New Jersey Weekly Roundup
Reviewing Week of Sept. 24; Previewing Week of Oct. 1
By Ed Grant


With only one notable exception, New Jersey cross-country teams will gather at the state championship course at Holmdel County Park this Saturday for the annual preview of the group and all-group meets which will be held there on, respectively, Nov. 12 and 19.

The exception is Colts Neck, which will be in action at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University with its two individual stars, Craig Forys and Briana Jackucewicz, who won handily last weekend at their own Cougar Invitational.

There are 198 boys' teams and 187 girls' squads entered in six varsity races apiece at Holmdel and this includes all the major challengers for all-group honors in November. Heading the boys' list is Christian Brothers Academy, which will be running it's a team for the first time this fall in the A race. Topping the girls are Jackson in the A race and AG defender Roxbury and Morris Knolls in the B in their second of at least seven duels this season.

Individually, the boys will be led by defending Gr. IV champ Brian Dennis of Hillsboro and Parochial A defender Chris Horel of CBA in the A race, while the girls are topped by AG defender Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City in the B race, Gr. II defender Vanessa Wright of Haddonfield in the D race and this fall's leader Amanda Marino---who finished 8th at the Great American race last weekend and has two wins under her belt this fall---in the A event.

While CBA has not used its top six in two previous starts this fall, the performance of its B team at last weekend's Stewart
Memorial at Warinanco Park gives a clue of what to expected this time. The Colts finished a close 3rd in the A race there to Phillipsburg and Don Bosco Prep, led by junior Chris Lombardi who ran 10th in 17:06 to probably nail down a starting berth this weekend. CBA;s team average of 17:29 was the fourth fastest of the day.

This meet, the oldest invitational in the state, saw Jeff Perrella of Westfield win the A race by 70 yards from Dale Taylor of North
Hunterdon in 16:19, Adam Lampell of Holmdel outkick Chris Southwick of Voorhees to rake the B race in 16:22 and Nicolai Naranjo of Motclair Kimberley fight off stitch pains to win C in 17:20. Holmdel took B team honors, while Roselle Catholic---the former meet sponsor-scored in C.

Forys coasted to a 70-yard win over Brick Memorial soph
Andrew Broduer in the A race at the Cougar Invitational in 15:56 as East
Brunswick defeated South Brunswick, 41-85. Alex Cuetsa led Manchester Twp to
the B title in 16:44.

The weekend action started on Friday night with the nocturnal Randolph Invitational. The state's No. 2 boys' team, Morris Hills,
coasted to victory in the A race, placing five in the top eight in the A race behind Alex Bean of visiting Somers (NY) who set a record for the newly realigned course in 15:42. Junior Kyle Soloff ran second in 15:49 to lead the Knights, who will have a runaway in the D race this Saturday. The B event went to Matawan with Owen Boyle of Manasquan an easy winner in 16:06.

Pope John, a favorite in the E race at Holmdel, had a 1-2 finish from Anthony LaMastro and Justin Scheid as it won easily at the
Xavier Invitational on Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park, LaMastro clocking 12:59. Anthony is part of a strong individual entry in Saturday's E race where he will face Ben Massam of Chatham a two-time winner this fall and two South Jersey stars, Matt Mitchell of Haddon Heights and Mike Burke of Haddonfield. Mitchell won the seeded race at the South Jersey Shootout last Saturday in 16:06.

Also part of this race will be St. Benedict's soph Brandon Jarrett who led his team to its third win of the season in the Gr. III race
at the Passaic County Coaches meet at Garret Mountain in 16:20. A convert from soccer. Jarrett has won twice this fall, his only loss being to Massam at the opening St. Dominic's Invitational.

The other team winners there were Clifton in Gr. IV. Hopatcong in II and Keansburg in I. Mike Crum led Hopatcong in 1 16:43 win, atoning for last year when he was late to the starting line and joined the race en route, winning but later being disqualified.

The New Jersey presence in the boys' race at Great American was very light with Ryan VanAlstine of Midland Park turning in the fastest time in third place in the Red consolation race in 16:12. Matt Cowhey of Ocean City ran 14th in the seeded invitational in 16:22 with Todd Weston of Toms River North 23rd in 16:36.

Roxbury and Morris Knolls had their first meeting of the season at the Passaic CC meet. To give an idea of how close this rivalry
will be, the first four finishers for each team totaled 28 points. But the Gaels are still without soph Ashley Cromartie so the Golden Eagles won handily, 28-53, with the two Laurens, Gregory and Berard, going 1-2 in 19:29 and 19:30 ahead of Kris Stevens of Roxbury. Abby Hinds of Mountain Lakes had the fastest time in winning the Gr. I race in 19:14, the Lakers also taking team honors. Aimee Chegwidden of Wallkill Valley took the Gr. II race in 19:57 from Meggie Sullivan of Tenafly and Christina Valerio of West Milford won II in 19:56.

New Yorkers swept individual honors at the Randolph meet, Virginia Connor lead a 1-2-3-4 Bronxville finish in the B race in 18:42 and Mary Alice Howard making it a sweep for Somers in the A event in 18:55. Ridge, which has the unenviable task of facing Roxbury and Morris Knolls on Saturday, scored an easy win over visiting Cherokee in that one.

Jackson finished a distant third to Saratoga in the championship race at Great American with Jen Clausen---still subpar after a
summer bout with tendonitis---backing up Marino with a 47th-place finish in 19:43. Molly Kempton of Msgr. Donovan, a favorite in the D race Saturday, was 23rd in 19:03 and Amy VanAlstine of Midland Park right behind her in 24th. Two-time all-group champ Sedberry placed 3rd in the seeded invitational race in 19:10 with teammate Renee Tomlin 18th in 19:46, just ahead of Kellee Hand of Howell which finished 5th in that event.

The Pope John girls went 1-2-3 in the Xavier meet, Lara Heigis winning in 15:05. They ran without Lauren Bariexca, who will also be missing in the E race on Saturday, and Jenny Heigis, who won the frosh event in 10:00, but who will join her sister this weekend. In another New York meet, Ramsey placed second at the Red Raider Invitational with Stacey Bond and Jean Bain going 1-2 in 20:43 and 20:59.

At the South Jersey shootout, Lindsay Bertulis of Millville won the seeded race by 50 yards from Ali Hehn of Toms River North, which won a close team race from Moorestown.

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