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| Northeast Region
Regional meet: November 29, 2008 at Wappingers Falls, NY
Connecticut - Maine - Massachusetts - New Hampshire - New Jersey - Pennsylvania - Rhode Island - Vermont
Two teams and five individuals per gender qualify for NXN national finals December 6, 2008 at Portland OR. | | | | WINNERS TABLE
(links to details)
QUALIFIERS
Preview
Box Assignments
Team Rankings
Individuals to Watch
Entries
Schedule
Prior Years
Meet's own website
MEET DIRECTORS:
Paul Limmer - Bob Baratta | Knight (WWN NJ) boys, Mercury (L-S MA) girls
Bergen XC (Don Bosco NJ) boys, Newton Center (N-S MA) girls 2nd.
Joe Rosa NJ 15:57, Kelsey Karys MA 18:46 win individual titlists.
Boys Championship - Rosa twins lead WWN but #3 man Tyler Corkedale is key to win after passing six runners in last 1000 meters.
Girls Championship - Ellie Hylton's return to form key to L-S victory in 5th meeting of Mass rivals. |
|  | Kelsey Karys led Newton Centre MA to a runner-up finish in the girls championship with her 18:46 win.
| Joe Rosa NJ took the boys race in 15:57 to front Knight XC NJ to the boys team win. - Photos by John Nepolitan
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Intrastate battles between Massachusetts girls and New Jersey boys live up to hype. North Allegheny PA boys surprise.
by Jim Lambert
WAPPINGERS FALLS NY 11/29/08 - The intrastate battles between New Jersey and Massachusetts juggernauts lived up to all the hype and the North Allegheny boys pulled off the biggest surprise of the day at the second Nike Northeast Regional Championship at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
The boys race featured a rematch between New Jersey powers West Windsor-Plainsboro North, No. 1 in the Northeast and No. 4 in the nation, and Don Bosco Prep, No. 2 in the Northeast and No. 8 nationally had an epic battle. And for the second straight week, West Windsor North, led by sophomore Joe Rosa’s victory in 15:56.6 (No. 17 in course history), prevailed, this time with a 71-75 thriller over Don Bosco to capture the team title. North Allegheny of Northern, Pa., coming into the race just No. 9 in the region, shocked everyone by taking third with 83.
With its finishes West Windsor North, which beat Don Bosco by 18 points to capture the NJ Meet of Champions crown last week, and Don Bosco Prep earned the two automatic berths into the Nike Team Nationals next Saturday at Portland Meadows in Oregon.
Meanwhile, North Allegheny’s 39 point advantage over fourth-place Danbury Conn, which came into the race No. 23 in the nation, and 83 point difference over sixth place and US #10 North Penn of Pa, put the team in good position to earn one of four national at-large bids, which will be announced on Sunday.
``This is what we came here to do and even though it might not have been pout best race, the important thing is that we won and we’re going to Oregon,’’ said Rosa.
The girls race was Massachusetts war between league rivals Mercury Track Club (Lincoln-Sudbury High School) and Newton Centre (Newton South High School), who were clashing for the fifth time this season.
Thanks to a huge comeback race from senior Ellie Hylton, sixth in 19:16.3, a career best performance from No. 4 runner Claire Arthur and a compression of 41 seconds, the Mercury Track Club, No. 15 in the nation, avenged three straight losses to US #7 Newton Centre and captured its second straight title with 53-66 verdict over its rival.
No. 19 Glastonbury Conn was third with 93. Newton Centre, led by individual winner Kelsey Karys (18:45.7) looked like it was headed for victory when it jammed four runners in the top 14. But Arthur, 18th in 19:55.08, and
Gossels, 19th in 19:57.0, came storming across the line well ahead of Newton Centre’s No. 5 runner, Olga Golovkina, 47th in 20:45.0.
``They have been beating us all season at the back, but today Claire had her best race of the season and Jen also ran very strong for us,’’ said first-year Mercury Track Club coach Henry Phelan. ``When we lost to them at the state meet, Claire was our No. 5 runner and more than a minute behind our fourth. So for Claire to run the way she did today was a big reason why we had a such a great race.’’
Hylton, who was diagnosed with an iron deficiency after she was the No. 4 runner for team when it lost to Newton Centre at the Massachusetts All-State Championships two weeks ago, was also a central figure in the march to the title. She wasn’t surprised by the outcome.
``We seem to run our best when we are the underdog,’’ said Hylton, who finally got her iron level back to normal through medication this past week. ``Last year, we came in here as the third ranked team in the region and we surprised everyone and won. We knew we could do it again.''
Hylton said the underdog label was deserved, but fueled her team's fire.
``Everyone pretty much felt Newton was going to come in here and win, but even though they beat us three straight times, we had a feel things would be different today,'' said Hylton. ``We’ve run here four times in the past two years and they (Newton South) are running here for the first time today and I felt that would be an advantage for us. Now we get to go back to Oregon where we'll be shooting to finisher higher than last year when we were eighth.''
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Qualifiers - for Nike Cross National finals at Portland OR December 6
(3rd and 4th place teams are eligible for selection as a national at large team)
(Individual qualifiers are the top 5 finishers not on a qualifying team.)
| Boys Team
1. Knight XC (W. Windsor P'boro N. NJ) 71
2. Bergen XC (Don Bosco NJ) 75
3. Wexford Flats RC (North Allegheny PA) 83
4. Danbury XC CT 122
| Girls Team
1. Mercury TC (Lincoln-Sudbury MA) 53
2. Newton Centre Athletics (Newton S. MA) 66
3. Tomahawk XC (Glastonbury CT) 93
4. Philips Andover RC MA 119
| Boys Individual
(1. Joe Rosa NJ 15:57)
(2. Leighton Spencer NJ 16:08)
3. Sean Pohorence NJ 16:11
4. Taro Shigenobu NJ 16:16
5. Aaron Watanabe VT 16:17
6. Brad Miles PA 16:23
7. Francis Hernandez NH 16:23
| Girls Individual
(1. Kelsey Karys MA 18:46)
2. Kristen Malloy CT 18:50
3. Heidi Caldwell NH 18:51
4. Abby Levene MA 19:01
5. Sarah Pagano NJ 19:03
(6. Ellie Hylton MA 19:16)
(7. Madeleine Reed MA 19:21)
8. Lindsey Graybill PA 19:21 |
- Preview - 8 nationally ranked teams vie for four tickets to Portland. New Jersey boys, Massachusetts girls will reprise intra-state battles. "Angry" Don Bosco NJ boys seeking revenge for MOC loss to West Windsor North. Jim Lambert preview.
- Northeast Team Rankings - Nov. 25 update: West Windsor North NJ boys break team time record at Holmdel Park. Voorhees NJ and Ridge NJ girls enter top 10.
- Prior Years - Northeast has had 14 national finalist teams, with 8 coming from New Jersey. Last year, Northeast placed four teams in the top 10 at Portland. Coatesville PA boys in 2006 are the only national champion from Northeast.
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Schedule
9:20 Boys Frosh/Soph
9:50 Girls Frosh/Soph
10:30 Frosh/Soph Awards
10:50 NE Boys Championship Race
11:20 NE Girls Championship Race
12:00 NY Boys Championship Race
12:30 NY Girls Championship Race
1:10 Boys Open ( NY/NE Combined)
1:40 Girls Open
2:15 Awards Ceremony
Awards will be held for all events at the Amphitheater. In Championship races the top four teams
must remain. These teams must complete registration forms for qualifiers which includes the necessary
information for travel the Nationals. The first two teams automatically qualify for the finals, and the
third and fourth place teams are eligible for At-Large bids. These bids will be known Sunday. The at-large bids can change the top five individuals who also qualify for the finals; therefore, extra individuals will be asked to complete registration forms.
NXN index page |
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