CROSS-COUNTRY

Metuchen's boys cross country returns Group I winning lineup

Mike New
Correspondent
The 2016 Metuchen High School Boys Cross Country team is photographed on Thursday September 8, 2016

The Metuchen High School boys cross country team put out a championship lineup last autumn at the NJSIAA Group I state title meet. What should make the rest of the Greater Middlesex Conference nervous this fall is that the Bulldogs’ championship lineup hasn’t gone anywhere.

Sophomore Jake Beacher placed 11th in a time of 17:07 at Holmdel Park in November, while classmate Caelan Johnson was just 20 seconds behind him. They’ll lead a team that lost just one senior to graduation, and the core of which has been together for nearly all their high school careers.

MORE: METUCHEN BOYS CROSS COUNTRY WINS STATE TITLE

“This’ll be their third cross country season, so they’re starting to learn how to work with each other,” head coach Marty Holleran said. “This is probably the best summer we’ve had over the last three summers we’ve been together, in terms of training. They’re also leaders, not just leaders by themselves. They gel well together, they work well together. They have goals, and they seem to get the big picture.”

Beacher and Johnson will be joined by returning seniors Austin Brooks and Jacob Francobandiero, plus juniors Divij Gupta and Steven Tang. To have such continuity from one season to the next isn’t something that comes along every year at a Group I school.

“This is a unique situation,” said Holleran, now in his 34th season at Metuchen. “It’s not something we’ve had every year. We’ve been pretty steady, but not to this level.”

RELATED: METUCHEN SHINES AT SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Of course, success mixed such a substantial returning group can also breed lofty expectations. But Holleran said his runners aren’t getting ahead of themselves.

“We have everybody back but one kid. We were pretty young last year,” Holleran said. “(But) there’s not any pressure whatsoever. They know there are good teams out there and they want to be one of these teams.”

The Bulldogs will co-host a class meet with Old Bridge on Sept. 17 at Thompson Park in Monroe, and that will likely be their first big event of the new season.

“We’re just looking forward to a good season,” Holleran said. “Hopefully we’ll continue to work hard and we’ll take every meet one at came.”