Oct. 2, 2009 – Although there are several intruging team matchups on tap, almost all the buzz around Holmdel Park on Saturday will be about the showdown between distance running titans Tyler Udland and Joe Rosa.
Udland, a senior at Millburn, and Rosa, a junior at West Windsor-Plainsboro North, are two of the nation’s best and have the potential to produce one of the best and fastest race in meet history when they go to-to-toe at the 35h Shore Coaches Invitational. When they met at the Meet of Champions last November, Udland won in 15:40, seven seconds ahead of runner-up Rosa. They are scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. in the B Division race, which is loaded with some of the state’s top individual talent.
Joining Udland and Rosa on the starting line will be senior David Forward of Shawnee, who has gone under 16 minutes at Holmdel and under 9:10 for 3.200, junior Jim Rosa, Joe’s twin who won the M of C 3,200 last spring, 9:07 3,200 runner Jeremy Elkaim of Livingston, and junior Mike O’Dowd of Colts Neck. ``It is so stacked,’’ said Udland, a Foot Locker finalist last year. ``It’s like a postseason race in October.’’ With this much talent in one race, Udland says there’s one thing you can count on. ``It’s going to be fast,’’ he said.
How fast?
Well, with personal Holmdel bests of 15:35.5 for Udland and 15:37.9 for Rosa, the meet record of 15:36 set in 2005 by Ben Massam of Chatham is on shaky ground. Rosa has already ripped a course record 15:19.2 at the Briarwood Invitational at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia.
``I’m not going to put a time out there, but I definitley think with this quality field it can be faster than we ran last year,’’ said Rosa. ``We’re both ahead of where we where at this time last year. I don’t think you have to worry about this being a tactical race. I think we’ll both be going after it and no one will be backing down. It’s a great race and I’m going against a great runner, so I’m excited about seeing what we can do.’’
Udland, who has yet to really let it rip, knows that Rosa will likley hammer the pace. ``Last year at Meet of Champs he took off after the mile and I had to work to get back up to him,’’ said Udland. ``So I have to be ready for when he makes his move and stay as close as I can and see what happens.’’
Since Udland suffered his only loss on a New Jersey course at the Shore Coaches meet last year (second to Brett Johnson of Ocean City), he isn’t putting a lot of pressure on himself to win. ``If I can run near my M of C level from last year I will be really happy with that,’’ said Udland. ``If I don’t win, it won’t be the end of the world. I am in good shape and feeling good, but not as good as I will be at the end of the season. It’s a great race to be in for this time of the year and I’m excited about it.’’
Here is a look at each of the six varisty races
A race (1:40 p.m)
Christian Brothers Academy, #2 in NJ, is the defending champion, but coach Tom Heath isn’t sending his top lineup to the starting line. CBA will hold out juniors Mike Mazzaccaro and Dan Mykityshyn, and sophomore Conrad Lippert as it prepares for its rematch with US#7/NE#1 Haddonfield at the Manhattan Invitational on Oct. 10 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Although not at full strength, CBA still has a shot at winning, but is facing a gauntlett of stacked Group 4 teams, led by No 5 Old Bridge, No. 6 Toms River North, No. 9 Westfield, No. 12 Southern, No. 14 Bridgewater-Raritan, No. 17 East Brunswick, No. 18 Hunterdon Central, No. 19 Randolph, and No. 24 Howell. Always dangerous Cherokee should not be overlooked.
The individual battle should be a dandy as Toms River North’s Joe Kotran, Christian Brothers’ Dan Bailey, Southern’s Matt Valeriani, West Orange’s Curtis Richburg and North Hunterdon’s Matt McDonald lock horns, Kotran is coming off a sizzling course record 15:43 victory over Shawnee’s David Forward at last week’s South Jersey Shootout at Gloucester College and will no doubt be motivated by his narrow loss in this race last year when Ryan Garvin of Lenape beat him by a step. Also keep an eye on talented Darrel Gooding, a sophomore at Franklin, and juniors Jake Ruskan of Bridgewater-Raritan and Collin Frost of Randolph.
B Division (2 p.m).
As mentioned above, this has all the makings of an instant classic up front with many of the premier runners in the state going toe-to-toe, but there’s also a hot team battle on tap between No. 3 West Windsor-Plainsboro North, No. 7 West Windsor South, No. 8 Ridge, No. 10 Shawnee, defending champion and No. 11 Millburn, No. 13 Ridgewood and No. 21 Morristown. West Windsor North, the M of C winner last year, has arguably the top 1-2-3 in the state with the Rosa’s and senior Jon Squeri, but rival West Windsor South, led by Sam Macaluso, super deep Ridge, Forward and his pack at Shawnee, and Udland-led Millburn aren’t far behind. Most of those teams are trying to find a solid No. 5 man, which could shift the balance of power.
C Division (1:20 p.m.)
This looks like a South Jersey affair between #16 Ocean City and # 23 Paul VI while Phil Fanz of St,. Augustine, Mike Rankin of Paul VI, and will clash for individual glory.
D Division (10:45 a.m.)
Pat Schellberg of Delbarton is off to a torrid statrt to his season and it should continue with a repeat win in this race. Schellberg, a senior who won the state Non Public A title last fall, is in sub 16 minute shape, but may not be pushed enough to get that time. Schellberg ran 15:37 for 5-K last week when he was second at the Ocean State Inviitational in Rhode Island and most likely would have won if he didn’t veer off course while in the lead with abiout 500 meters left. Junior Kevin Byrne of Red Bank Catholic and senior John Arnone of Red Bank appear to be the only two capable of hanging with Schellberg. Juniors Thomas Chin of Summit and Jeremy Antivo of Rahway, and rising sophomore stars Matt Beardlsey of Ewing and Tim Ball of Bishop Ahr should also be in the mix.
Tne team title appears to be backyard brawl between #15 Red Bank Catholic and No. 20 Red Bank. E Division (10:25 a.m.)
Since Haddonfield coach Nick Baker is opting to sit out his top runners, the door is wide open for a wild scramble for team honors. Wallkill Valley, Haddon Township,Haddon Heights and #25 Lawrenceville are among could be the team that could emerges on top. Lawrencville won its races at the Briarwood Invitational and at the Stewart Memorial, averaging a solid 17:30 at Warinanco last week. Meanhile, Wallkill Valley averaged 17:40 when it won the Group 2 race at last week’s Passaic Coaches Invitational at Garret Mountain in West Paterson and seems to be a team on the rise. With the top two runnrs from this race last year, 2008 champion Jon Vitez of Haddonfield and All-Stater D.J. Thornton of Union Catholic (injury), both sitting this one out, sophomore Patrick Rono of Lyndhurt and Nick Lachman of Robbinsville should have a very tight duel to the finish. Lachman, third in this race a year ago, was second by a step to Dave Oster of Verona in the state Group 1 race last fall. Rono, the son of 1988 Olypmic 1,600 gold meadlist Peter, is undefeated this season and seems destined for greatness. Another runner who should be a factor is Mike Galonski of Newton, who could be on the verge of a big season after a big summer of training.
F Division (10:05 a.m.)
Probabably the biggest favorite of the day is Dave Oster of Verona, the defending state Group 1 champion who ran an upushed 16:16 to win the Group 1 title at last week’s Passaic Coaches Inviational. After breaking 4:18 in the 1,600 and 9:10 in the 3,200 last spring, Oster finally had a healthy summer of training and could very easily break his Holmdel best of 16:18 if he chooses to push the pace. The team title is up for grabs as Pennsville defendis its title.
GIRLS PREVIEW
Well, here it is, the annual mid-season check-up for New Jersey cross-country teams. The 35th Shore Coaches Invitational, featuring 190 girls teams spread out over six varsity races, will allow Holmdel Park to take the temperature of teams who consider themselves contenders, and teams who will realize they are pretenders. Here’s a breakdown of the schedule, which starts with the small schools and finishes with the large schools. THE VARSITY F RACE, starting at 11:05 a.m., will feature a nice gaggle of individual stars: Kristen Traub of Eastern Christian, Kristen Landry of Mountain Lakes, Olivia Tarantino of Pingry, Brianna Feerst of Point Pleasant Beach, Megan Flynn of Robbinsville, and Ines Simoes of Roselle Catholic. Flynn, the defending state Group 1 champion, won here last year in 19:14.9 and was followed by Tarantino (19:26.4) and Feerst (19:29.4). Traub was eighth in 20:25.8. Simoes, the Non-Public B runner up last season, owns a Holmdel personal best of 19:15.6 Pingry, second here last year and a Non-Public B contender, will battle Robbinsville, the reigning state Group1 champion, and Mountain Lakes, one of the Group 1 favorites in November.
THE VARSITY E RACE (11:25 a.m.) will gauge how fit Marielle Hall of Haddonfield is after a successful but tiresome summer track schedule. Hall, ninth in Group 2 last season, is certainly one of the NJSIAA Meet of Champions individual contenders, and she’ll be tested here by Sara Vagie of Johnson and Caroline Williams of Mount St. Mary. NJ #23 and reigning Group 2 champion Haddonfield, Lawrenceville, Madison, Mount St. Mary and Wallkill Valley figure to contend for team honors.
THE VARSITY D RACE (11:45 a.m.) features the first grouping of teams ranked in the DyeStat New Jersey Top 25. NJ #6 Pope John, #10 and two-time defending M of C winner Voorhees, # 11 Holy Angels, # 17 Summit and #18 Delsea clash in what should be a hot contest. Pope John is coming off a 25-30 dual meet victory over preseason M of C favorite #7 Randolph. Summit has been savoring a Division 2 team title earned at the Stewart Memorial, Holy Angels won the Group 3 title at the Passaic Coaches meet last week, and Delsea recently won the South Jersey Shootout, in which races were divided by # 1 and 2 runners, # 3 and 4 runners, and # 5, 6 and 7 runners. The individual race will offer a clash between Kat Grimes of Chatham, Emma Giantisco of Delaware Valley, Nichelle Harris of Rahway, Nicola Hallenborg of Summit and Colette Whitney of Voorhees.
Following a mid-day break for varsity boys races and a handful of JV and freshman events, THE VARSITY C RACE (2:50 p.m.) will be headlined by Julie Jablonski, a Hopewell Valley senior who is headed for Syracuse. Jablonski is the only runner in this division to have recorded a sub-18-minute time at Holmdel, having run 18:40.2 to finish seventh at the M of C last fall. Neptune’s Ajee Wilson, who proved herself a phenom in the 800 and 1,600 during a sterling outdoor track season, is also in this race. Jablonski’s #19 Hopewell Valley team will tangle with #14 Seneca, second in the South Jersey Shootout, for team honors.
THE VARSITY B RACE (3:10 p.m.) should not be missed. It features something very rare and special for this time of year, a collision between the top two runners in the state, Kingsway’s Chelsea Ley and Montgomery’s Jill Prentice, both seniors. Ley actually made a huge splash here last season. She ran 17:44 at this meet, No. 2 in meet history and No. 3 in state history at Holmdel. Since then she finished second in the cross-country M of C, she won the NSIC 5,000 and two-mile championships, and she earned her first M of C title by winning the 3,200 last spring. Prentice is here to prove she belongs with Ley and the other serious M of C contenders. At the Cougar Invitational last week, she won in 18:17, No. 2 in course history at Bucks Mill Park in Colts Neck. Prentice owns a Holmdel personal best of 19:06.4, from when she placed fourth in the state Group 4 meet last season. A few more girls who will make the individual race interesting are Diana D’Achille of Morris Knolls, Mary Migton of Roxbury and Caroline Kellner of West Windsor-Plainsboro South. NJ # 1 Ridge of Basking Ridge makes its first appearance after moving to the top of the poll, and lying in wait is #8 Immaculate Heart, the defending Non-Public A state champion. Remember, 2008 state Group 4 champion Ridge lost the M of C title by a point last season, then lost its top runner to graduation. How did coach Tim Mooney’s charges answer the call? By beating pre-season M of C favorite and #7 Randolph at the season-opening Randolph Invitational Sept. 10. NJ #15 Morristown, which at press time was not listed in the race assignments, may beat the meet and would probably be inserted into the Varsity B race. THE VARSITY A RACE (3:30 p.m.), the final varsity race of the meet, is loaded with Top 25 teams, eight to be exact, and boasts some intriguing individual matchups as well. NJ # 2 Toms River North, #3 Hillsborough, #4 Hunterdon Central, #7 Randolph, #9 South Brunswick, #12 Southern Regional, #13 Lenape, #16 North Hunterdon and #20 Howell will make this event a dogfight.
Hillsborough and Hunterdon Central just went head-to-head two weeks ago in a shootout-style format at the Central Jersey Shootout, and Hunterdon Central earned a 12-16 victory, although on a match of times, Hillsborough gets the edge. Randolph is coming off a dual meet loss to Pope John in which three of its runners were ill. Randolph will hold out senior and top-five-runner Natalie Anthony due to illness. South Brunswick will have front-runner and senior Sophia Ginez back in the lineup after a hayfever attack caused her to drop from the Bernie Magee Class Meet two weeks ago. That’s good news for sophomore Cayla DelPiano, who with Ginez, comprise one of the state’s best 1-2 punches. Among the individuals to watch, Hillsborough’s Ashley Smolinka will tangle with Hunterdon Central’s Rashmi Singh just two weeks after Smolinka outraced Singh over the final half-mile to beat her at the Central Jersey Shootout. Randolph’s Joelle Amaral, and South Brunswick’s Ginez and DelPiano will be factors. Southern’s Chelsea Cox, recognized more for her talent on the track, has produced an exceptional September.
