beat this year.
JOHN RICHARDSON, Ocean City (17): Perhaps the best flat course runner in
the state, Richardson had sterling marks of 1:52.79. 4:15.0 (mile) and
9:25.1 outdoors. Only question is how he will run the hills at Holmdel this
year.
ANDREW RIVIELLO, Eastern (21): Another of the inconsistent group. His best
last year was a 4:17.90 1600. One problem is that while teammate Dan
Deichert is a pace-setter, Riviello tends to run from behind with a swift
finishing kick.
JUSTIN SCHEID, Pope John: This second-generation star really came into his
own outdoors, bringing his 3200 PR down to 9:28.71 in the Parochial A meet.
NICK VACCARO, Hillsboro: Another runner who blossomed last spring with a
4:17.73 in the 1600 after a series of fine earlier races.
JERRY WHITTAKER, Mt. Olive (18): Ran in the shadow of Jeremy Zagorski most
of the year, but is another of the state’s top juniors with 1:58.67 and
4:21.71 to his credit last spring.
JEREMY ZAGORSKI, Parsippany Hills: Last but hardly least, Zagorski ran
well through the conference weekend last fall, then fell ill and missed the
state meet. He won the AG 1600 indoors and set a state soph mile record of
4:16.40 outdoors breaking a mark co-held by Marty Liquori and Kevin Byrne.
OTHERS: Among the other top 50 AG finishers also returning are Peter
Gerboth and Sean Swift of Don Bosco, Paul Rosa of Del-barton, Ryan Bennett
of Old Bridge, Andrew Vernon of Paul VI, Spencer Popeson of Mainland, Marc
Altenau of Shore, Dan Reiden-baker of Cinnaminson, John Killion of
Moorestown and Pat Ryan of CBA. Then there is the very strong incoming soph
class, headed by Peter Glackin of CBA and Mohamed Khadraoui of Paterson
Kenn-edy.
The big pre-season news is that, finally, the Trotter twins will forego
soccer this fall and try their hand at a sport which seems a natural to
them. Amanda, of course, has already shown what she can do with no advance
preparation, winning the junior race at the Footlocker Trials last fall.
But the twins will not be the only newcomers on the scene this fall. While
such other soccer/track stars as Casey Nelson of Hunter-don Central and
Caitlin Smyth of Immaculate Heart Academy will be kicking a ball around this
fall, the new freshman class includes three heralded junior running stars,
led by Jen Croghan, who will be attending Lacordaire Academy in Upper
Montclair. Jenn Ennis at Roxbury and Brittnee Bynoe at Willingboro.
While defending AG champ Lindsay Van Alstine of Hawthorne Christian passed
up HS track last spring, she has kept busy on the roads and is in excellent
form, finishing 2nd recently to three-time AG winner Jodie Bilotta (D’
Ariano) in a 5K race,
The team battle this fall will be another wide-open affair, with defending
Moorestown challenged severely by Southern Ocean, Old Bridge, Voorhees,
Shawnee and Hopewell Valley, none of whom lost much through graduation.
TEAMS
HOPEWELL VALLEY: The only serious loss here was Natalie Jones and the
outdoor improvements of Kate Willever, Carly Schlamowitz and Sarah Seiler
should make up for that. It would help if Jessica Pall joined the soccer to
cross-country movement.
MIDDLETOWN SOUTH: Graduation removed leader Nicole Lombardy and Rickie
DeMaio, but Kolleen McCauley, Tina Morr-ison and Jamie Liberti all had big
spring seasons and there will be plenty of competition for the other spots.
MONTVILLE: The surprise team of 2001 with a largely sophomore lineup, led
by Ashley Wolf, taking county, conference and sectional honors, 3rd in the
hot Gr. II race and 6th in the AG. Chris-tina Scherer and the Stanton twins,
Courtney and Danielle, figure to improve on that this year.
MOORESTOWN: Kelsey Rinehart and Colleen Hughes are gone, but Meghan
Hughes—who twice broke 11:00 for 3200 last spring—remains along with juniors
Caroline Hipple, Kate Laramie and Kori Sheldon.
MSGR. DONOVAN: Another surprise last fall, chiefly due to the performances
of frosh Maggie Taverna and Leah Brogan, who fin-ished 4-6 in the Parochial
A race. Add in senior Rachel Watson and a flock of new frosh talent and you
could have a title contender.
OLD BRIDGE: Second in the AG race last fall, this soph-led team figures to
make a strong run at the title this time. Mara McInerney and Shannon
Robinson will be joined by junior Danielle Haggiag and senior Stephanie
Zottoli with plenty of competition for the other places.
SHAWNEE: The perennial SJ champs had no seniors on a team which finished
4th in the AG race last fall after barely losing Gr. IV to Old Bridge.
Juniors Kim Bonner, Robin McDowell and Kathleen Quinn lead the way, so, if
not this year, definitely next.
SOUTHERN OCEAN: No one can top the first four here, all of whom broke 5:13
for 1600 last spring: Kate Wardenski, Kegga Schaffer, Lauren Lewis and
Danielle Hagler. The question is how well the fifth slot will be filled.
TOMS RIVER EAST: The absence of Alexis Gray due to injuries kept the
Raiders from better than a wild card AG spot and a 10th place finish last
fall. If she returns to her frosh form to join Jen
Blank and Shannon Dawe at the head of a veteran lineup. There will also be
some help from the new frosh class.
VOORHEES: The X factor here is senior Lindsay Owen who de-buted so
brilliantly last spring, all but stealing the AG 800 title. Sara Best,
Lillian Perez, Lauren Rugge and Eva Rhodes provide a solid junior nucleus,
but graduated Liz Wort and Alexis Vergalla will be missed.
OTHERS TO WATCH: Paul VI had a young team last fall which managed a 12th
in the AG race, led by juniors Erin Sigwart and Caitlin Billman and frosh
Liz Kessler and Rachel Lively…Wilson has three aces in Lindsay Thomas,
Takeesha Carter and Tanesha Pittman, but has to fill out its hand with a
pair of queens…Ridge has a solid lineup led by Kim Philhower, Kathy Henry
and all-purpose runner Mary Pratt…With Julie Ullmeyer beginning to regain
her freshman form, Gr. I defenders Shore Regional could improve its 14th
place in last year’s AG meet…North Hunterdon has two or three back from its
7th place team, including junior Becky Crossin.
INDIVIDUALS
SARA BEST, Voorhees (9): Despite taking the winter off to star with the
Vikings basketball team, Sara had quite a sophomore year, capped by her
participation in the 3200R win at the Nationals. She also ran 2:14.2 and
5:07.1 in individual races.
JEN BLANK, Toms River East (13): One of the best examples of the
“pure” CC runner, Jen was in the top five against tough competition in all
her championship races up to the AG meet. On the track, her best was an
11:37.59 for 3200.
BRITTNEE BYNOE, Willingboro: The most versatile of the in-coming frosh
(daughter of ‘Boro HS coach Tosca Blanford Bynoe, who starred for Irvington
in the 100H back in the Joetta Clark era}, Brittnee won the national AAU JO
13-14 1500 title in 4:49.35.
JEN CROGHAN, Lacordaire: Her credentials include a 10:48.48 2M at the
indoor Nationals. Lacordaire has never had a track team and Jen will be
running solo this year, like her Parochial B rival Lindsay Van Alstine.
JULIE EMANUEL, Tenafly: Came into view last winter with an upset win in
the Gr. II 3200, but proved this was no fluke when she ran 5:05.44 and
11:15.93 outdoors.
ERIN ENDERLY, Ocean Twp: Had a brilliant soph CC season until the Gr. III
meet where she placed 23rd and missed the final day. She had won her
sectionals against a top field and went on to a great outdoor season with a
5:04.75 in the 1600 and a 10:51.68 in the 3200.
JENN ENNIS, Roxbury: Has spent most of her junior running chasing (and
occasionally beating) Jen Croghan, a rivalry which will now be broken for
the most part by their being in different counties and different groups.
MEGHAN GAFFNEY, Pompton Lakes: Just missed the AG meet last fall after a
season spent chasing people like Jesse Mizzone and Erin Henry. Really came
into her own outdoors with bests of 2:19.5 in the 800 and 5:11.8 in the
1600.
KATHLEEN GALAN, Highland (27): A very steady CC season last fall with two
races at or about 20:00 at Holmdel and top five finishes in her other major
events. Ran 11:37.6 for 3200 indoors, but lost most of her outdoor campaign
to injuries.
VANESSA GIBENS, WW-Plainsboro No.: Was not at her best last fall, but
came on fast in the spring to run 11:24.4 for 3200.
MEGHAN HUGHES, Moorestown (10): Had an almost perfect season last fall,
winning all of her major races until the AG, then followed with a
spectacular outdoor season with her two sub-11:00 eight-lap races and a
5:06.04 1600.
RAVEN LEA, Columbia: Consistency was not her forte last year, but her good
races were very, very good, including an 11:22.71 3200 and a 5:13.80 1600.
Will be running solo this fall with Courtney Epps on to college.
LAUREN LEWIS, Southern Ocean: Not a big CC season last fall, but her
5:06.7 debut in the 1600 this spring indicates better things this year. Also
ran 2:14.73 in her pet track event, the 800.
MARA MCINERNEY, Old Bridge (17): Had a spectacular frosh season as she led
her team to the Gr. IV title. After an indifferent winter, she had a fine
spring, topped by an 11:24.59 in the Gr. IV 3200.
AMY MAIER, MORRISTOWN (35): Had team leadership thrust upon her with the
near-tragic summer accident that sidelined Katie Floersheimer (who hopefully
will be back with us this fall). Her response was a conference win and 2nds
in her county and sectional races. Went on to hit 11:24.57 in the 3200
outdoors.
JESSE MIZZONE, Passaic Valley (2): Led the 2001 season until the AG race
where she was upset by county rival Lindsay Van Al-stine. Had the fastest
race at Holmdel at 18:28, won the National 5K race indoors and ran 10:17.06
for 3K and 11:04.19 for 3200.
DILSHANIE PERERA, Princeton (34): Saved her best race to last a year ago
with a 20:06 in the AG race. Also placed 2nd to Nicole Kurtain in Mercer
Count. Won the outdoor county 3200 in 11:25.0.
KEGGA SCHAFFER, Southern Ocean (6): Her switch from soc-cer paid off big
last fall as she traded leadership with Kate Wardenski. Went on to run
5:12.70 and 11:34.9 outdoors after a slow start.
AMANDA SMITH, Pingry (19): The second frosh finisher in the AG race. Smith
suffered from lack of competition in most of her winning outdoor races and
had only a 5:18.2 best in the 1600.
THE TROTTERS: While they have never run a HS CC race, Amanda and Katie are
not exactly newcomers to the sport, with Amanda having won the Footlocker
junior sectional race last fall. Their track credentials are, of course,
impeccable: Amanda with a 4:54.89 1600 and 10:32.81 2M last spring, Katie
with a 2:12.34 800, a 4:55.92 1600 and an 11:06.26 3200.
LINDSAY VAN ALSTINE, Hawthorne Christian (1): Her AG win last fall was
followed by her first track season indoors which produced a 5:21.9 1600 and
a 5th place in the AG 3200 in 11:12.94. She skipped outdoors, but kept busy
with road races.
KATE WARDENSKI, Southern Ocean (8): The third (alphabeti-cally) of the Ram
stars, Kate ran 5:12.57 and 11:19.1 outdoors. As well as a 7:30 in the 2K
SC.
KATE WILLEVER, Hopewell Valley: When senior Natalie Jones ran into
problems after CC, Kate took over leadership of the HoVall distance crew and
wound up with marks of 2:16.7 and 5:05.11 outdoors, then debuted in the 2K
SC with a SR 7:08.89.
ASHLEY WOLF, Montville (14): Another member of our track/basketball
all-star team (the others include Sara Best of Voor-hees, Shakeema Martin of
Lakewood, Kelly Robinson of Raritan and Stephanie Machin of New
Providence), Ashley also won her county and conference races last fall and
finished 5th in the Gr. II race last fall, took the winter off for the
hoops, then came back to run 5:10.09 last spring.
OTHERS: The top 50 AG finishers returning this fall also include the
enigmatic Caroline Bugg of Newark Academy, Stephanie Zottoli and Shannon
Robinson of Old Bridge, Jenna Bauberger of Indian Hills, Lauren Rugge of
Voorhees, Caroline Hipple of Moores-town, Carly Schlamowitz and Sara Seiler
of Hopewell Valley, Sarah Mahran of Westfield, Grace Nuzzi of St. Joseph
(Hammonton), Emily McMillan of St. Rose, Tina Morrison of Middletown South,
Leah Brogan of Msgr. Donovan, Catherine Christopher of Randolph, Christine
Scherer and Danielle Stanton of Montville, Ashley Unis-kiewicz of Hillsboro,
Kathleen Quinn and Amy Willmott of Shawnee and Shaneika Bernard of
Hackensack. There are also the Wilson trio of Lindsay Thomas, Tanesha
Pittman and Takesha Carter, Danielle Haggiag of Southern Ocean and Mary Lynn
Skarzenski of Woodbridge.
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