BIG WEEK BEHIND/AHEAD IN XC
With just five days between the conference and sectional meets, Scott Clayton takes a look at both XC meets.
Published: 11/01/2007
By - Scott Clayton - Senior Staff Writer
The last time the Shore Conference Cross Country Championships were held at Holmdel Park, two years ago, the record books for the conference were re-written, particularly on the girls side where the top four girls broke 19 minutes with the top two under 18. To that point, there had been only four runners in state history under 18 at Holmdel Park.
This is worth mentioning because the 2005 meet is still very fresh in my memory when coaches I have known professionally for five years or more describe Monday's 2007 Shore Conference Girls Cross Country Championships as the best meet they've ever been a part of. In a different way, they might be right. It's not every day, or any day that I can recall, that five teams are separated by 10 points for a championship.
"It was just the best meet that I've ever been a part of from a cross country standpoint, maybe even from just a running standpoint," Southern coach Brian Zatorski said. "To have that many quality teams going at it and finishing that close together - 10 points separating teams one through five - it was amazing. I was just so glad that we could be a part of it. All in all, what a wonderful day for Shore Conference cross country history.
It was some time after the race before any of the teams involved had an idea of how the team scoring shook itself out.
"When the race finished, I was clueless," said Monsignor Donovan coach Joe Gomulka, whose team took the title. "Usually you can find out just by hanging around the finish area, but nobody seemed to have a clue. We went back to our stuff and I sent the girls on a cool down and only after I walked back to the finish somebody said, 'Congratulations.' I said, 'For what?'"
"To be honest with you, I thought Toms River North won," Zatorski said.
Donovan's win was somewhat surprising, considering it was accomplished without junior Krissa Loretto, who was the team's top runner for the early part of the season. Donovan also had to pick itself up off the pavement after a third-place finish in the Ocean County Championships. After strong early-season performances, the Griffins were expected to be a contender for a Meet of Champions title.
While Voorhees appears to be the strongest team in the state heading into the state meets, Monday showed that on any given day, at least five Shore Conference teams can challenge for top honors. Donovan finished just six points ahead of Colts Neck and 10 in front of Toms River North, Red Bank Catholic and Southern, which finished in that order after a tie-breaker.
"I think the girls were very disappointed after the county meet," Gomulka said. "They all blamed themselves. Every one of them was just saying what they could have done to get us the win. It was a very quiet week of practice. I think in our hearts we knew we let one slip by so we had no expectations and set no goals for the conference meet."
Donovan got a 2005-type performance out of senior Molly Kempton. Kempton, who has a Holmdel Park best of 19:11 from that year's historic conference meet, is working her way back from a foot injury and ran 19:32 for eighth-place. Fellow senior Brianna Crowe placed 14th in 19:47. Considering the youth that their competitors brought to the table, Donovan's experience may have provided the edge.
"Brianna is like another Leah Brogan (a 2005 Donovan graduate and all-state runner)," Gomulka said. "You sometimes forget she's there because you always know that you're going to get her best. She's been a rock for four years."
Donovan's pack of freshman Pauline Dabrowksi, sophomore Meagan Brosnan and junior Devin Solvik sealed the Griffins win with 35th, 37th and 38th-place efforts, respectively. Colts Neck's 3-4-5 came in just behind the Donovan group, but the second- and fourth-place finishes of Briana Jackucewicz and Allison Linnell buoyed the two-time defending champions into a second-place finish with 135 points.
The three times tied for third - Toms River North, Red Bank Catholic and Southern - all arrived at their 139-point totals in a different fashion. Ultimately, sophomore Jackie Kemmer's 47th-place finish got the Mariners on the podium through a tie-breaker.
Toms River North has been one of the biggest success stories of the season thus far, with a top five comprised of runners that were not on the team a year ago, junior Angela Rugino and freshmen Andrea Mathis, Johanna Petruski, Ashley Kotran and Dana Delanoy. Of the freshmen, only Petruski ran middle school cross country.
Head coach Dave Ytreboe deemed Rugino his wild-card after witnessing her summer workouts. After a sixth-place 19:22 in her first race at Holmdel Park, she has become much more. Rugino came out for the Mariners track team as a freshman, but stuck to the pole vault. After asking to try the 800 this past spring, she dropped her time down below 2:30.
"Since I've been here, I've never really had that legitimate number one girl," Ytreboe said. "We could always get a pack, but when you look at how a lot of teams win big meets its with a really low score from their top runner."
Ytreboe was more nervous about sending his rookie crew out onto the Holmdel Park course than the runners were themselves.
"They're so green that we really didn't tell them much," Ytreboe said. "I was really nervous and to see them finish the way they did, and everyone was saying, 'Yeah, that was great,' made me really happy. I've had girls that were scared of Holmdel in the past."
North and Southern are going to stage Round Four of their season-long battle at Saturday's South Jersey Group IV meet at Delsea Regional High School. Southern won the dual meet that decided Class A South and the Ocean County Championships before the Mariners edged ahead on Monday.
While it did not materialize into the unforgettable battle that the team race did, Monday's girls race was the first career meeting between Southern junior Jillian Smith and Colts Neck junior Briana Jackucewicz, and was arguably the most-anticipated individual match-up in the state so far this season. Smith broke away heading down into "The Bowl" on her way to a time of 18:15, ninth-best in state history at Holmdel Park and the fifth-best Shore Conference mark. Jackucewicz, who is eighth on the conference list with a best of 18:20, ran 18:35 for second.
"I felt a lot more comfortable and had a lot more confidence cause I knew all the turns and I can picture the course in my head now," Smith said of her second race on the famed course. "I was really surprised at the time. It didn't feel like we were pushing each other to run that fast."
The boys side of the meet was far less dramatic, with Christian Brothers Academy overcoming a strong Jackson performance to win 80-89 in a battle of the past two Meet of Champions winners. The Colts improved upon their average time at the Monmouth County Championships, averaging 16:52.6. Individually, a win by Brick Memorial senior Andrew Brodeur comes as no surprise. Brodeur improved upon his two-year-old personal best of 16:03, but just missed breaking the big barrier, with a 16:00.
The surprise of the meet for the boys came as Mater Dei's Patrick O'Boyle and Curtis Jensen placed third and fifth, respectively, to lead the Seraphs to a seventh-place finish. O'Boyle set a new school record with his 16:15.
The public schools that competed Monday have a quick turnaround to prepare for Saturday's state sectional championships. Here's a look at what those teams can expect.
South Jersey Group IV at Delsea - Girls 10:25 a.m.; Boys 11:15 a.m.
As I mentioned, Southern and Toms River North will hope to challenge for the girls title here, with Lenape and Millville looking to offer some resistance. For the boys, Cherokee is a strong favorite, but look for the same two local schools to place in the top five and qualify for the Group meet.
South Jersey Group III at Delsea - Girls 12:05 p.m.; Boys 12:55 p.m.
The Lacey boys should advance out of the section with ease in a race that is expected to be won by Ocean City. On the girls side, while Kingsway's Chelsea Ley is a heavy favorite, Lacey's Catie McMahon has a good chance of advancing to the Group III meet with a top 10 finish.
South Jersey Group II at Delsea - Girls 11:40 a.m.; Boys 12:30 p.m.
Off of a 12th-place Shore Conference finish, Manchester senior Chris Poss should make it through to the Group meet, while Barnegat's Joe Turchio could be close behind. Haddonfield is expected to run away with both the boys and girls championships here.
Central Jersey Group IV at Thompson Park, Jamesburg - Girls 10:25 a.m.; Boys 11:15 a.m.
Brick Memorial's Andrew Brodeur has squared off with - and defeated - the top contenders here, including Manalapan's Robby Andrews, Old Bridge's Travis Mahoney, Jackson's Austin Santillo and Colts Neck's Mark Leininger. However, Brodeur has yet to face West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior Brian Leung, who is running as well as anyone in the state. Look for Leung to take the title, with Brodeur ahead of the rest of the field. Jackson fell to Old Bridge at the Shore Coaches Invitational but is running well enough to turn that result around.
On the girls side, don't be surprised to see a heavy Shore Conference contingent with Colts Neck favored and Howell and Jackson both with a shot to advance. South Brunswick's Sophia Ginez, Montgomery's Jillian Prentice and Hillsborough's Ashley Smolinka will provide a challenge, but look for the top three finshers to be Colts Neck's Briana Jackucewicz and Allison Linnell and Howell's Lindsay Lambert.
Central Jersey Group III at Thompson Park, Jamesburg - Girls 12:05 p.m.; Boys 12:55 p.m.
Long the domain of Shore Conference dominance, the tide has rolled west in this section. West Windsor-Plainsboro North is the favorite on the boys side, with Moorestown right behind. Middletown South, off a strong eighth-place finish at Shore Conference, will be in the mix for a top-five spot.
Briana Rogers and her Moorestown team are favored on the girls side, but do not count out the pack that Middletown South has thrown together in recent weeks. We know the Eagles can run Holmdel Park well as evidenced by a ninth-place Shore Conference finish and it's likely they will be running there once more.
Central Jersey Group II at Thompson Park, Jamesburg - Girls 11:40 a.m.; Boys 12:30 p.m.
Say it with me now, "Holmdel, Holmdel." It appears as though the Hornets are in position to bring home a pair of titles from this section on Saturday. The George Galasso-led boys team, with Charlie Santo and Oliver Song also running well helped the boys to a fourth-place Shore Conference finish on Monday. Red Bank appears to be the biggest threat to the Holmdel boys.
On the girls side, we are seeing improvement on a weekly basis from the group led by Cathay Zhao and Shannon Nelson. Sophomore Jessica Silverman also ran a strong race on Monday as the Hornets finished just behind Howell in seventh at the Shore Conference meet. Rumson-Fair Haven finished eighth there, but 100 points back of the Hornets - good enough to place well in CJ II.
Central Jersey Group I at Thompson Park, Jamesburg - Girls 10 a.m.; Boys 10:50 a.m.
Shore's Zach Collier and Point Beach's Shane Hart look like surefire individual qualifiers for the Group meet, while the Blue Devils could be in the hunt for team hardware.
E-mail: clayton@digitalsports.com.