CROSS-COUNTRY

Cross Country: Metuchen, Old Bridge shine at sectional championships

Daniel LoGiudice
@danny_logiudice

MONROE After Saturday’s Central Jersey sectional championships at Thompson Park, a couple of Middlesex County teams walked away very pleased with themselves.

The Metuchen girls cross country team placed first in the Group I race with 30 points and an average time of 21:00.92 . The boys also placed first. The Old Bridge boys team finished first as well with 43 points and an average of 16:18.47 in the Group IV race.

Senior Rachel Suss (first place, 19:02.58), junior Rachel Wentnick (fourth place, 21:05.26), senior Kristina Lignell (sixth place, 21:20.28) and freshmen Emma Capron (ninth place, 21:48.12) and Nina Suss (tenth place, 21:48.32) led Metuchen.

Junior Rey Rivera (fourth place, 16:01.47), senior Gerard D’Ambrosio (sixth place, 16:09.34), senior Gerard Gill (10th place, 16:20.34) senior Scott Belton (11th place, 16:29.25) and senior Sean Hobson (12th place, 16:31.95) paced the Knights.

The sectional title was Metuchen’s first since 2012. The individual win for Suss was her second first place finish at sectionals in a row.

“It’s been a really big goal this season to come back here and win it,” Suss said. “Our main focus was to finish as far up as a team as we could.”

A school rich with cross country history, the past few seasons have been a little rough for Metuchen. With the sectional title, Metuchen is back on the cross country map.

“As seniors, we saw it when we were freshmen,” Suss said. “Metuchen has a big history of sectional and state champs. The past few years we’ve struggled to get the team to where we want it to be this year. It really means a lot.”

Old Bridge had a tough road to victory, as Group IV is one of the toughest in the competition. Still, the Knights battled and were able to pull out the victory.

“I thought we had a reall good shot at winning,” Old Bridge head coach Rich Gedaure said. “We came in with the attitude that we were going to race as well as we can and try to keep the compression down as tight as possible.”

It’s been a four-year effort for the Knights to get to this point. They lost to South Brunswick last year and placed third the year before. Finally, after a lot of hard work, the Knights find themselves alone at the top.

“It’s a good feeling,” Gedaure said. “We’ve been working really hard these past four years. They’re a real tight group.”

The top five teams and first 10 finishers in each group from each public sectional championship and every non-public team advance to the Group Championships next weekend at Holmdel Park.

GROUP I

GIRLS RESULTS

Top finishers: 1. Rachel Suss (Metuchen) 19:02; 2. Sarah George (Shore) 20:51; 3. Casey Birdsall (Shore) 20:58; 4. Rachel Wentnick (Metuchen) 21:05; 5. Julianna Maita (Shore) 21:10; 6. Kristina Lignell (Metuchen) 21:20; 7. Alyssa Buccino (Dunellen) 21:20; 8. Jessi Clark (Middlesex) 21:45; 9. Emma Capron (Metuchen) 21:48; 10. Nina Suss (Metuchen) 21:48.

Team scores: 1. Metuchen 30; 2. Shore 36; 3. Dunellen 116; 4. Manville 133; 5. South Hunterdon 147; 6. Highland Park 182; 7. South River 199; 8. Middlesex County Tech 227; 9. Middlesex 238; 10. Keansburg 271; 11. New Egypt 283; 12. South Amboy 298; 13. Asbury Park 315.

BOYS RESULTS

Top finishers: 1. Jake Beacher (Metuchen) 16:31; 2. Patrick Walsh (South Amboy) 16:38; 3. Austin Brooks (Metuchen) 17:06; 4. Eduardo Cermeno (Dunellen) 17:08; 5. Caelan Johnson (Metuchen) 17:08; 6. Drew Maher (Shore) 17:14; . Ethan Bull (Highland Park) 17:17; 8. Divij Gupta (Metuchen) 17:32; 9. Mike Stonehocker (Metuchen) 17:35; 10. Joe Wells (South Amboy) 17:37.\

Team scores: Metuchen 26; 2. Dunellen 99; 3. Highland Park 137; 4. South River 141; 5. Shore 146; 6. South Amboy 149; 7. Manville 177; 8. New Egypt 197; 9. Middlesex County Tech 247; 10. Henry Hudson 272; 11. South Hunterdon 302; 12. Riverside 338; 13. Middlesex 350; 14. Keansburg 383; 15. Bound Brook 412.

GROUP II

GIRLS RESULTS

Top finishers: 1, Hannah Bonaguidi (Delaware Valley) 18:21; 2. Lauren Kroepfl (Robbinsville) 19:07; 3. Lauren Wagner (Voorhees) 19:16; 4. Rachel Kenny (Matawan) 19:20; 5. Daniella Veliz (Matawan) 19:38; 6. Dianne Ferraro (South Plainfield) 19:52; 7. Sarah Nelson (Rumson-Fair Haven) 19:56; 8. Alexandra Coghlan (Spotswood) 20:04; 9. Kristen Molloy (Monmouth Regional) 20:08; 10. Emily Hellman (Rumson-Fair Haven) 20:13.

Team scores: 1. Rumson-Fair Haven 65; 2. Cranford 108; 3. Robbinsville 112; 4. Voorhees 117; 5. Matawan 148; 6. Governor Livingston 163; 7. Delaware Valley 179; 8. Holmdel 185; 9. Spotswood 200; 10. Monmouth Regional 217; 11. South Plainfield 309; 12. Manasquan 322; 13. Raritan.

BOYS RESULTS

Top finishers: 1. Robert Whitney (Voorhees) 15:54; 2. Chris Romero (Voorhees) 15:55; 3. Richie Kasper (Robbinsville) 16:13; 4. Brendan McGill (Voorhees) 16:17; 5. Zach Michon (Robbinsville) 16:20; 6. Bobby Hastie (Robbinsville) 16:30; 7. Corey Mcghie (Rahway) 16:34; 8. Evan Minor (Voorhees) 16:35; 9. Christian Roberts (Robbinsville) 16:37; 10. Joseph Capone (Voorhees) 16:42.

Team scores: 1. Voorhees 25; 2. Robbinsville 60; 3. Manasquan 134; 4. Holmdel 155; 5. Rumson-Fair Haven 155; 6. Cranford 185; 7. Spotswood 199; 8. Governor Livingston 212; 9. Rahway 215; 10. Matawan 237; 11. Raritan 271; 12. Delaware Valley 303; 13. South Plainfield 359; 14. A.L. Johnson 446; 15. Monmouth Regional 451; 16. Ewing 473; 17. North Plainfield 483; 18. Bordentown 499.

GROUP IV

GIRLS RESULTS

Top finishers: 1. Christina Rancan (W. Windsor Pbs) 18:28; 2. Ciara Roche (Freehold Township) 18:49; 3. Nadia Saponara (Hunterdon Central) 19:02; 4. Stephanie Mauer (Hillsborough) 19:12; 5. Hannah Cella (Hunterdon Central) 19:21; 6. Paige Novak (Hillsborough) 19:22; 7. Julia Hans (Montgomery) 19:24; 8. Rose Barrett (Freehold Township) 19:37; 9. Lou Mialhe (Princeton) 19:40; 10. Chloe Taylor (Princeton) 19:44.

Team scores: 1. Hillsborough 58; 2. West Windsor-Plainsboro South 90; 3. South Brunswick 90; 4. Hunterdon Central 101; 5. Princeton 112; 6. Freehold Township 118; 7. Montgomery 214; 8. Manalapan 244; 9. Old Bridge 355; 10. East Brunswick 277; 11. Hightstown 295; 12. Sayreville 296; 13. North Brunswick 364; 14. Edison 390; 15. Monroe 460.

BOYS RESULTS

Top finishers: 1. Tim Bason (W. Windsor Pbs) 15:39; 2. Brandon Tubby (Hillsborough) 15:56; 3. Ajay Sarathy (Montgomery) 15:57; 4. Rey Rivera (Old Bridge) 16:01; 5. Justin Cornetta (Hunterdon Central) 16:05; 6. Gerard D'Ambrosio (Old Bridge) 16:09; 7. Mulual Mu (Trenton) 16:11; 8. Alexander Roth (Princeton) 16:13; 9. Ryan Budhu (South Brunswick) 16:18; 10. Gerard Gill (Old Bridge) 16:20.\

Team scores: 1. Old Bridge 43; 2. South Brunswick 122; 3. Princeton 126; 4. West Windsor-Plainsboro South 130; 5. Hillsborough 143; 6. Trenton 151; 7. Hunterdon Central 152; 8. Montgomery 162; 9. East Brunswick 223; 10. Hightstown 294; 11. Manalapan 296; 12. Monroe 299; 13. North Brunswick 379; 14. Sayreville 397; 15. Freehold Township 427; 16. Franklin 492; 17. Edison 499; 18. New Brunswick 572.