ED GRANT'S WEEKLY ROUNDUP

WEEK TEN

There was both good news and bad news for New Jersey cross-country from last
Saturday’s Northeast Footlocker Trials at Van Cortlandt Park.

The good news was headed by Craig Forys’ near record victory in the boys’ race
where he finished 20 yards ahead of Sintayehu Taye of Ashburnham, Mass., in 15:15.5, almost
exactly duplicating his time in his state all-group championship win the week before at Holmdel
County Park. The bad news was the collapse of two-time all-group girls’ winner Danielle Tauro
of Southern Ocean regional who fell twice in the last 10 yards, but gamely picked herself up to
finish 10th in 18:14.5.

A few days later, Tauro announced that she will not be going to San Diego. Her
problem was diagnosed as rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of the muscle cells, which is usually
associated with over-training, not likely in this case, as Danielle had a very light fall season,
running only four races. Her fall was reminiscent of what happened to Shalene Flanagan in her
junior year.

Forys spent most of the boys’ race running on the shoulder of Matt Centroqitz Jr.
of Arnold, Md., who had beaten Craig last April in the 3K race at the Penn Relays. Forys went
by Centrowitz as the pair hit the plains for the final 600-yard jaunt to the finish. But Taye made
a big move in the last quarter-mile and Colts Neck coach Jim Schlentz saw afterwards that he
didn’t think Craig had another gear in him. However, as Taye drew even, Forys put on his final
sprint and won comfortably.

Joining Forys in the San Diego race will be St. Benedict’s Prep junior Brandon Jarrett
who finished eighth in 15:19.9, just ahead of Paul Springer of Unionville, Pa., who had beaten him
in one of the Manhattan Invitational 2.5M races in October. Spring had also finished between Forys
and Jarrett at the Colts Neck Cougar Invitational in late September.

Colts Neck got a second national qualifier as Ashley Higginson, second to Tauro in the
all-group race, finished a comfortable fourth in the girls’ event in 17:52.

New Jersey also did pretty well in the two state team races. The boys finished second
to New York with Forys and Jarrett joined by Tom Poland of Delbarton in 17th at 15:48.5, Kris Carle
of Jackson in 18th in 15:49.1 and Andrew Hanko of Trinity Christian, 33rd in 16:03.2. The girls were
third to New York and Pennsylvania with soph Melanie Thompson of Voorhees 13th in 18:20.8, Lara
Heigis of Pope John 16th in 18:26.8 and Briana Jackucewicz of Colts Neck, a Footlocker finalist as
a frosh last year, 19th in 18:34.2.

Higginson and Jackucewicz will lead the Cougar girls to the national team race this
weekend in Oregon, with two boys’ teams, all-group champion Jackson and Haddonfield also making
the westward journey to run in the open race.

New Jersey runners took three of the eight class races on the Footlocker program.
Aimee Chegwidden of Wallkill Valleywon the senior girls event in 19:40 and Alison Weeks of Cherokee
the junior event in 19:16.7. Brett Johnson of Ocean City took the soph boys’ race in 16:21.8 with Pat
O’Boyle of Mater Dei second in 16:34.8. Jon Vitez of Haddonfield was second in the boys’ frosh race
in 16:55.7.

WEEK NINE

The past, the present and perhaps the future of New Jersey cross-country were all on hand
last Saturday as Craig Forys of Colts Neck and Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean Regional comfortably
passed the second stage of a five-meet odyssey which they hope will end with victories at the Footlocker
Invitational Dec. 9 in San Diego.

Among the spectators at the 88th annual group championships at Holmdel County Park were
two legendary figures in the state’s track and field history: Jason DiJoseph (Paul VI), who set the course
record in the 1988 Parochial A race, and Kevin Byrne (Paramus Catholic), who won the 1975 all-group
race and, in 1977, ran a pair of 4:08.0 miles in the high school invitationals at the Phiadelphia Spectrum
and in the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden.

DiJoseph was there to watch Forys challenge his 15:16.2 mark, a challenge which failed,
partly due to the unseasonably warm (70 degree) weather and mostly due to the lack of competition
with his main rivals in this Saturday’s all-group race, Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s and Tom Poland
of Delbarton, were busy winning their own races by wide margins, Smith setting a sophomore class
record of 15:48 in Parochial B and Poland taking Parochial A in 16:02. Forys ran 15:30.

The other individual winners were Chris Southwick of Voorhees at 16:13 in Gr. III, James Grimes
of Chatham at 16:11 in Gr. II and Michael Soroko of Kinnelon at 16:50 in Gr. I. Grimes succeeded his
former teammate, Ben Massam, who won in 2004 and 2005 and, afterwards, fielded a call of congratulations
from 1991 Footlocker winner Brendan Heffernan of North Hunterdon whose father Frank is the Chatham
coach. (Forys timed moved Heffernan back to No. 4 on the Holmdel all-time list.

There were no surprises in this list of winners, but a big one in the team contests as Old Bridge
reversed its sectional loss to Jackson, defeating Ridgewood, 95-104. Jackson, however, will be a co-favorite
this weekend with Parochial A winner Don Bosco since its loss was entirely due to a mid-race incident
which saw its No. 2 runner Ryan Fenimore suffer a digestive attack which caused him to limp home three
minutes behind his usual Holmdel average of 16:00-plus.

Don Bosco ended an 11-year reign by Christian Brothers with a healthy 51-140 margin and was
the only team to average under 17:00, though Jackson would have easily done so with Fenimore in his
normal form. Ridge took Gr. III, 105-181, led by Alex Brenner in seventh place, Haddonfield topped neighbor
Haddon Twp, 74-121, in Gr. II with Mike Burke in fourth place and Pennsville defeated Kinnelon, 58-96, in
Gr. I with Mark Kearney placing third. Pingry’s Parochial B victory over Roselle Catholic was a slight upset
and made up for Chris Scavone’s loss of his individual title as he placed third to Smith and Andrew Hanko
of Trinity Christian, both of whom were playing soccer last year.

Forys and Smith were the only ones to beat 16:00 on the day, though Matt Ciambriello of Old
Bridge and Christian Gonzalez of Franklin were only a few ticks away in the Gr. IV race. Given a drop of
10 degrees or so this weekend, things should be different this weekend.

Tauro obviously was running under wraps as she defended her Gr. IV title by 20 yards over Ashley
Higginson of Colts Neck, also a prime candidate for the Footlocker finals. Danielle looked over her shoulder
several times as she eased into the finish line in 18:06 in only her second race of the season. This was by
far the best winning time of the day; in fact, seven of the nine sub 19:00 times came from this race.

The number should have been 10, but Lauren Penney of Roxbury tripped over a tree root just as the
field was about to leave the woods and never finished. At the time of her mishap, she was running with Briana
Jackucewicz of Colts Neck who finished fifth in 18:53 behind Amanda Marino of Jackson and Theresa Cattuna
of Cherry Hill East. The others under 19:00 in this race were sophs Katie Kellner of West Windsor-Plainsboro
South and Tori Berard of Morris Knolls

Undefeated Melanie Thompson led her Voorhees team to a 66-85 victory over Ridge in a repeat
of their sectional duel, winning the race by 50 yards from Laura Gallo of Cranford in 18:44. Abby Hinds of
Mountain Lakes, who won in Gr. I a year ago, took Gr. II this time in 19:33 and Lindsay Pedersen of
Waldwick scored the only individual upset of the day in Gr. I in 20:39.

Lara Heigis of Pope John joined Tauro and Hinds as a repeat winner, as she led a 1-2-3 finish
for her team in 19:22, yielding individual glory to bring teammates Lauren Bariexca and Sarah Cariati
home well under 20:00. Heigis, who finished sixth in last year’s all-group race in 18:22, should be running
with the top group this weekend. In Parochial B, Liz Campbell of Mt. St. Mary’s repeated her New Jersey
Catholic Track Conference defeat of defending champ Marie Wash of Mater Dei, this time for the gold in
19:21.

Missing people played a big role in the girls’ meet. Roxbury, for example, had to scramble for
a wild card berth in the all-group meet thanks to Penney’s mishap; with her in the top 10, the defending
all-group champs would have edged Cherry Hill East for second in Gr. IV, still well behind Colts Neck,
which average 19:39. The Parochial A race saw favored Msgr. Donovan go to the post minus its top runner,
Molly Kempton, who came up with a stress fracture after finishing fourth behind Heigis, Campbell and
Walsh in the NJCTC meet, and wound up losing to first-time winner Holy Angels, 69-71. This was an
extremely close race with Red Bank Catholic taking third from Pope John at 73 points on a sixth-girl
comparison. The Lions, however, easily qualified as a wild card, having the fourth-fastest average of the
entire day at 20:27.

The other team winners were Haddonfield, repeating easily in Gr. II , 62-120, over New
Providence behind a ninth-place finish by frosh Marielle Hall (the rest of the team are sophomores),
Metuchen in Gr. I, 92-141, over Verona and Wildwood Catholic, another first-time winner, 72-77, over
defending Pingry in possibly the biggest surprise of the day. It is only the second time a Cape May
County team has won a group title; Pennsville’s win was a first for Salem County.

TOP TENS

BOYS GIRLS

1. Don Bosco 1. Colts Neck
2. Jackson 2. Msgr. Donovan
3. Old Bridge 3. Roxbury
4. Pope John 4. Cherry Hill East
5. Haddonfield 5. Holy Angels
6. Ridgewood 6. Voorhees
7. Christian Brothers 7. Red Bank Catholic
8. Ridge 8. Pope John
9. St. Benedict’s 9. Ridge
10. Phillipsburg 10. Lenape

WEEK EIGHT

The seasonal debut of Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean proved to be worth the waiting
as the country’s No. 1 schoolgirl miler easily defended her title last Saturday as the New Jersey state
meet got under way, winning the South Jersey Gr. IV race by 100 yards from Theresa Cattuna of
Cherry Hill East in a course record of 17:51 at Delsea High School.

Tauro had taken a long vacation from competition following her trip to China in August
to represent the United State in the World Junior Championships. Her brief season will continue this
weekend and next as she defends her Gr. IV and all-group championships at Holmdel County Park.
(This week, Tauro announced she will attend Michigan next fall.)

Her chief competition in both races will obviously come from the Colts Neck pair of Briana
Jackucewicz and Ashley Higginson. These two finished in a dead-heat at 18:10 in the Gr. IV race at
Thompson Park, new site of the Central Jersey meet, with Higginson stepping back at the finish line
to allow Jackucewicz, the defending champion, to cross the line first. They finished 60 yards ahead
of Amanda Marino of Jackson.

The lead runners at the other two sectional sites were Lauren Penney, who led Roxbury
to a third straight North Jersey 1 Gr. IV title in 18:38 at Garret Mountain, West Paterson, and Melanie
Thompson of Voorhees, who took the Gr. III event in the North Jersey 2 meet at Warinanco Park in 18:28,
fourth best time in course history. Later that same day at Warinanco, Lara Heigis of Pope John won
the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference title in 18:38.

Thompson and Heigis will be heavy favorites in their group races this Saturday with the other
four going at it in the Gr. IV event. Other favorites will be Abby Hinds of Mountain Lakes, a two-time
winner in Gr. I, who took the North Jersey 2 Gr. II race in 19:08 and Liz Campbell of Mt. St. Mary’s who
finished 40 yards ahead of Parochial B defender Marie Walsh of Mater Dei in second place at 18:57
in the NJCTC race. Grroup I is very much up for grabs among three sectional winners: Kathy DeLeon
of Palisades Park (NJ 1), Fiona Weeks of Metuchen (CJ) and Jessica Culp of Woodstown (SJ).

Colts Neck cemented its position as all-group team favorite with a 47-107 rout of Jackson in
the CJ Gr. IV race. The team average, thanks to the efforts of Jackucewicz and Higginson, was 18:58
which, even granting course differences, rates well ahead of anything else recorded that day. Msgr.
Donovan, the state’s No. 2 team, probably had the next best with its 19:49 as it defeated Red Bank
Catholic and Pope John, 54-66-68, in the NJCTC meet. These three, plus Holy Angels (which rested
last Saturday) will make the Parochial A race the most interesting of the day this weekend.

Voorhees emerged as a solid choice to succeed Colts Neck as Gr. III champion with its
53-69 defeat of Ridge in the NJ 2 Gr. III race. Hopewell Valley, which could have been a third force in
this one, is missing its No. 1 runner, Megan Fitzpatrick (a victim on mono), but should nail the third
all-group qualifying slot thanks to freshman Julie Jablonski whose second-place finish behind soph
teammate Clare Buck as the difference in a 54-57 win over Princeton in Central Jersey.

Haddonfield seems a lock to defend its Gr. II title after its 21-56 defeat of Haddon Twp in
South Jersey, led by frosh Marielle Hall who won by 70 yards over teammate Bria Altieri in 19:34.
This young team is settling in for a long domination which might even wind up with an all-group title
in 2008. Pingry, also idle last weekend, seems certain to pick up a third straight Parochial B title
and Metuchen is just as solid a favorite in the depleted Gr. I event, which had only 30 team entries,
a third of them in the NJ 1 race.

The best individual boys’ race of the day last weekend was the final one, the 50th annual
NJCTC championships which saw Tom Poland of Delbarton hold off Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s
in a meet record 15:46. The two quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field with a 9:45 2M pace
that brought Brian Guterl of Union Catholic also under 16:00 in third place.

This was also an historic team event as Pope John ended a 24-year reign by Christian
Brothers, 52-81, as the No. 1 team, Don Bosco, held out its top five runners. The three will get together
this weekend in the Parochial A race with Red Bank Catholic, fourth in the NJCTC event, hoping to pick
up a wild-card slot. St. Benedict’s, which would be a cinch for the Parochial B title, is not an NJSIAA
member, leaving it open to Roselle Catholic.

Craig Forys of Colts Neck coasted to a 25-yard win over Matt Ciambriello of Old Bridge in
the Central Jersey Gr. IV race, setting a course record of 15:34 in the process. Ciambriello used his
“home course” advantage to top Kris Carle for second in the deepest boys’ race of the day. Jackson
easily defeated Old Bridge, 53-84, and seems a sure shot to win its first group title this Saturday. The
other sectional individual winners were Dan Emont of Ridgewood in NJ 1, Christian Gonzalez of Franklin
in NJ 2 and Alex Yersak of Cherokee in South Jersey,

There was a great individual race in Gr. III at Garret Mountain where Tony Salvatore of Wayne
Valley came from well back on the final hill to nip defender Kyle Soloff of Morris Hills in 16:10. The team
race was even closer as it required a sixth-man comparison to five Morris Hills its third straight title after
it tied Northern Highlands at 79 points. Chris Southwick of Voorhees repeated at NJ 2 in 16:26, Sean
McNulty of West Windsor-Plainsboro North won at Thompson Park in 16:21 an John Fennekohl of Ocean
City at Delsea in 15:58, but they will probably be running for third behind the NJ 1 pair this weekend. The
team race looks like a battle between NJ 2 winner Ridge and CJ champ Hopewell Valley, whose 2003
freshman stars Matt Hildebrandt, Nick Jourjine and Pat Jablonski---Julie’s older brother---led one of the
day’s two boy-girl sweeps.

The other came in South Jersey where Haddonfield easily defeated Haddon Twp in the Gr. II
race, 33-80 with a team that was led by seniors Matt Golia and Mike Burke, who finish 3-4, but also
included three freshmen as its fifth, sixth and seventh finishers. Their performance outclassed the other
winners: Tenafly in NJ 1, Chatham in NJ 2 and Matawan in CJ. The individual leader was NJ 2 champ
James Grimes of Chatham, who would like to succeed former teammate Ben Massam as group winner.

Mike Soroko of Kinnelon, the favorite for the Gr. I title, not only took the NJ 1 race in 16:41,
but also led the Colts to a 49-92 win over Pompton Lakes. But the team favorite here will be Pennsville,
which ran away with the SJ title, 20-70, over New Egypt, led by Mark Kearney who took the gold in
16:53. It would be the first title for the Eagles.

TOP TENS
BOYS GIRLS

1. Don Bosco 1. Colts Neck
2. Pope John 2. Msgr. Donovan
3. Jackson 3. Roxbury
4. Haddonfield 4. Holy Angels
5. Christian Brothers 5. Cherry Hill East
6. Old Bridge 6. Voorhees
7. Ridgewood 7. Red Bank Catholic
8. St. Benedict’s 8. Pope John
9. Hopewell Valley 9. Lenape
10. Colts Neck 10. Ridge

WEEK SEVEN
All this and Tauro too might be the motto for the 43rd annual New Jersey state sectionals this
Saturday at four sites around the state.

The final week of action before the opening of the three-stage state championships featured a flurry
of outstanding individual efforts along with a probable preview of the girls’ all-group race to be held Nov. 18
at Holmdel County Park.

Topping the list was the Shore Conference meet at Ocean County Park on Oct. 30, one of three
events that were washed out by the Oct. 28 rains. Ashley Higginson of top-ranked Colts Neck tied Jen
Clausen’s course record as she defeated teammate Briana Jackucewicz by 60 yards in 17:32. Despite
this 1-2 finish, the Cougars were closely pressed by Msgr. Donovan before winning, 53-56. This was only
the second major race of the season for Jackucewicz, a Footlocker finalist a year ago, and it was her return
to 2005 form that made the difference.

Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean, the state’s defending all-group champ, was merely a spectator
at this one having yet to begin her season after a 2006 outdoor campaign which lasted to the World Junior
championships in August. She will return to action this Saturday seeking a third straight title in the South
Jersey Gr. IV championships at Delsea High School.

The Shore race saw 15 girls beat 19:00 on a flat course which is rated about 40 seconds faster
than Holmdel’s hilly layout. Amanda Marino of Jackson, another Footlocker hopeful, finished third in 18:02,
followed by the leader of the all-underclass MonDon team, junior Molly Kempton.

In the boys’ division there, Craig Forys of Colts Neck, the defending all-group champ, smashed the
meet record in a 125-yard victory over Kris Carle of Jackson in 15:05. Jackson, ranked No. 4, defeated Colts
Neck, 55-98 with Ryan Fenimore backing up Carle in third place and Austin Santillo placing 12th.

Course records also fell in both races at Friday’s Essex County championships at Brookdale Park in
Bloomfield, Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s, whose state season will end this Saturday at the 50th annual
New Jersey Catholic Track Conference championships at Warinanco Park, Elizabeth, won the boys’ event in
15:03, while Alexis Weiner of Caldwell took her third straight girls’ title in 18:12. St. Benedict’s also took the
team title, but Livingston was an easy winner in the girls’ meet.

Jarrett went on to win the New Jersey Prep “A” title on Wednesday at Blair Academy, also under the
course record at 15:58, but Gill St.-Bernard’s soph Doug Smith topped that with a 15:44 in the B race to
become a strong favorite for the state Parochial B title and also becoming the likely successor to Forys as
all-group champion next year.

In two other Friday races, Theresa Cattuna of Cherry Hill East took the Olympic Conference title at
Gloucester County College in 18:11, while Amanda Goetschius of Delsea repeated in the Tri-County Conference
championships at Cumberland High School in 18:29.

Roxbury’s girls, the defending all-group champs and ranked No. 3 this year, repelled a challenge by
constant rival Morris Knolls in the Morris County meet on Monday at Warinanco Park with Lauren Penney
leading Erika Mehling of West Morris over the line by 100 yards in 18:51. The boys’ race saw Chatham win a
close one from defending Morris Hills as Tom Poland of Delbarton defeated Kyle Soloff of Morris Hills by 15
yards in 16:11.

Top-ranked Don Bosco, which will also be at the NJCTC meet this Saturday, defeated defending
Ridgewood in the Bergen County Meet of Champions on Monday, 39-53, with Dan Emont of Maroon the
individual winner in 15:40 at Darlington Park. The girls’ race went to Holy Angels for the first time, 44-64,
over perennial champion Ridgewood as Kesley Ramsey of Ramapo won by 100 yards over Sarah Pagano
of Immaculate Heart Academy in 18:15.

Higginson, Jackucewicz and Marino will be joined by Mercer County champ Katie Kellner of West
Windsor-Plainsboro South in Saturday’s outstanding individual match at the Central Jersey Gr. IV race at a
new sectional site, Thompson Park. Colts Neck is the big team favorite here and for the state title a week
later at Holmdel over the other likely sectional winners: Morris Knolls in North Jersey 1 at Garret Mountain,
West Paterson; Bridgewater at North Jersey 2 at Warinanco Park and Cherry Hill East in the South Jersey
meet at Delsea. Tauro is naturally the individual pick at Delsea, Higginson at Thompson Park, Kris Cupido
of Bridgewater and defender Jahlisa Smith at Warinanco and Kim Standridge of Randolph at Garret Mountain.

The big Gr. III girls’ race, team and individual, will be at Warinanco between Voorhees and Ridge
and their respective lead runners, Melanie Thompson and Nicol Traynor. A preview of this one in the Skyland
Conference meet at Pleasant Valley Park last Thursday saw the Vikings and Thompson the winners. Union
County champ Laura Gallo, Mehling and Morristown freshman Dale Kinney will make the individual race one
of the deepest of the day. Roxbury and Penney will have the Garret race to themselves. Clare Buck should
lead Hopewell Valley to another win in CJ and Goetschius should do the same on her home course at Delsea.

Haddonfield’s sophomore-laden team, led by frosh Marielle Hall, has become a strong favorite to
sweep Gr. II for the next three years, starting with the SJ race at Delsea. New Providence and Delaware
Valley will have a close one at Thompson Park with Julia Mark of DelVall the likely winner, Summit should
score at Warinanco Park with a strong individual race featuring Weiner, Abby Hinds of Mountain Lakes and
frosh Kelsey Olcott of the Hilltoppers and Lindsay Jeltes and Indian Hills battle Stacey Bond and Ramsey
at Garret..

The Gr. I girls’ picture is pretty clear on the sectional level, but very cloudy after that. Ten too many
students takes an obvious favorite, New Providence, into the Gr. II ranks, leaving the field to sectional favorites
Cresskill and Waldwick in NJ 1, defending McNair and Palisades Park in NJ 2, perennial Metuchen in CJ and
Woodstown in SJ and to individuals Cate Mellick of Cresskill, Kathy DeLeon of Palisades Park, Fiona Weeks
of Metuchen and Jessica Culp of Woodstown.

The top boys’ individual field is also in CJ Gr. IV with Forys, Carle, Fenimore, Middlesex County
champ Matt Ciambriello of Old Bridge and Mercer County winner Brian Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro
South. Emont is favored in NJ 1, Skyland winner Chris Gonzalez of Franklin in NJ 2 and Alex Yersak of
Cherokee in SJ. Jackson and Old Bridge will battle for the team title there, Ridgewood, the third factor in
what looks like a close group race, should repeat easily in NJ 1, defending Phillipsburg and Westfield will
have a close one in NJ 2 and ditto Cherokee and Mainland in SJ.

Ridge took over the favored role for group honors in III with its victory at the Skyland meet with
Wayne Valley in NJ 1, Mercer County champ Hopewell Valley in CJ and Kingsway in SJ the other sectional
favorites. Passaic County champ Tony Salvatore of Wayne Valley head the individual field with Alex Brenner
of Ridge and Joe McKenney of Cranford in NJ 2, Sean McNulty of West Windsor-Plainsboro North in CJ and
John Fennekohl and Brett Johnson of Ocean City in South Jersey his main competition.

Third-ranked Haddonfield is not only the heavy favorite in Gr. II, but is shaping up as a strong contender
for all-group honors, led by Mike Burke. Indian Hills in NJ 1, Chatham in NJ 2 and Matawan in CJ seem clear
choices in the other sectional races, The individual field in those races is much stronger: the 1-2 punch of
Jerry Perkins and Maxwell Bruno of Indian Hills, Union County champ Stephen Hankinson of Summit, James
Grimes of Chatham and Charles Goold of Rutherford in NJ 2 and Dan Stiles of Somerville and Brian Schilder
of Delaware Valley in CJ.

Pennsville is an overwhelming favorite in Gr. I for both SJ and group honors. Metuchen and Keansburg
in CJ, Palisades Park in NJ 2 and Bogota and Kinnelon in NJ 1 are sectional favorites, but cannot match the SJ
team’s depth. Mike Soroko of Kinnelon heads the individual field with Mark Kearney of Pennsville in SJ, Matt
Turlip of Dunellen in CJ and Tauqueer Qazi in NJ 2 the other sectional favorites,

If all eligible teams compete, the NJCTC meet should provide the top team competition of the day.
There are three ranked teams in the boys’ division, four in the girls. Individually, the boys’ race has county
champs Jeremy Scheid (Pope John) of Sussex, Poland of Morris, Jarrett of Essex and Ted Doyle (St. Peter’s)
of Hudson, while the girls has Lara Heigis (Pope John) of Sussex and runners-up Pagano of Bergen, Marie
Walsh (Mater Dei) of Monmouth and Kempton of Ocean..

TOP TENS

BOYS GIRLS

1. Don Bosco 1. Colts Neck
2. Pope John 2. Msgr. Donovan
3. Haddonfield 3. Roxbury
4. Jackson 4. Holy Angels
5. Old Bridge 5. Cherry Hill East
6. Ridgewood 6. Voorhees
7. Christian Brothers 7. Morris Knolls
8. Hopewell Valley 8. Red Bank Catholic
9. Colts Neck 9. Pope John
10. St. Benedict’s 10. Ridge

WEEK SIX

With only a week left before the three-stage New Jersey state meet gets under way, two teams
have propelled themselves into the all-group maelstrom with outstanding performances last weekend.

At Van Cortlandt Park, the Haddonfield boys turned in the fastest average of the season
for a Garden State team, 13:18, as they won the Eastern championship race for the third time
in six years, 53-62, over LaSalle of Philadelphia (a school that with Haverford coach Tom Donnelly
in the lead role, once captured both the A and B races there, a feat never matched before or since).
It was strictly a team effort with only 22 seconds separating leader Mike Burke at 13:06 and anchor
Matt Golia (13:28).

The group included a freshman, Boo Vitez, in 10th at 13:20 and a sophomore, Dan Carreon,
11th at 13:22. And, as a bonus, Haddonfield’s top frosh, Colin Baker (son of longtime coach Nick Baker)
made his first appearance of the season in the junior varsity event.

At the Ocean County meet at Ocean County Park, Msgr. Donovan finally put its act together
and averaged 19:10 on the swift course with Molly Kempton in second place at 18:29 and Krista
Loretto, Brianna Crowe and Devin Solvik finished 5-6-7, separated by just three seconds. Amanda
Cavallo closed out the 33-67 win over Jackson. All five of these girls are underclassmen, three juniors
and two sophs---a real full house.

This sets up a super-match this Saturday at the Ocean County site in other Shore
Conference meet with Colts Neck, the state’s number one team, going against MonDon, the two
joined by two other top 10 teams, Red Bank Catholic and Jackson. It will also match the state’s
two top active runners, Amanda Marino of Jackson, who won the Ocean race in 17:51, and Ashley
Higginson of Colts Neck, the Monmouth County champ. The 2005 winner, Danielle Tauro of Southern
Ocean, will be just a spectator, her season due to begin in the Nov. 4 South Jersey sectionals.

Jackson took the boys’ race, 59-69, from Msgr. Donovan, even with two regulars on
the sidelines, resting for the Shore Conference match with top-ranked Colts Neck. Kris Carle won
the race by 85 yards from MonDon junior Ray Coles in 15:31.

Pope John swept the Sussex County titles for the fourth year in a row at the county
fair grounds with Jeremy Scheid and Lara Heigis both setting course records. Jeremy took three
seconds over brother Justin’s boys’ mark at 15:35 and Lara lowered her own record to 17:55, in
the process joining county legends Lisa Pakutka of Hopatcong and Christi Constantin of Kittatinny
as a three-time winner. It is not seven in a row for the boys.

Voorhees stars Chris Southwick and Valerie Thompson swept the individual titles at the
Hunterdon-Warren meet on Oct. 20 at Delaware Valley. Southwick took the boys’ race by 70 yards
in 16:06 from Ed Sheridan, who led Phillipsburg to a third straight team title. Thompson headed a
fifth-straight girls’ victory as she finished almost 200 yards ahead of Asha Singh of Hunterdon Central
in 18:28, only six seconds off Jodie Bilotta’s course record.

Heavy favorites won both Passaic County titles that day at Garret Mountain, Tony Salvatore
of Wayne Valley repeating in the boys’ race in 16:11 and Christine Valerio doing the same in the girls’
event in 19:30. Both also led team wins.

The Camden County meet on Oct. 20 again had the top teams skipping it to run two days
later at the Easterns. Haddonfield was missing from the boys’ race, won by Haddon Twp in a
neighborhood duel with Haddon Twp and both Haddonfield and Cherry Hill East were absent from
the girls’ event, won by Timber Creek for the first time. Pennsville’s boys team, a heavy favorite for
the Gr. I title, won easily in Salem with a 1-2 finish from Mark Kearney and Brian Maniglia, while
Woodstown ended an eight-year run by Schalick in the girls’ event.

Another young team, Lenape with three sophs and two juniors, took its first Burlington
County girls’ title, 31-53, over Cherokee with three girls following Allison Weeks of Cherokee over
the line. A very close boys race among three brother schools saw Shawnee edged Seneca and
Cherokee, 59-62-63 with Alex Yersak of Cherokee a narrow winner over Brian Tetrault of
Cinnaminson in 16:36.

TOP TENS

BOYS GIRLS

1. Don Bosco 1. Colts Neck
2. Pope John 2. Roxbury
3. Haddonfield 3. Msgr. Donovan
4. Jackson 4. Cherry Hill East
5. Old Bridge 5. Voorhees
6. Ridgewood 6. Morris Knolls
7. Christian Brothers 7. Red Bank Catholic
8. Hopewell Valley 8. Pope John
9. Colts Neck 9. Ridge
10. St. Benedict’s 10. Jackson

WEEK FIVE

Colts Neck took front and center in last week’s cross-country action in New Jersey with Craig
Forys and Ashley Higginson enhancing their chances with strong performances at the
Manhattan Invitational on Saturday and the Monmouth County championships three days
later at rainy Holmdel County Park.

Forys shattered a 23-year-old course record at Van Cortlandt as he won the
E race in 12:10.7, only to lose the mark when Tom Gruenwald of New York’s Fayetteville-Manlius
won the F race in 12:10.6. The decision to split the pair by a tenth of a second caused a bit of
controversy, particularly as the timing could not have been exact, involving as it did a transfer
between two watches as is customary at meets where the start and finish are separated by
several hundred yards.

Higginson missed the New Jersey record for Van Cortlandt by less than four
seconds as she finished a close second to Hannah Davidson of Saratoga in 14:16, a time that
has been bettered by only two Garden Staters: Karen Ahearn of Bernards in 1985 and Janet
Smith of North Edison in 1983.

The two then ran very different races at the Monmouth County meet, Forys
loafing to a 16:42 in the boys’ race, while Higginson was only two seconds off her Holmdel
best with an 18:28 while leading her team to victory in the girls’ event. Colts Neck turned in
the fastest mark of the season at 19:46 in this race, shading Roxbury’s effort at the Shore
Coaches Invitational.

Roxbury passed up the Manhattan meet to rest for its match with Morris
Knolls at Tuesday’s Iron Hills championships at Freedom Park in Randolph. Running in heavy
rain, Lauren Penney led an easy victory for the Gaels in the Iron Division in 19:04. Freshman
Kearsley Olcott led Summit to a 24-61 win over Chatham in the Hills Division, finishing 100
yards ahead of Amanda Hefferan of Parsippany in 19:52.

Don Bosco and Pope John, the pre-season favorites for the boys’ all-group
title, were both team winners at Manhattan to rise to the 1-2 slots in the boys’ Top Ten. The
Iron Men took the B race from St. Anthony’s, 89-106, with Conor Sullivan placing second in
12:58 and sophomore Robert Molke sixth in 13:04. The Lions defeated Xavier of Connecticut
in the D race, 74-98, with Jeremy Scheid placing sixth in 13:06 and Jon Juleus 12th in 13:22.

Ridgewood had a second to Fayetteville-Manlius in the F race, 55-76,
with Dan Emont placing ninth in 13:03. This is a typically tall Maroon squad, reminiscent of the
one led by Joe LeMay 20 years ago, with Emont the only one under 6-2. Jackson was second
in G with Kris Carle running fourth in 12:43. Christian Brothers, missing two regulars because
of the SAT, was fifth in the C race and Colts Neck fifth in E.

Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s was New Jersey’s second fastest runner as
he placed second in the G race to Paul Springer of Unionville, Pa., who had been listed to run
in the C event. It was their second meeting of the year; they had finished 2-3 behind Forys in
the Cougar Invitational two weeks earlier.

Colts Neck led the NJ finish in the Eastern championship girls’ race, placing
eighth with 253 points and a team average of 15:25. Briana Jackucewicz made her season
debut, placing 42nd in 15:28 but then passed up the Monmouth race. Alexandra Flott was 44th
in 15:29 and Allison Donaghy 63rd in 15:44. Other high NJ finishers in the race were Lara Heigis
of Pope John, 21st in 15:07; Nicole Traynor of Ridge, 24th in 15:10 and Molly Kempton of Msgr.
Donovan, 25th in 15:12.

Voorhees soph Melanie Thompson led her team to a 65-78 win in the B race,
finishing 250 yards ahead of the field in 14:43. Teammate Katrina Spratford was sixth in 15:49
and Mary Kay Duff of third-place Holy Angels seventh in 15:51.

At the South Jersey Open that day in Delsea, Theresa Cattuna and Alaina
Chodoff went 1-2 for Cherry Hill East in a 48-71 defeat of Cherokee in the A race, Cattuna
crossing the line 150 yards ahead in 15:23. Freshman Marielle Hall led Haddonfield to a 37-66
win in C with a 75-yard win over Jena Peacock of Our Lady of Mercy in 19:25 and Amanda
Goetschius of Delsea repeated in B in 18:39 over Kingsway frosh Chelsea Ley in 18:51 with
Paul VI taking team honors.

The championship season then set in on Tuesday with three meets defying
the horrid weather. At the Monmouth meet, Christian Brothers scored its fifth win in a row in
the boys’ event and 37th all told, 54-75, over Colts Neck. This is not a typical dominating CBA
team, but a solid team effort, led by senior Chris Lombardi (absent at Manhattan) was enough
to carry the day.
There was a major upset at the Iron Hills meet where Stephen Hankinson of
Summit defeated Kyle Soloff of Morris Hills in the Hills race in 16:33, though the Knights had
no trouble winning its third team title in a row. Liam Mulcahy of Morristown won the Iron race
from teammate Mark Leahey, but, despite this auspicious star, Randolph prevailed over the
Colonials, 57-61.

Sophomore Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s had his second win of the season
in the Somerset County meet, finishing 125 yards ahead of Christian Gonzalez of Franklin in 15:55,
second fastest on the Pleasant Valley Park course to former Gill star, Bobby Papazian, the state’s
all-group champ two years ago. Ridge won both team titles there, with Nicol Traynor leading the girls’
sixth straight victory in 19:07.

The coming week will be devoted entirely to local meets with the highlights coming
on Oct. 26 with the Skyland Conference meet at Pleasant Valley Park and on Oct. 28 when the Shore
Conference meet is held at Holmdel and the Morris County championships at the Nabisco plant in East
Hanover. Half of the state’s Top Ten teams will be in one or another of these meets, plus about a dozen
individual contenders.

TOP TENS

BOYS GIRLS

1. Don Bosco 1. Colts Neck

2. Pope John 2. Roxbury

3. Jackson 3. Cherry Hill East

4. Old Bridge 4. Voorhees

5. Ridgewood 5. Morris Knolls

6. Haddonfield 6. Red Bank Catholic

7. Christian Brothers 7. Msgr. Donovan

8. Hopewell Valley 8. Pope John

9. Colts Neck 9. Ridge

10. St. Benedict’s 10. Hopewell Valley

WEEK FOUR
The 4,000-strong Shore Coaches Invitational last weekend only proved what everyone knew
before the gun was fired for the first of the dozen varsity events that day: the 2006 cross-
country season in New Jersey will be known for its individual talent not its team strength.

A state which sent three schools to the national championships in Oregon
last fall may well be without representation this time around. The leaders at the Shore meet,
Jackson for the boys and Roxbury for the girls will have to improve on their respective averages
of 16:45 and 19:48 to gain a spot in the Eugene races.

But even with such notables as Craig Forys and Ashley Higginson of Colts
Neck, Danielle Tauro of Southern (Ocean) Regional and Amanda Marino of Jackson among
the missing, there were some notable individual efforts. Junior Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s
Prep led the boys as he won a hot “D” race from Tom Poland of Delbarton and Kyle Soloff of
Morris Hills in 15:42, while Matt Ciambriello of Old Bridge edged Kris Carle of Jackson in the
“A” race in 15:54 and sophomore Doug Smith of Gill-St. Bernard’s made his Holmdel County
Park debut a winning one with a 16:00 in the “F” event.

Top girl was junior Lauren Penney of Roxbury who took the “B” race in from
soph Katie Kellner of West Windsor-Plainsboro South in 18:38 as five girls broke 19:00 including
Morris frosh star Dale Kinney. Soph Melanie Thompson led Voorhees to victory in “D” at 18:50
and Theresa Cattuna of Cherry Hill East did likewise in “A” at 19:07. But a 1-3 finish by Megan
Fitzpatrick (19:02) and soph Clare Buck was not enough to overcome Red Bank Catholic’s
balanced effort in the “D” race.

The other girls’ team winners were Haddonfield in “E” and Pingry for the fourth
time in a row in “F”. Abby Hinds of Mountain Lakes, a one-season runner and two-times state
Gr. I champ, took the “E” race in 19:21 and Rachel Provost of Peddie repeated in “F” at 19:33
over Parochial B defender Marie Walsh of Mater Dei.

Jackson won a close boys’ “A” race from Old Bridge and defending all-group
champ Christian Brothers, 64-72-83 with Ryan Fenimore backing Carle up in 5th place and Austin
Santillo finishing 13th. Ridgewood took the “B” event, 72-119, from Ridge with soph Brett Johnson
of Ocean City edging Christian Gonzalez of Franklin in 16:12. West Windsor-Plainsboro North was
a first-time winner in “C”, 113-133, with Chris Southwick of Voorhees finishing 20 yards ahead of
Tony Salvatore of Wayne Valley in 16:05. Hopewell Valley topped St. Benedict’s, 95-112, in D.
Jeremy Scheid of ran with largely JV teammates as he won the “E” race---and event older brother
Justin had taken in 2003---in16:14 and Pennsville became Salem County’s first team winner ever
in the meet, topping Pingry, 60-100, in F.

Roxbury got a big boost in its hopes for a repeat victory in November’s all-group
meet with solid performances from junior Ashley Cromartie in 7th at 19:04 and cross-country
novice Arianne Neutts in 9th at 19:27. Even More important, there 4th and 5th girls improved a
minute or so on previous performances this fall.

Tauro, still “resting” from her extended 2006 s[ring season (which ended in China
in August), was very much present at the meet, warming up between races and rooting her
teammates on in boys and girls’ “A:” races. She will begin her CC season at the sectionals
on Nov. 4 and point to a Footlocker berth, having finish in the top 10 in Sacramento last fall.

Higginson was also idle last weekend, but Marino led a slim NJ contingent at
the Walt Disney race in Florida, finishing second in the featured race in 18:34 as her Jackson
team placed second to Brent Villa, 47-76. Teammate Ashley Avilleria was 6th in 19:46 and Dana
Allen 12th in 20:21. Alex Hehn of Toms River East was 9th in 20:14. Chris Valerio of West Milford
was 2nd in the “B” race in 18:57.

In the only other in-state action, the Brett Taylor Invitational at Darlington Park
in Mahwah, Middletown North and Eastern Christian took the boys’ races with Garfield and St.
Rose the girls’ winners. Michael Bravo of St. Joseph’s, Montvale, had his second Darlington win
of the season in the “A” race in 16:31 and Matt Lingam of Park Ridge took the “B” event in 16:33.
The girls’ “A” winner was Emmy Guitierez of Memorial in 20:21 and the “B” champ was Aubrey
LaRezza of Pascack Hills in 20:14.

An incident in this meet deserves mention. Garfield won by only two points
from Mt. Olive, 45-47. The close victory was only possible because second-place finisher Diane
Sobers of MO several times called back third-place Sylvia Dziedziec of Garfield when she strayed
off the course. This is, thank heaven, not unusual in cross-country except, in this case, Darlington
is the home course for all major Bergen County meets: Garfield is from that county, Mt. Olive was
a visitor from Morris County.

The state’s championship season really got into high gear Oct. 10 with three conference
meets. Tenafly took the Bergen County Scholastic League American Division boys’ race at Darlington
with Charles Goold of Rutherford the individual winner in 16:26, and also won the girls’ title, led by
Marissa Ayvaliotis in 20:19.’

The tri-furcated Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League meet at Garret
Mountain saw Ridgewood and Don Bosco win their divisions despite leaving most of their first
teams on the sidelines. Clifton captured the other division. The three individual winners were Craig
Marshall of Bloomfield and Michael Bravo of St,. Joseph’s, Montvale, both in 16:56, and Jorge
Beltre of Paterson Kennedy in 16:58.

Ridgewood and Clifton doubled in their girls’ meets, while, in the best team race
of the day, Holy Angels topped Immaculate Heart Academy, 25-32. The individual winners were
Patty Hannon of Paramus in 19:53, Rebecca Colon of Paterson Kennedy in 20:39 and Sarah
Pagano of IHA in 19:40.

Cranford’s girls made a smashing debut in the Mountain Valley Conference
meet at Pleasant Valley Park in Basking Ridge, taking the Mountain race, 25-54, from Clark
with Laura Gallo the individual winner in 19:59. New Providence followed a 1-2-3 finish by
Carolyn Pfalzgraf, Brigid Prufer and Olivia Clyude to defeat Kent Place, 21-64, in Valley.

There will be five New Jersey teams in the Eastern girls’ title race at the Manhattan Invitational this weekend, led by second-ranked Colts Neck, Pope John, which scratched from the E race at Holmdel, passing up a sure win, Msgr. Donovan, Howell and Ridge complete the list. Fourth-ranked Voorhees is the sop entry in the class races. Colts Neck and Msgr. Donovan will be at full strength for the first time this season: Briana Jackuciewicz, sixth in the Easterns last year, will join Higginson in the Cougars’ lineup, while Devin Solvik, 22nd for Jackson in last year’s all-group race, has completed her 30-day term for transferring without a change of residence, and will give MonDon the fifth girl they have badly missed in earlier races this season.

TOP TENS

BOYS GIRLS

1. Jackson 1. Roxbury

2. Old Bridge 2. Colts Neck

3. Don Bosco 3. Cherry Hill East

4. Pope John 4. Voorhees

5. Ridgewood 5. Ridge

6. Haddonfield 6. Morris Knolls

7. Christian Brothers 7. Red Bank Catholic

8. Hopewell Valley 8. Msgr. Donovan

9. Colts Neck 9. Hopewell Valley

10. St. Benedict’s 10. Pope John

WEEK THREE

A lot of questions will be answered about the New Jersey cross-country season when more
than 200 schools gather at the state championship course at Holmdel County Park for the
Shore Coaches Invitational.

One of the largest single-state meets in the country, this one annually gives a pretty fair
estimate of what will happen when the clans return in five week’s time for the group championships.
As n the group meet, there will be six divisions for boys and six for girls this Saturday, though the
race assignments do not exactly match and there will be both a few missing figures, as well as at
least one significant addition---the St. Benedict’s Prep team and its star runner, Brandon Jarrett,
who will, as usual, be absent from the scene Nov. 7.

Jarrett was very much part of the top race last weekend, placing third in the
championship race at the Cougar Invitational on Friday at Bucks Mill Park in Colts Neck. That
one was won, as expected, by Craig Forys of the home team, who will, along with girls’ winner
Ashley Higginson, be among the missing this weekend.

Forys not only won at the Cougar meet but also smashed his own course
record with a 14:58 over the relatively flat 5K course while Higginson took the girls’ mark down
to 17:34. Second to Forys was Paul Springer of Unionville, Pa., with Jarrett third in 15.12. Both
winning times were also the fastest ever run for any 5K course in New Jersey.

Colts Neck also won the girls’ team title, but the boys finished third to Shore
Conference rival Jackson, 47-84, with Salesianum of Delaware placing second. (Salesianum’s
Dominic DellaPelle, last spring’s Penn Relay mile winner, was 10th in 16:16.)

Four days later, Colts Neck took a shot at ending Christian Brothers’ dual
meet record at 280. The Colts had seemed vulnerable after placing a distant third to Ridgewood
at the Passaic Coaches meet on Sept. 23, but they won this one, 25-36, placing seven runners
in a row after Brandon Krewer and Forys had crossed the line almost together for the Cougars.
This race was much more slowly paced with the mile mark passed in 5:12 as opposed to 4:49
at the invitational.

The girls’ title race at the Cougar Invitational had a stellar interstate field with
Colts Neck defeating Assumption of Kentucky, 51-69, followed in order by Parochial A rivals Red
Bank Catholic and Pope John and Bronxville of New York. Higginson was followed over the line, a
minute later, by Lara Heigis of Pope John and Kesley Ramsey of Ramapo (N.J.) Colts Neck ran
without soph Briana Jackucewicz, last year’s winner, who will likely make her season’s debut a
week from now at the Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park.

The Maroon Invitational at Garret Mountain, also run on Friday, saw Tony Salvatore
win the boys’ A race in 16:18 from teammate Steve Abate and Heather Miara of Sayreville take the
girls’ A event in 16:32, just three seconds faster than B winner Aimee Chegwidden of Wall kill Valley,
who was followed over the line by younger sister Kaitlin. Two likely county champions, the Memorial
boys (Hudson) and Livingston girls (Essex) took the A team title. Wallkill Valley swept the B crowns.
Charles Goold of Rutherford took a close B individual race from Tauqueer Qazi of McNair Academic in
16:44.

At the 47th annual Stewart Memorial, the state’s oldest invitational meet, Matt
Ciambriello led Old Bridge to an impressive win in the A race, 48-125, over Westfield. The Knights
had three boys under 16:45. James Grimes of Chatham had the day’s fastest time at 16:05 in a
60-yard win over neighbor Stephen Hankinson of Summit in the B race with Notre Dame scoring its
second win of the young season. Andy Patton of Montclair Kimberley took the C title in 16:55 with
Roselle Catholic---founder of the meet in 1960---repeating as team winner.

Amanda Marino of Jackson, one of the state’s three solid Footlocker candidates
(with Higginson and defending all-group champion Danielle Tauro of Southern Ocean), had the
second fastest time ever at Warinanco Park with her 18:25 win in the girls’ A race, a second ahead
of Theresa Gschwind of Summit in 1981 and two behind Jodie Bilotta of North Hunterdon in 1987.
It was easily the top girls’ race of the season to date with the first 13 under 20:00. Three of these
were from Bridgewater which took team honors from Jackson, 75-80.

Sophomore Melanie Thompson of Voorhees had an 18:57 in winning the B race
from Erika Meling of West Morris in 18:57 and defending Parochial B state champ Marie Walsh of
Mater Dei, also a sophomore, won the C race from frosh teammate Liz Shaw in 19:43. Voorhees
took the B title from Union County rivals Summit and Cranford, 46-82-87, while New Providence
defended its C title, 35-55, over Mater Dei.

New Jersey teams had varying success in out-of-state forays over the weekend.
Don Bosco went farthest with the least reward as it finished 21st at the Stanford Invitational, led
by Conor Sullivan in 50th at 16:02. Haddon Heights finished 10th at the Paul Short Invitational,
four places ahead of Phillipsburg whose Ed Sheridan placed 8th in 16:05.

Pope John had more success at the Warwick Invitational with a 91-108 win over
Queensbury. Jeremy Scheid was 3rd in 15:38 with Clay Smith 16th in 16:16 and the other three
also in the top 25. St. Peter’s of Jersey City took one of the class races at the McQuaid Invitational,
58-119, over Sweet Home, led by Ted Doyle who placed second on a 3M course in 16:19.

WEEK TWO

Craig Forys of Colts Neck, one-half of New Jersey’s hopes for a sweep of Footlocker honors
this year, got his major cross-country season under way on a high note as he ran away with
the Spiked Shoe Invitational in record time last Saturday at Penn State.

Forys won the race by some 200 yards in 15:20.6 and also led the Cougars
to a 123-151 win over Abington Heights, Pa. Brandon Krewer was 9th for Colts Neck in 16:29
and Jason Weiner 20th in 16:56. The Colts Neck girls got seconds in both individual and team
action with Ashley Higginson finishing 125 yards behind Hannah Davidson of Saratoga Springs
in 17:49.7 in a 32-127 loss to the upstate New Yorkers. The Cougars ran without soph star
Brianna Jackucewicz.

The Passaic County Coaches Invitational at Garret Mountain, West Paterson,
provided the highlights on the instate action. In the girls’ meet, Roxbury and Morris Knolls
began another season of almost weekly meetings with the Gaels, defending all-group champions,
scoring a 54-78 victory in the Gr. IV race as junior Lauren Penney defeated Kim Standridge of
Randolph in 19:07, best of the day. Teammates Ashley Cromartie and Ariann Neutts finished 6-7
in 19:40 and 19:42., while soph Tori Berard led Knolls in third at 19:26.

All the winning girls’ performances at Garret were first class. Abby Hinds of Mountain
Lakes won for the fourth year in a row, this time in Gr. II by 30 yards from Molly Kempton of Msgr.
Donovan in 19:14. Hinds, who has won the state Gr. I race the last two years, runs only cross-country,
devoting the sprint season to her father’s lacrosse team (no further comment necessary), but she would
be a prime Div. I talent if she decides, hopefully, to devote her college career to running without a stick
in her hand. MonDon won the meet handily from Mt. Lakes, 35-84 with fellow juniors Brianna Crowe and
Amanda Cavalla backing up Kempton in fourth and fifth places at 20:20 and 20:29.

Christina Valerio of West Milford was also a repeat winner in Gr. III in 19:16, finishing
100 yards ahead of sub-11:00 3200 runner Kesley Ramsey of Ramapo (NJ), but Middletown South
scored a close team win, 44-49, over the Highlanders. The same thing happened in Gr. I where
Elizabeth Campbell of Mt. St. Mary’s finished almost a minute ahead of defending Parochial B
champ Marie Walsh in 19:35, but Walsh, from third place, led Mater Dei to a 37-43 win over the Mountain Lions.

There were two upsets in the boys’ action. Individually, Kyle Soloff of Morris Hills,
lone regular remaining from the Knights’ Gr. III champions (and National entry) of 2005, won a hot
duel from state Prep champ (and race defender) Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s in 15:58. But,
once again, the loser’s team prevailed, defeating Morris Hills, 46-55, to make a real claim to Top
Ten status in New Jersey with three more boys in the top 15 finishers.

The team surprise came in Gr. IV where Ridgewood easily defeated visiting Christian
Brothers, 47-98, Toms River East also finishing ahead of the perennial NJ all-group champs with 98
points. Zach Bahor of Randolph won the race by 10 yards from Dan Emont of Ridgewood in 1629
with the Maroon putting three more in the top 15 as only Chris Lombardi ran according to pre-meet
form for the Colts, placing fourth in 16:44. Two CBA runners were faster in an easy JV win than their
second man in the varsity.

Nick Miehe of DePaul scored his second win of the young season as he took the C
race by 100 yards from Ted Brinkofski of Bishop Ahr in 16:30, but Brinkofski joined the list of losers
leading a team win as the Trojans defeated North Warren 109-114. And it happened as well in the Gr. I
race with Mike Sorok heading a 53-73 win for Kinnelon over Keansburg after finishing 150 yards behind
Andy Patton who won for Tom Fleming’s Montclair-Kimberley team in 16:47.

Tom Poland of Delbarton and Nicol Traynor of Ridge were the lead runners in the state’s
oldest class meet, the Magee Memorial at Warinanco Park, Elizabeth. Poland took the boys; senior race
by 125 yards from Chris Gonzalez of Franklin in 16:19 and Traynor won the girls’ senior event by 150
yards from Kristen Cupido of Bridgewater, leading an overall team win as well as the Red Devils (who
wear green and white) showed they will be a major factor in Gr. III this fall.

Andrew Brodeur of Brick Memorial took junior honors for the boys at 16:40 and George
Galasso of Holmdel the soph event at 17:31.

Dale Kinney of Morristown had her second win of the season in the girls’ freshman
race and came within four seconds of the 2.2M course record at 13:12, indicating again that she will
be a major challenger in the tough Morris County race next month. Scotch Plains took the soph and
junior girls events with Brittany Veeck running 20:25 and Cassy Valdes 20:27.

Erin Comerford of East Brunswick and Jamel Parker of Freehold Twp led the action
in the Battle of Monmouth class meet at that revolutionary war commemoration (think Molly Pitcher)
in Tinton Falls. Comerford won the senior girls race in 19:53 and Parker the junior event in 19:56.
The soph winner was Parker’s teammate Allyson Moskal in 20:31. The boys’ winners were senior
eff Wray of Princeton in 19:36, junior J.J. Caffarelli of Highland in 17:13 and Pat O’Boyle of Mater Dei in 17:27.

In other out-of-state forays, state Prep champ Rachel Provost of Peddie won the
Canterbury Invitational in Milford Ct., in a record 19:35 with younger sister Melissa third in 20:12,
Amanda Marino of Jackson was 12th in the title race at the Great American Meet in Hoover, Ala.,
in 19:23 and Stacey Bond of Ramsey and Jen Bain of Ramsey were 3rd and 6th in the Varsity 2
race at the Red Raider Invitational in New York’s Anthony Wayne Park in 20:56 and 21:44.

This weekend is light one in the state, featured by New Jersey’s oldest invitational,
the Stewart Memorial (nee Turkey Trot) at Warinanco Park on Saturday and, on Friday, the Maroon
Invitational at Garret Mountain and the Cougar Invitational at Buck Mills Park where Forys and
Higginson will be overwhelming favorites in the A races on their home course.

Finally, a personal note. The many track and field friends of Larry Sullivan, who
left us suddenly 15 months ago, might be interested to know that his oldest grandson, Patrick
Farrell (who lost his father in the Twin Towers tragedy) made his cross-country debut at the Magee
meet, finishing creditable 13th place among 200 in the freshman race. His conversion from soccer
to cross-country was no doubt facilitated by a visit last all to the NCAA cross-country meet where
he spent most of the weekend with Jason Vigilante’s Texas team.

WEEK ONE

The 2006 cross-country season is barely under way in New Jersey, but already there
have been significant developments on both the team and individual front.

In the Regis Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park on Sept. 16, New Jersey
teams took the top three places with Don Bosco, the pre-season favorite for the boys’
all-group title defeating Jackson and Pope John, 57-65-80. It was, however, not a conclusive
victory with the Ironmen running without their No. 3, Colin McCullough, currently sidelined
by an injury, and Pope John choosing to go without its top pair of Jeremy Scheid and Tom
Roy.

Kris Carle of Jackson, who is the second highest returnee from last year’s
all-group race, finished second to Max Kasak of Byram Hills in 13:01 with teammate Ryan
Fenimore 4th in 13:16. But Don Bosco had four in the top 12 with Jason Baker and Conor
Sullivan going 5-6 in 13:31 and 13:34.

At the Cherokee Challenge class meet, there was a preview of November’s
Gr. II girls’ championship race with Haddonfield and Summit facing off basically in the
freshman and sophomore races. Haddonfield is both defender and favorite for that title, but
a comparison of times on the 3200M course last Saturday would have given Summit a 26-29
win even though its veteran star, Samantha Lee, is still on the mend from a summer injury.

This meet drew the highest level of talent last weekend with the senior race
showcasing three all state candidates, Amanda Goetschius of Delsea defeating Laura Gallo
of Cranford and Megan Fitzpatrick of Hopewell Valley in 11:28. The junior race went to Brianna
Rogers of Moorestown, who made a long-delayed cross-country debut with a 50-yard win over
Alison Weeks of Cherokee in 10:46. Rogers had played soccer as a freshman, run brilliantly
that spring with a sub-11:00 3200, then lost her entire junior year to a club soccer injury
during the 2004 track season.

The freshman race, however, almost stole the show as Chelsea Ley of Kingsway
had the second-fastest 3200 of the day at 11:36, followed by Marielle Hall of Haddonfield at 11:48
and Kearsley Olcott of Summit at 11:54.

Girls’ freshman action has been one of the features of the season to date. Dale
Kinney of Morristown scored a notable victory in the varsity race at the St. Dominic Academy
Invitational at Jersey City’s Lincoln Park, finishing 125 yards ahead of Katie Kellner of West
Windsor-Plainsboro South in 19:55 with 2005 Parochial B champion Marie Walsh of Mater Dei
another 175 yards back in fourth place. Kinney has also defeated Lauren Penney of Roxbury in
an Iron Hills Conference “batch” race.

Brandon Jarrett of St. Benedict’s was the only one of the state’s top four boy
runners in action last weekend, easily defending his title at the Newark Academy Invitational
with a 100-yard win over James Grimes of Chatham in 15:16 on the 3.02M course. Jarrett
also led the Gray Bees to a repeat team victory, 32-61 over the Cougars.

The bad weather last Friday forced postponement of the Roxbury Invitational to
Oct. 21, but the Season Opener was held at Darlington Park with Vernon and Leonia taking the
boys’ titles and Holy Angels and St. Rose the girls events. The team winners at St. Dominic’s
were Notre Dame for the boys and defending Parochial A champ Red Bank Catholic for the girls.
Nicke Miehe of DePaul won the boys’ race from Liam Mulcahy of Morristown by 75 yards in
17:19 on the 3.3M course.

The Ridgewood boys skipped the Season Opener in their backyard, making
their annual trip to the Briarwood Invitational at Philadelphia’s Fairmont Park where they won
the Division I consolation race, 46-56, over Haverford. Dan Emont was 2nd in 16:37 and Niall
Buckley 4th in 16:40. Asha Singh of Hunterdon Central was third in the girls’ championship
race in 20:05.

The wipeout of the Randolph meet added some talent to the Roxbury class
meet the next day. But it was the usual castoff characters that took top honors there.
Penney won the junior-senior girls’ race in 18:17 and sophomore teammate Ariann Neutts
scored in 19:47. Ed Sheridan and Doug Jankowski went 1-2 in the boys’ junior-senior race
over Tom Poland of Delbarton in 16:08 and Mike Franklin led a 1-2-3 finish for Mendham in
the soph event in 17:13.

Ocean City had two winners in the Cherokee boys’ events, John Fennekohl
taking the senior race in 9:54 and Brett Johnson leading the sophs in 10:07. But the junior
race stole the show with Brian Leung of WW-Plainsboro South topping Alex Yersak of
Cherokee in 9:47.

Among the missing last weekend were the Colts Neck boys and girls’
teams which both have their eyes set on all-group honors this season, as well as Danielle
Tauro of Southern Ocean, the defending all-group individual champ, who will ease into this
campaign after an extended track season which ended with the World Juniors in August in
China.

Christian Brothers, winner of the last three boys’ all-group titles, also took
the weekend off from competition, but will be at the Magee Memorial class meet this Saturday
at Warinanco Park. Also on this weekend’s schedule are the Passaic County Coaches meet
at Garret Mountain, West Paterson; the Battle of Monmouth class meet at the Monmouth
Battlefield in Tinton Falls, the South Jersey Shootout at Gloucester County College and, of
course, the Great American meet which has drawn a slim New Jersey entry.

Finally, it has been announced that the state group and all-group meets,
as well as the massive Shore Coaches Invitational on Oct. 7, will be at Holmdel County
Park again this year. Parking arrangements for the Shore Coaches and group meets,
however, will change with spectators required to park at the nearby Garden State Arts
Center and using a bus shuttle to the park. The Central Jersey sectional meet on Nov. 4
has been moved to Thompson Park, Jamesburg, site of the Middlesex County meet. Old
Bridge High School will sponsor an invitational meet there Oct. 14 so schools from other
counties can familiarize themselves with the course.

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