Ridge, Montgomery victorious at Somerset County XC championships

Heading into Thursday's Somerset County Championships, the Montgomery High School boys cross country team had high expectations.

Last season the Cougars placed second behind Hillsborough, and this time around second place just wasn't going to suffice. Senior Ajay Sarathy placed second in 15:56, behind Franklin's William Hill, who won in 15:53, and the rest of the Montgomery squad went 5-6-17-19-21-22 as the Cougars won their first Somerset County Tournament title, 49-83, ahead of Hillsborough.

"It's fantastic, it feels great, we were all super excited and the boys were very pleased," Montgomery boys cross country coach Tim Bartholomew said. "The expectation was to go out and try to win it, last year we came in second to Hillsborough and we were the favorite to win it last year and we weren’t able to do all the things we needed to, and this year we knew we had the right pieces in place and that we could go out and get it. The boys did everything they had to do."

Seniors Robert Tidona (16:44) and Dillan Spector (16:44) placed fifth and sixth respectively for the Cougars, while junior Harry Gould took 17th in 17:00, senior Pranav Reddy placed 19th in 17:05, junior Jeffrey Meyer finished in 21st in 17:14 and junior Austin Fan placed 22nd in 17:18.

"It shows me today that they have a lot of heart, they wanted it," Bartholomew said of his team. "A couple of kids, at this point of the season we had several boys banged up, but they put those things aside and ran through whatever pain and obstacles they were facing and they were able to overcome those little things that ultimately have an impact on them. I’m happy to see they came together as a team and everyone ran well and did the things they were supposed to do."

On the girls side, Ridge won 26-85 ahead of second place Hillsborough, and snapped the Raiders' streak of seven-straight SCT titles. The Red Devils averaged 18:57, the No. 2 time in course history at Pleasant Valley Park. They just missed the course record of 18:55 which was set in 2007 by Voorhees.

Junior Caitlin Haggard won the race in 18:36 and senior Catherine Giuseffi placed second in 18:48. Senior Claire Jones was third in 18:56, senior Shayna Bains placed sixth in 19:04, sophomore Amanda Passman was eighth in 19:21, senior Emily Hirsch finished 12th in 19:47 and junior Meghan Convery placed 16th in 20:05.

Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Championships

The Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Cross Country Championships were also held on Thursday, with the North Hunterdon girls and Voorhees boys winning titles. 

North Hunterdon's Ellie DiMarcello won in a course-record 18:12.5, which broke the old record of 18:27.6 set by North Hunterdon's Eve Glasergreen in 2014. As a team, the Lions also set a new course record of 18:56.6, which broke the old record of 19:54 set by North Hunterdon last year.

North Hunterdon won the title ahead of Pope John, 26-84. Hunterdon Central was third with 103 points.

On the boys side, Voorhees beat North Hunterdon 43-78. Hunterdon Central was third with 82 points.

The Vikings also set a new course record, averaging 16:27 to break the old record of 16:38 that Voorhees ran last year.

Justin Cornetta of Hunterdon Central finished first in 16:05, North Hunterdon's Ray Sellaro was second in 16:09 and Voorhees' Christoper Romero was third in 16:10.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego