Rankings

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 Foot Locker 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 Foot Locker 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 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 figure to romp 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 Joe Coats of Becton 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

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