ED GRANT'S 2004 WEEKLY REVIEW

  Something new appears on the cross-country scene tis weekend with the first national team 
championships on Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

           New Jersey will be represented by its two state all-group champions, Christian Brothers 
on the boys' side and Roxbury on the girls. Neither is expected to win, but it will be interesting to 
see how the Garden State teams shape up against the best from the rest of the country.

          After the results of the Footlocker Trials at Van Cortlandt Park last Saturday, there seems 
little doubt about who will take the girls' title. Saratoga Springs qualified no less than four girls for 
the national finals on Dec. 11 in San Diego; its fifth girl finished 28th. The four qualifiers averaged 
just over 18:00; the fifth ran 19:09. 

           The boys' team race in Eugene is a lot more competitive. Fayetteville-Manlius, N.Y., which 
had scored a perfect 15 points in its match with CBA at the Manhattan Invitational, and York of 
Elmhurst, Ill., rate as co-favorites; they are currently rated 1-2 in the nation.

          CBA and Roxbury both skipped the action at Van Cortlandt last Saturday where the two 
all-group champions, Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's and Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City, 
led the New Jersey contingent.

       Papazian automatically qualified for the San Diego race as he finished third to Chris Barnicle 
of Newton, Mass., running 15:37. Craig Forys of Colts Neck scratched from the race to rest a sore 
calf muscle.

       Sedberry will also likely be in San Diego, as she was last year, but will have to wait for the results 
of the Eugene race to be certain. Brittany finished 10th, just ahead of Jen Clausen of Jackson, in 18:33. 
The first eight, all from New York, were automatic qualifiers; the next two will also make it if the first two 
Northeast finishers in Eugene were among those top eight. They will almosty certainly be Nicole Blood 
and Hannah Davidson of Saratoga, 1-3 in the Van Cortlandt race.

       With the exception of the Roxbury girls, almost all of New Jersey's top girl runners were at the 
Footlocker Trials and, as a team, they finished an easy second to the powerful New York squad. Clausen 
ran 18:35, Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean was 13th in 18:47, Leah Brogan of Msgr. Donovan 20th in 
18:56 and Amy VanAlstine of Midland Park 22nd in 19:02, followed closely by Lara Heigis of Pope John 
in 24th at 19:04, Arianna McKinney of Highland, 27th in 19:08, and Amanda Marino of Jackson, 29th in 
19:10. The only other notable absentee was Group 2 champ Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield.

      The boys' entry was nowhere near as imposing. Korey Edwards of Parsippany Hills snapped back 
from his off-day at the all-group meet to finish 12th in 16:00, but the next finisher was Umar Saaed of 
Old Bridge in 43rd at 16:26, followed by Ben Massam of Chatham in 47th at 16:27 and Tom Yersak of 
Cherokee in 61st at 16:36. Brian Dennis of Hillsboro, third in the all-group race, followed Yersak in 65th 
at 16;38. The missing also included Chris Horel of CBA, Jeff Perrella of Westfield and Chris Pisano of 
Toms River North.

        There was one New Jersey winner in the class races, Megan O'Leary of Cherokee winning the senior 
girls' event in 19:54. Alexis Weiner of Caldwell finished second in the sophomore race in 19:48.
      
         Another runner who did not take part in Saturday's race, but will almost certainly be there next fall, 
is reportedly ready to return to atcion soon after a long layoff with a leg injury similar to that which kept 
her former (and future) teammate Forys out of the meet. Briana Jackucewicz, who set a national "high 
school" record for the 5K last winter, apparently is ready to resume training after a layoff of almost nine 
months.

 Before looking at what might happen this Saturday in the New Jersey group championships, it might be 
well to review the final weekend of local action which featured most of the team who may wind up as 
winners at Holmdel County Park.

       The two major items were the Morris County championships at the very difficult Nabisco Plant course 
in East Hanover and the Shore Conference meet at the flat and fast course at Ocean County Park.

       The Morris girls' race had the state's No. 1 ranked girls' team, Roxbury, which put in another fine 
perfomance, winning handily over Morris Knolls, 36-70, and, in the process, setting a course team 
record with a 19:53 average. Ali Caruana scored her fourth major win of the season, finishing 50 yards 
ahead of Lauren Gregory of Knolls in 19:21. (The Nabisco course is at least as tough as Holmdel, 
maybe tougher, but comparisons are difficult because it is used for only this one meet each season.)

        The boys' race had the state's fourth-ranked team in Morris Hills, which is favored to walk away 
with the Gr. III title on Saturday, as well as Korey Edwards of Parsippany Hills, who will provide the 
individual opposition in that race for Colts Neck sophomore Craig Forys. Both won handily, Hill topping 
Morristown, 42-78, and Edwards winning by 100 yards from Geoff McGrane of Randolph in 16:29.

      Forys won the Shore Conference by 50 yards from Chris Horel of Christian Brothers in 15:21, 
just four seconds off the course record. And, in a highly awaited team battle between the state's 
top-rated teams, CBA won its 21st title in 22 starts, defeating Gr. IV favorite Toms River North, 38-51.

      The girls' race also had two highly rated teams, No. 2 Msgr. Donovan topping No. 3 Jackson, 
54-84. Leah Brogan continued her hot streak, finishing 50 yards ahead of 2003 Footlocker finalist 
Jen Clausen in 17:45, a course record. Donovan's "Kiddy Korps" were all in the top 10 with Molly 
Kempton leading the frosh group in 5th at 18:26. 

      In the Bergen County Meet of Champions at Darlington, Cheyenne Ogletree of Garfield, who will 
challenge 2003 AG champ Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City in Saturday's Gr. III race, finished 90 
yards ahead of Meredith Jones of Ridgewood in 18:05 with Gr. I favorite Amy VanAlstine of Midland 
Park third in 18:31. Ridgewood won the team title for the 23rd time in 25 years, 29-60, over Paramus; 
the Maroon boys also won a threepeat, 35-83, over Don Bosco with James LaGreca of Demarest 
finishing first in 15:48.

    In a Friday race, Brian Trembley of Seton Hall took a close Essex County race from Nicolai Naranjo 
of Montclair Kimberley Academy in 15:28. Both will take on tough assignments Saturday, Trembley 
again Horel in the Parochial A race, Naranjo against Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's in the Parochial 
B event.

    The girls' event saw Caldwell sophomore Alexis Weiner take her third major title of the season over 
teammare Lauren Natoli while Columbia repeated as team champion, 70-90, over the Chiefs. Verona's 
Gr. I hopefuls were fourth with 102, having some fifth-girl problems after placing four girls between 10th 
and 15th.

    In another Friday meet at Deer Path Park outside of Flemington, junior Brian Dennis of Hillsboro 
followed up his sectional victory with a 20-yard win over Dale Taylor of Noreth Hunterdon, also a 
sectional winner, in 16:17, leading Hillsboro to a 47-60 win over Phillipsburg in the Skyland Conference. 
The girls' race went to a conference newcomer, Kathy Henry of Ridge, who finished 75 yards ahead 
of Eleanora Spinazzi of Princeton in 19:20. Voorhees, the favorite for the Gr. III title, took team 
honors, 47-61, over Ridge.

     Now for a quick look at the 12 group races:

                                        BOYS

    Gr. IV: Toms River North and Cherokee could repeat their 1-2 finish in  the South Jersey meet, but 
Central Jersey champ Old Bridge will have something to say about that. The two wild-card spots in the 
all-group meet should come from this race with Ridgewood, Hillsboto and Westfield all in the picture. 
The individual race is wide open after  Lenape's Anthony Kelhower's defeat of Chris Pisano of TRN in 
the sectionals. Dennis, Umar Saeed of Old Bridge and North Jersey 2 winner Jeff Perrella of Westfield 
must also be considered.

    Gr. III: Morris Hills has this one wrapped up with Colts Neck and Ocean City the best bets for the 
other AG spots. Forys is undefeated this year and that should not change despite the challenge by 
sectional champs Edwards and LaGreca.

     Gr. II: Cranford is a hot favorite in this one with Haddonfield and Cinnaminson probably taking the 
other two AG positions. The individual race could be a sophomore affair between Mike Burke of 
Haddonfield and Joe McKenney of Cranford with Kevin Brown of Cranford and Ben Massam of Chatham 
as possible challengers.

       Gr. I: Bernards, which has more group titles than anyone else, 22 in Gr. I or II, will no doubt add 
another here with Kinnelon, Leonia and Keansburg scrapping for the other AG places. Chris Guerriero 
of Saddle Brook is an odds-on favorite for the gold medal.

     Parochial A: CBA is second only to Bernards in group titles with 19 in the last 28 years and a current 
string of nine in a row. This will no doubt be the tenth with Seton Hall and Pope John occupying the other 
two AG slots. two weeks ago, Horel did not challenge Trembley in the New Jersey Catholic Track 
Conference race as CBA ran a team race; the Colts just might do that again Saturday, leaving Anthony 
LaMastro of Pope John to put on any pressure Trembley may get.

    Parochial B: This will be a neighborhood team affair with Union County schools Roselle Catholic, Oratory 
and Union Catholic repeating their close NJCTC finish. It will be a very good individual race with Papazian, 
Naranjo and Anrew Catalano of Roselle Catholic battling it out.

                                       GIRLS

    Gr. IV: Roxbury and Jackson tangle for the first time this season with the fifth girls probably deciding 
the issue. Morris Knolls, Ridgewood, Toms River North and Cherokee will scrap it out for the three remaining 
AG places as, like the boys, the wild-card slots will certainly come from this one.
    Individually, this is a great race, the field topped by Clausen and Caruana, but including several others 
who could break 19:00.

    Gr. III: Voorhees has done a remarkable job rebuilding around a single veteran from the state's top-ranked 
(though not AG champion) 2003 team. Its recent sectional and conference races make the Vikings the favorite 
over Ocean City, Ridge and Colts Neck which have to battle for the other two AG positions. Sedberry is the 
natural favorite here, but she had a tough sectional race with Arianna McKinney of Highland and now must
face Ogletree as well.

    Gr. II: Chatham, Rumson and Shore appear the likely qualifiers here but in what order is anyone's guess. 
Chatham does have the tightest pack, but will yield points up front. Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield, who ran 
14:30 at van Cortlandt Park this fall, is the favorite over Aimee Chegwidden of Wallkill Valley and Weiner.

     Gr. I: The two North Jersey winners, Mountain Lakes and Verona are the class of this field with Palisades 
Park  the likely third qualifier. Abby Hinds of Mountain Lakes is the defending champ, but VanAlstine finished 
well ahead of her in the sectional race.

    Parochial A: This looks like a cakewalk for Brogan and her Msgr. Donovan teammates with the struggle 
being for second between defending Red Bank Catholic and Pope John. Lara Heigis of Pope John, third in 
last year's AG race, will try to avenge her NJCTC loss to Brogan.  

   Parochial B: Defender Amanda Smith of Pingry saw her team lose to Mt. St. Mary's last year, but things 
should be different this time as Pingry already has two wins over its foe. Oak Knoll is the likely third-place
 finisher. Smith, who has apparently fully recovered from a summer injury, should have no trouble repeating. 

 For the most part, action in the 32 New Jersey sectional races over the weekend followed form, but there were 
a couple of surprises in the individual races.

        The biggest upset, perhaps, was the close victory scored by Anthony Kelhower of Lenape over Chris Pisano 
of Toms River North in the South Jersey Gr. IV race at Delsea. Pisano had finished 8th in the championship race 
at the Great American meet and had won impressively at the Ocean County meet a week before his sectional 
setback. 

      Kelhower is a virtual unknown outside of his backyard, but has been cleaning up in South Jersey this fall. 
His winning time on Saturday, 15:44, was the fastest of the 16 boys' sectional races, but Delsea is acknowledged 
to be the easiest of the four courses involved.

       That race also provided the major team confrontation of the weekend among the boys with Toms River North 
defeating Cherokee, 46-55. The Chiefs were missing their No. 3 man, Sean McLaughlin, who turned an ankle two 
days before the meet. He may be back when the teams meet again in the group meet Nov. 13 at Holmdel County 
Park.

       The other challengers for that title, Old Bridge and Ridgewood, won their sectional meets with plenty to spare. 
Old Bridge defeated Hillsborough, 56-89, in the Central Jersey meet at Holmdel, while Ridgewood topped Morristown, 
35-82, in the North Jersey Section 1 meet at Garret Mountain, West Paterson, on Friday. 

     There was a slight upset in the individual race at Holmdel when Hillsborough's Brian Dennis edged Umar Saeed 
of Old Bridge, both clocked at 16:22 on the most difficult of the sectional course. Dennis is a young junior, not yet 
16, who was the state's top freshmen two years ago.

     Westfield won the other Gr. IV sectional at Warinanco Park, Elizbeth, its 15th title all told, but the first since 
1996. The Blue Devils also claimed individual honors with soccer convert Jeff Perrella, also a junior, wunning away 
from 4:16 miler Josh Davis of Phillipsburg in 16:34.

      Top action in Gr. III was on Monday at Garret Mountain when the state's No. 2 team, Morris Hills, won easily 
deapite having an off day. Korey Edwards of Parsippany Hills won a close individual race from James LaGreca of 
Demarest in 16:12 with juniors Brandon Rodkiewicz and Jayson Decker of Morris Hills going 3-4.

    Sophomore Craig Forys of Colts Neck, co-favorite for the individual all-group title, led his team to the Central 
Jersey III title at Holmdel, running away from Eric Schaffer of Wall in 16:32. Looking forward to this Saturday's 
meeting with Pisano and Chris Horel of CBA at the Shore Conference meet, Forys ran under wraps on a course 
where he hopes to break 16:00 later this season. 

     In a geographical twist, Holmdel High School travelled to Warinanco Park to win the North Jersey 2 Gr. III 
race from Ridge, 48-77, while Ocean City took the South Jersey race from Highland, 37-69. Dale Taylor of North 
Hunterdon and James Kavaliauskas of Highland were the respective individual winners.

      Cranford outclassed the other Gr. II winners with its 23-70 win over Spotswood at Holmdel, led by a 1-2 finish 
from Kevin Brown and Joe McKenney who virtually tied in 16:33 and 16:34. There will, however, be a good individual 
group race with the other sectional winners, Mike Crum of Hopatcong at Garret Mountain, Ben Massam of Chatham 
at Warinanco and sophomore Mike Burke of Haddonfield at Delsea all running comparable times. All three also led 
team wins.

       Chris Guerriero of Saddle Brook showed why he is favored for Group I honors when he won the Garret Mountain 
race by 60 yards from Mike Soroko of Kinnelon in 16:26. Kevin Hart of Pt. Pleasant Beach did run a trifle faster at 
Delsea, but there is about 20 seconds difference in the two courses. The other winner were Rob Kein of Becton at 
 Warinanco and Andrew Carusotto of Keansburg at Holmdel, both over 17:00.

    Bernards, which has won more sectional titles than anyone else, made it No. 27 with an easy defense of its North 
Jersey 2 title and will no doubt pick up its 22nd group crown in two weeks, as its team performance was much 
superior to the other winners: Kinnelon at Garret Mountain, Keansburg at Holmdel and Maple Shade at Delsea.

     Roxbury, the state's No. 1 girls' team, had its second impressive outing in four days as it won the North Jersey 1  
Gr. IV title at Garret Mountain, 32-64, over Morris Knolls with a team average of 19:17. Ali Caruana won the race by 
25 yards from Lauren Gregory of Morris Knolls in 18:47 with Jenn Ennis third in 18:59 and Ashley Cromartie and 
Kristen Stevens 6-7 at 19:11 and 19:16.

    Jackson, the No. 3 team, won at Holmdel, 63-91, over West Windsow-Plainsboro South  with a 1-2 finish from 
junior Jen Clausen and sophomore Amanda Marino in 18:54 and 18:58. But the Jaguars back corps could not match 
Roxbury as the team averaged 19:55. The other team winners, Toms River North at Delsea and Westfield at Warinanco 
could not match the top two.

       Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean, the state 1600-meter champion last spring. scored her first major 
cross-country win at Delsea as she edged Katie Van Horn of Triton, both clocked in 18:32. Jahlisa Smith won 
at Warinanco, the first Plainfield champion in 23 years.

        The defending all-group champion, Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City  won the Delsea race for the third time 
in 18:04 from Arianna McKinney of Highland and also led her team to its second title in a row. The other winners
 were also impressive, Cheyenne Ogletree of Garfield at Garret Mountain in 18:52, Kathy Henry of Ridge at 
Warinanco in 19:26 and Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck at Holmdel in 19:28. 

         This should be a close group team race with defending Voorhees having the top sectional performance in 
defending its North Jersey 2 title at Warinanco., But Ocean City was not far behind the Vikings. Ridge will battle 
for the third spot with Colts Neck, the Central Jersey winner. Mount Olive, which won a close five-way race at Garret, 
seems a bit outclassed.

       Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield continued her impressive running with a 300-yard win over teammate Colleen 
Brogan at Delsea in 18:00. But this 1-2 finish failed to prevent a 75-80 win by Haddon Twp. This was a 
Haddon-dominated race with Haddon Heights a close third and the three teams claiming 13 of the top 22 finishers. 

         Wright will probably run away with the group race, but the battle for second should be interesting with 
Brogran an d the other three winners, all sophomores, Aimee Chegwidden of Wallkill Valley at Garret Mountain,  
Alexis     Weiner of Caldwell at Warinanco and Ashleyt Higginson of Colts Neck all in the picture.

      Chatham had much the best of the team efforts in its Warinanco win with Rumson, a surprise winner over 
Shore at Holmdel, next in line. Haddon Twp and Kittatinny, the Garret winner, will have to improve a lot to make 
the top three for the all-group race.

      Amy Van Alstine of Midland Park, whose sister Lindsey won the all-group title in 2001, had the top 
performance in the Gr. I sectionals with a 200-yard win over defender Abby Hinds of Mountain Lakes at 
Garret Mountain in 18:54. None of the other winner were close to these two: Kathy deLeon of Palisades 
Park at Warinanco, Chelsea Fisher of Metuchen at Holmdel or Lindsey Ritchings, who gave Pt. Pleasant 
Beach a sweep of the individual titles at Delsea.

     Mountain Lakes and Verona, winners of the two North Jersey races at Garret Mountain and Warinanco, 
should have a close battle for the group title with North Warren, second in North Jersey 1, and Palisades Park, 
second in North Jersey 2, probably scrapping for  the third qualifying spot. New Providence and Gloucester, the 
Central and South Jersey winners, will be satisfied to make the top 10.

      The New Jersey Catholic Track Conference meet , which followed the sectionals at Warinanco Park,
 provided some insights into the four Parochial group races. Christian Brothers Academy, running strictly a 
team race, dominated the boys' event, winning for the 23rd consecutive year, 39-66, over Seton Hall with 
Pope John third at 102. They no doubt will take the three all-group slots on Nov. 6.
 
    The individual race saw Brian Trembley of Seton hall repeat his father's (and coach's) 1978 win, finishing 
125 yards ahead of Andrew Catalano of Roselle Catholic in 16:13. Kevin Rogers, Greg Leach and Chris Horel 
of CBA finished 5-6-7 in 16:47. Oratory and Roselle Catholic, top contenders for the Parochial B title, finished
 7-8, 237-240.

     Msgr. Donovan took the girls' title, 25-46, from Pope John with a team average of 19:38, as Leah Brogan 
defeated Lara Heigis of Pope John by 50 yards in 18:45. The largely freshman MonDon team thus confirmed 
its No. 2 ranking and shapes up as a real threat to Roxbury in the all-group meet.

    The top parochial B runners, Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's and Amanda Smith of Pingry, were idle, 
as were the main contenders for the girls' Parochial B title, defending Mt. St. Mary's and Pingry.
 

 Once again, New Jersey teams thoroughly dominated the Fordham Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park last Saturday, 
taking all four individual gold, as well as three team titles.

      Christian Brothers returned to the scene of its worst beating in many a year at the Manhattan Invitational a 
week before and ran away with the Eastern championship race, averaging 13:06, 15 seconds under its earlier 
performance over the classic 2.5M course.

       Chris Horel led the Colts as he finished second to Colts Neck sophomore Craig Forys in 12:49. Kevin Rogers 
followed immediately in 12:57, Greg Leach was 12th in 13:11, Justin Wheat 15th in 13:14, and Nick DiChiara 22nd 
in 13:19.

       Forys won the race by 60 yards in 12:36.3, missing by seven seconds his goal of breaking the sophomore 
course record held by John Trautman of Monroe-Woodbury. He was also eight seconds back of the top New 
Jersey time at Van Cortlandt this season, run by his all-group rival Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's at the 
Manhattan meet.

       The other New Jersey individual winners were Eric Schaffer of Wall Township in the B race in 12:57, Matt 
Mitchell of Haddon Heights in C at 13:20 and James Bulnicky of Maple Shade in D at 13:40. Bridgewater-Raritan 
took team honors in the B race and Haddon Heights won C.

      Another outstanding individual effort came from Haddonfield sophomore Mike Burke who trailed Schaffer by 
10 yards in theB race ion 12:59.

      New Jersey girls also enjoyed a big day with Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield winning the A race in 14:30, 
a time that matched the fourth-best effort at the Manhattan meet., and Ashley Higginson of Colts Neck taking 
the B race in 15:31.

      Local league and county action was headed by the Monmouth County meet on Tuesday at the state 
championship course at Holmdel County Park. Most of the Fordham heroes were in this one with Forys 
winning again from Schaffer in 16:05.

    Christian Brothers coasted to the team title, choosing to  
 run a team race rather than go for individual honors. Its top five finished within two seconds of each other, 
led by Wheat in 16:52.    

     In the girls' race, Christine Nelson of Red Bank---who was the 800 leg when the Bucs set a national DMR 
record with the Trotter twins two years ago---won by 100 yards from Higginson in 19:32. Two freshmen, Janel 
Parker of Freehold Twp and Lindsay Lambert of Howell, finished next in 19:52 and 20:05. The team battle was 
a close one with Shore topping Colts Neck, 122-138.

     The other major outing scheduled for that day, the Iron Hills championship, was postponed a week by rain. 

      Haddonfield's decision to skip the Camden County meet in favor of the Forsham affair spoiled a major 
individual battle in the girls' event between two winners at the recent Shore Coaches Invitational. With Wright 
absent, Arianna McKinney of Highland won by 100 yards from Katie Van Horn of Triton in 19:07. 

       Papazian won his third straight Somerset County title on Oct. 20 at Pleasant Valley Park, finishing 150 
yards ahead of Brian Dennis of Hillsboro in 15:47, which shaved 11 seconds off his own course record. The 
girls' title went to Amanda Smith of Pingry, who capped a someback from a summer injury with a 25 yard 
win over Montgomery frosh Amanda Herrmann in 19:16. Both team battles were very close, Hillsboro edging 
Bridgewater for the boys' title on a sixth-man comparison and Ridge topping Montgomery and Pingry in the 
girls' division, 61-64-65. 

 "Well., I guess we have to come back here next week," was Tommy Heath's reaction after the veteran
 Christian Brothers coach saw his team shut out  by Fayetteville-Manlius  in the featured boys' race at 
the Manhattan Invitational last Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park.
   
        Though they turned in the best team average (13:21) for a NJ school that day, the Colts saw both 
Old Bridge and Morris Hills, winners in their races, get a little too close for comfort. Two other contenders 
for state supremacy, Toms River North and Cherokee, took the weekend off.

       The principal item for New Jersey out of the Manhattan meet was the 12:28 victory by Bobby Papazian 
of Gill-St. Bernard's in the first of the seven boys' race. It was at first record as 12:20 until a number 
of coaches convinced meet officials that there had been an eight-second error in transferring the time 
verbally from the hand-watch used at the starting line to the official clock at the finish.

      The time turned out to be the second-fastest of the day, beaten only in the final race by Chris Barnicle 
of Newton North, Mass., who has to be considered among the favorites for Footlocker honors this year. The 
only other New Jerseyans under 13:00 were Bryan Scotland of St. Benedict's, who finished third behind 
Barnicle, and Chris Horel, who led CBA at 12:59.

      Scotland's participation in the meet was the result of a New Jersey Superior Court ruling which enjoined 
both Manhattan and this weekend's Brown Invitation from barring St. Benedict's from their meets. The ruling 
was welcomed by Manhattan meet director Ed Bowes, who was also happy to hear that LaSalle of
Philadelphia had come to the meet even though the Pennsylvania state association had attempted to bar 
them from the competition. 

       The major action for NJ girls last Saturday was at the South Jersey Open where three of the state's 
best ron their respctive races. Katie Van Horn of Triton took the A (large school) race in 19:13, defending 
all-group champion Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City snapped back from her disappointing showing at the 
Great American meet a week earlier as she reversed a loss to Leah Brogan of Msgr. Donovan that day, 
running 18:10, and Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield confirmed her fine showing at the Oct. 2 Shore Coaches 
meet by taking the C event in 18:23.

      Msgr. Donovan was the dominant team at this one as it won the B event, 34-80, from Moorestown even 
though its top frosh star, Molly Kempton, was absent. Pope John had the top performance at the Manhattan 
meet, winning its class race with Lara Heigis placing third in 15:13, officially the best NJ time of the meet, 
though Lauren Gregory of Morris Knolls, appeared to have run a tick faster, placing 18th in the Eastern title 
race---her official time was 15:14.

       The boys' action at the South Jersey meet was rather tepid with Cherokee and Toms River North, the 
two best in that part of the state, both absent. Mainland, which had dominated state team action the past 
two years, managed a one-point win over Washington Twp in the A race, but its only veteran from the 
2002-03 teams, Joey Masters, finished only fifth behind Anthony Kelhower of Lenape, who ran 15:54. 
Soph Mike Burke of Haddonfield had another big race as he won C in 16:09
  
      One problem for all the teams was that this Saturday has suddenly become a college-board day, 
which now means that three of the five Saturdays in the middle of the season are affected in this manner. 
At least one boy who ran very well at Manhattan, Korey Edwards of Parsippany Hills (13:00) arrived just 
10 minutes before his race.

     The third meet of last weekend, the Brett Taylor Invitational at Darlington Park in Mahwah, saw Cheyenne 
Ogleree of Garfield win the girls' A race in 18:24 and Amy VanAlstine of Midland Park the B in 19:25, while 
Ben Diestal of Northern Highlands and Chris Guerriero of Saddle Brook took the respective boys' races in 
16:06 and 16:08. .

     Ogletree, VanAlstine and Guerriero returned to the course three days later to win their events at the 
Bergen-Passaic Scholastic League champions with Amy chopping 35 seconds off her time at the Taylor 
meet---still more than a minute off her older sister's course record. Her twin, Ryan, did manage to break 
the family record, finishing third to Guerriero in 17:15. 

      This meet, and the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League championshsips the same day at 
Garret Mountain in West Paterson, led off a long series of conference and county meets which will 
dominate the next two weeks of action in the state, interrupted only by the Fordham University invitational---
CBA will be in the Eastern boys' championship race---and Ridgewood Invitational on Saturday.

  Some hot individual performances  featured last week's action in New Jersey, but the accent will be on 
team performances this week as Christian Brothers Academy's A team makes its first in-state appearance 
of the season at the mammoth Shore Coaches Invitational.

   The Colts have run their top seven only once to date and that was in the DeLaSalle Invitational in California 
which they won handily two week ago. That effort has made them hot favorites to reclaim the all-group title 
seven weeks hence at Holmdel County Park, also the site of this weekend's action.

   The state's No. 2 and 3 teams, Cherokee and Toms River North, will be absent this weekend, both competing 
in the Great American Invitational in North Carolina. The No. 4 team, Morris Hills, will run at Hoilmdel and should
 have little trouble picking up its third win of the season in the D race.

     Most of the state's top girls' teams will also be at Great American: Morris Knolls, Jackson and Ocean City,.

     Two of the three top boy runners will be in separate races at Holmdel. Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's 
will be in the F race, while rival Bryan Scotland of St. Benedict's faces a tough challenge in defense of his D title 
from Jayson Decker of Morris Hills, who finished a second behind him at the Passaic County Coaches meet last 
weekend. Sophomore Craig Forys of Colts Neck. who scored an impressive victory at his school's Cougar 
nvitational last Thursday, is another Great American enfry.

     Forys' record run at the Cougar meet was the highlight of last week's individual action for boys in the state. 
It was more than matched, however, by the meeting of last year's two girl Footlocker finalists, Brittany Sedberry 
of Ocean City and Jen Clausen of Jackson at the new South Jersey Shootout at Gloucester College. Sedberry, 
the defending all-group champ, won that one by 35 yards in 18:31.

     Cherokee had an easy team win in the boys' division of that meet, though it is still shorthanded with a couple 
of its seniors still on the injury list, including No. 3 runner Sean McLaughlin. The meet format was also new to the 
state: three races with one for each team's top two runners, another for its next two and a third for the final three, 
scoring based on the best five finishers. Cherokee went 2-3m in the first two and won the third to defeat Ocean 
City, 11-24. The top individual effort was a 16:08 by Anthony Kelhower of Lenape in the featured race with Tom 
Yersak and Greg Bredeck 2-3 for Cherokee, both under 16:20.

    Despite Clausen's first loss of the season, Jackson also won comfortably, 10-24, from Ocean City and, in the 
process, became a strong contender for all-group honors this season. Clausen was followed over the line by 
Soph teammate Amanda Marino, while Valerie Sidhoun and Ashley Avilleira went 1-2 in the No. 2 race.

   Morris Knolls had an impressive win at the Passaic Coaches Invitational at Garret Mountain, West Paterson, 
defeating county rival Morris Knolls, 34-62. Lauren Gregory led the way, defeating Kim Standridge of Randolph 
and Lindsay Pierret of Morristown in 19:20. This sets up quite a race for the Morris individual title with defender 
Abby Hinds of Mountain Lakes, who won the D race in 20:07.

   The other team winners at  this meet were Mount Olive in III, Kittatinny in II and two-time Parochial B winner 
Mt. St. Mary's, which finished 2-3-4 behind Hinds, in I.

   Hopewell Valley had the top team and individual effort at the Stewart Memorial meet at Warinanco Park, Elizabeth, 
defeating Parochial A defender Red Bank Catholic in the B race, 46-67, wth Emily Sherrard winning the race in 19:46. 
Emily McMillan led St. Rose to the C title, finishing 100 yards ahead of Janine Davis of Queen of Peace in 20:07. 
Davis, a 2:07 800-meter runner who won four events in last spring's Parochial A meet at distances from 100 through 
800 meters, ran a creditable 20:29.
 
   Forys' win at the Cougar meet came at the expense of Chris Pisano of Toms River North, who had scored 
impressive wins five days earlier at a pair of class meets. Pisano, however, led the Mariners to a 27-36 win 
over East Brunswick as the two teams took six of the top ten places.

     Phillipsburg headed the team action at the Stewart meet with a 59-88 defeat of Westfield in the A division. 
Hopewell Valley made it a perfect day by defeating Mercer County rival Notre Dame in B, 32-101, and Gr. I 
defender Bernards won in C, 49-67, from Parochial B favorite Roselle Catholic, whose Andrew Catalano had the 
top individual performance of the meet at 16:16. His rival for Union County honors, Jeff Perrella of Westfield, won 
the A race in 16:38.

     Morris Hills had a very impressive team win in the B race at the Passaic Coaches meet, placing all five runners 
in the top 10 to swamp Wayne Valley, 26-97. Ridgewood won a close A race from Morristown, 44-49, in a preview 
of the North Jersey 1 Gr. IV race, as Geoff McGrane of Randolph took individual honors in 16:38. Chris Guerriero 
of Saddle Brook repeated in the D race over Kinnelon frosh Mike Soroko in 16:48, while Mike Crum led Hopatcong 
to a C win in 17:09.   

     Christian Brothers was also due to break the national dual-meet record in Thursday's race with Middletown North 
at the Lincroft campus, which would be its 266th in a row with no end in sight.

 New Jersey cross-country action went coast-to-coast last weekend with Christian Brothers 
Academy cementing its No. 1 ranking among the state's boys teams with a convincing victory 
at the DeLaSalle/Carondolet Invitational in Concord, Calif.
    On the home front, individual action took front and center with two of the state''s top boy 
runners clashing head-on at the normally obscure Newark Academy Invitational in Livingston 
and the state's two 2003 Footlocker girl finalists duelling at long distance with easy victories 
in two of the four class meets that dominated the schedule.
    In its first California appearance in some years, CBA defeated the host (and brother) school, 
30-61, averaging 15:57.6 over the 2.8M course. The junior-dominated team was led by Chris 
Horel in third place in 15:20 (under the former course record), Greg Leach in sixth in 15:49 and 
Kevin Rogers in ninth in 16:02. 
   There was a little irony in the CBA victory. A year ago, Don Bosco Prep had sought to play 
the DeLaSalle football team (they were ranked 1-2 in the nation), but wa denied permission by 
its league. So the Colts' win was a sort of consolation prize for New Jersey athletics.
    The New Jersey action was affected somewhat by the tail end of Hurricane Ivan which dumped 
a ton of rain on most of the courses shortly before starting time. This greatly affected all 
performances, most notably in the duel between Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's and Bryan 
Scotland of St. Benedict's at the Newark Academy meet. 
    The finish was a repeat of last year with Papazian winning by 30 yards in 15:14. The two had 
hoped to go under 15:00 but their times were 10 seconds off their 2003 performance.
    Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City. the state champion a year ago, ran at the Cherokee Challenge 
in Marltonm turning in the day's fastest time as she won the junior race in 11:47. Danielle Tauro, who 
defeated Brittany for the state 1600 title last spring, took the soph race in 11:56 and Kate Van Horn 
the senior vent in 12:00. Also under 12:00 was Emily Sherrard of Hopewell Valley, trailing Sedberry.
    Jen Clausen of Jackson, who joined Brittany in the Footlocker final last year, took her second race 
of the season, winning the junior event at the Magee Memorial met in 18:59, while soph teammate 
Amanda Marino also scored in 20:01. Leah Brogan of Msgr. Donovan made it a sweep for Ocean 
County by taking the senior race in 20:25, while the Griffins' hot freshman crew went 1-2-4 in their 
race, Molly Kempton winning in 13:53.
      Roxbury dominated girls' action at its own class meet, taking 1-2-3 in the junior-senior race with 
Jenn Ennis winning in 18:37. while its frosh ace, Ashley Cromartie, ran away with that race in 14:30. 
Donovan and Roxbury rate now as the state's top teams.
      Toms River North had a good day in the boys' races at the Cherokee Challenge with Chris Pisano 
and Justin Brackett going 1-4 in the senior race, Pisano posting the day's best time of 10:01. Matt 
Mitchell of Haddon Heights took the junior race in 10:21 and Mike Burke of Haddonfield the sophomore 
in 10:26.
       East Brunswick dominated boys' action in the Battle of Monmouth class meet with Greg Bull taking 
the senior event in 10:25 and Daniel Gilbert and Yannick Wood going 1-2 in the junior event, Gilbert 
running 17:15. Eric Sorkin added a second in the sophomore race behind a 17:17 win by Stephen Sample 
of South Brunswick. 
    Two Top Ten boys' teams met at the rain-soaked Briarwood Invitational, Ridgewood defeating Mainland,
 73-75 in the Division I class race, despite a 3-4 finish forJoey Masters and Kevin Garr of Mainland in 
17:17 and 17:18. Juniors MIke Cator and Byron Williams followed in the next two places for Ridgewood.
    This weekend's action is headed by the Stewart Memorial at Warinanco Park, Elizabeth.  the state's 
oldest invitational meet, and also includes the Passaic County Coaches Invitational at Garrett Mountain, 
West Paterson. (both of these are longtime state sectional sites). The new South Jersey Shootout, with 
a slightly different format, will debut at Gloucester County College. (Each team will split its top five runners 
among three races with scoring similar to that used in class meets.) 

 
 
 
The New Jersey cross-country season got off to a modest start this past weekend with a pair of meets 
that did provide some insight into what may happen two months hence when the clans gather for the 
state championships at Holmdel County park.
 
        For those unfamiliar with the New Jersey setup, we have six divisions in the group championships: 
Groups IV (largest), III, II and I for public schools, plus Parochial A and B. The public schools begin 
state action Oct. 30 with sectionals meets at four sites around the state. The top five teams in each 
race, as well as the top 10 individuals advance to the group championships two weeks later at Holmdel 
County park. On that day, the top three teams in each of the six races and the first 10 individuals 
qualify automatically, as well as two teams and a number of individuals on a "wild card" basis, decided 
by the fastest times from all the races combined. The all-group meet is on Nov. 20 this year, a week 
before the Footlocker trials.
 
        The opening meet of the season was last Friday evening at Freedom Park, Randolph, a rolling 5K 
course. There were four races each for boys and girls based on the same grouping as in the state meet. 
Morris Hills, a hot favorite for the Gr. III title this year, ran away with tis race, taking six of the first 10 
places, led by Jayson Decker in 16:30. Its top five runners were either junior or sophomores.
 
        The Gr. IV race was an interstate affair. North Rockland (NY), a frequent (and welcome) visitor to 
New Jersey meets, took the first two places with John Martinez in 16:13 and Carlos Jamieson in 16:15, 
but had some problems with its 4th and 5th finishers and wound up third behind Bridgewater and Toms 
River East.
 
        Fastest boy in the meet was Ben Massam of Chatham, a junior, who took the Gr. II event in 16:04, 
second-fastest time in the three-year history of the course.
 
        The highlight of the girls' action was the return of 2003 Footlocker finalist Jen Clausen of Jackson Twp,
 who had been sidelined with a knee injury last spring. Jen won the Gr. IV race for the third year in a row and, 
in the process, broke her own course record, running 18:15 to easily defeat a strong field (four girls under 19:00). 
But team honors went to Roxbury which had senior Ali Caruana in third place and junior Jenn Ennis in 5th. 
Second went to versatile Kim Standridge of Randolph, who has a bright fuiture in the steeplechase as she is 
also a member of the Rams' crack shuttle hurdle team.
 
        Other individual winners included Kathy Henry of Ridge in Gr. III in 19:32 and Aimee Chegwidden of 
Wallkill Valley in 19:39 in Gr. II.
 
        The next day, at venerable Lincoln Park, Jersey City (sight of cross-country action for almost a century), 
two of the state's best took individual honors in the single varsity races at the St. Dominic Academy Intvitational. 
Bryan Scotland of St. Benedict's Prep, innocent victim of much controversy since last fall, won the boys; race 
by 200 yards in 17:05, while Leah Brogan of Msgr. Donovan took the girls' event from frosh teammate Molly 
Hempton in 19:50 over the 3.3-mile course.
 
        Scotland, who is not eligible for the state meet as his school is not a member of the state association, 
will have a big race next Saturday when he goes against Bobby Papazian of Gill-St. Bernard's in the Newark 
Academy Invitational at that school's campus in Livingston. Last year, both boys ran slightly over 15:00 on the 
flat 3M course and they could go under that figure this time. Papazian ran 2nd in a major road race last 
Thursday in 15:20.
 
        Morristown defeated Christian Brothers, 35-59, for boys; team honors, but the Colts withheld their top 
runners to train for the upcoming trip to the DeLaSalle Invitational in California (They are running this one in lieu 
of the Great American because they have other business that week: breaking the all-sport national dual 
competition winning streak; New Jersey's other top teams, Cherokee and Toms River North, will be at Raleigh.)
 
        Msgr. Donovan score an easy team win, taking three of the top four places with two more freshmen in that 
group. The Griffins' pther veterans were not yet, however, up to their 2003 form and this team figures to be a 
prime contender for state honors this fall.
 
        Next weekend's full schuedle will open Friday with the largely local Season-Opener meet in Bergen 
County's Darlington Park, while the Saturday list is dominated by class meets at Warinanco Park, Elizabeth; 
Roxbury; Cherokee High School (over a 3200M course) and Monmouth Battlefield. Several schools will also 
travel to Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, for the Briarwood Invitational