CROSS-COUNTRY

Voorhees sweeps at cross country sectional meet

Andy Mendlowitz, @andy_mendlowitz

JAMESBURG — Matt DeRobbio ran until he was out of breath.

Voorhees's Nicole Cassavell (left) and Monmouth Regional's Amanda Stone sprint to the finish line in the NJSIAA Cross Country Group II sectionals at Thompson Park in Jamesburg on Nov. 5, 2016.

No, he wasn’t competing in Saturday’s NJSIAA Central Sectional cross country meet. Rather, the Voorhees High School’s girls coach sprinted several yards after finding out the Vikings won Central Group II by one point over Robbinsville. He had to tell the team, which gathered under a tree away from the course.

“We had no idea,” sophomore Lauren Wagner said. “So we just walked back to the tent and then coach came back and gave us the news. It was the best feeling ever.”

With that, the Voorhees win capped the last of the eight races at Thompson Park. The top five teams and the top 10 individuals advanced to the State Group Championships next Saturday at Holmdel Park. The Voorhees boys also captured the Central Group II title, and the school had an individual sweep in Wagner and Evan Minor taking gold.

Hunterdon Central’s Hannah Cella won in Group IV, and Hillsborough took that group’s team title.

Voorhees added to its running legacy Saturday. The boys won their third consecutive sectional title. The Vikings girls won their fifth overall — the current sections started in 1976 — and first since 2001.

“I think they do work well together, and there is that pride going back and forth,” Voorhees boys coach Jeff Capone said. “That’s kind of what’s expected. Doesn’t mean you’re going to always win, but, you know, we want to raise high level teams and challenge our athletes all the time.”

They certainly rose up Saturday. For the boys, Voorhees claimed the top three finishes: Minor won in 16:07.3 followed by Chris Romero (16:17.1) and Joseph Capone (16:19.3). Jacob Dispenza took 11th and Ryan Morello was 13th as the Vikings’ 30 points were well ahead of Holmdel’s 111.

The girls victory was a tad more dramatic. Wagner took first in 18:42.7 and Nicole Cassavell placed sixth. In a key one-point swing, Alexis Churley took 16th in 20:24.3, one second ahead of Robbinsville’s Enlin Carow. If that was reversed, Robbinsville would have won. Two freshmen rounded out Voorhees’ scoring: Emily Sell (23rd) and Nina Lewis (47th).

“It was such a great feeling for the coach to come back to the tent and let us know,” Wagner said. “Just for all of us to experience this together. It’s hard running by yourself. You definitely need your supporters and your teammates.”

Hunterdon Central’s Cella Wins   

The Red Devils’ Cella won in 18:46.3, which was 4.1 seconds ahead of Howell’s Niamh Hayes. But it was a different type of race for Cella, which won a sectional for the eighth time in school history. Typically, she bolts from the start, and said with a laugh, “usually I just do whatever I feel.”

Hunterdon Central coach Sharon Tompa said that in the past week she worked with Cella on pacing and visualizing the race and different parts of the course.

“It was different than all the other times we’ve tried,” Tompa said. “She’s a gamer. She wants to be up there. She wants to win. But we talked a little bit about strategy for placement-wise.”

Saturday, Cella was in fourth until the last hill, and rolled to the win over the last 800 meters.

“I wanted to race smart,” Cella said. “I was talking to my coaches before. I wanted to make sure that all the girls were still within striking range.”

Hillsborough Wins Again

Hillsborough once again got a permanent spot in the meet’s official program. The Raiders repeated as champions and won their fifth title since 2009. Saturday, their top point scorers were Chloe Wong (third), Jennifer Tavares (10th), Peri Bongiovanni (13th), Natalie Tavares (25th) and Kathryn Van Pelt (42nd).

Other Top Finishers

Boys

Advancing in Group IV were Franklin’s Billy Hill (second), Hunterdon Central’s Justin Cornetta (third) and Montgomery’s Ajay Sarathy (fifth). Team-wise, Montgomery (126 points) finished fourth and Hunterdon Central (127 points) placed fifth. Princeton won with 44 points. Notably, Old Bridge’s Rey Rivera set a course record in 15:21.9

Advancing in Group II were Bernards’ Connor Roehr (eighth). In the team race, Bernards took third and Governor Livingston placed fourth (158 points). In Group I, New Providence’s Mark Pasquariello (second) and Manville’s Frankey Arevalo (10th) both advanced, while Dunellen took fourth as a team (119 points) and New Providence fifth (127 points). Metuchen won with 37 points.

Girls

Franklin's William Hill (left) and Hunterdon Central's Justin Cornetta sprint to the finish line in the NJSIAA Cross Country Central Group IV sectionals at Thompson Park in Jamesburg on Nov. 5, 2016.

North 2 Group IV

Watchung Hills' Ryan Martins won the individual NJSIAA North 2 Group IV cross country sectional title while the North Hunterdon boys team took first place on Saturday afternoon.

Martins won in 15:50, ahead of Columbia's Jared Pangallozzi who took second in 15:53. North Hunterdon's Ray Sellaro was third in 15:59, while Westfield's Aditya Singh was fourth in 16:11. Piscataway's Rahul Tanna placed six in 16:16, while Ridge's Will Phinney (seventh in 16:22) and Patrick Bayeux (eighth in 16:27) also qualified. North Hunterdon's Austin Frank (16:30) and Gavin Richards (16:31) rounded out the top 10. 

North Hunterdon won the title ahead of Westfield, 54-62. Ridge took fourth and Scotch Plains-Fanwood was fifth, which qualified for the Group Tournament for the first time in six years.

On the girls side, North Hunterdon won the North 2 Group IV team title ahead of Ridge, 24-31, while the Lions' Elena DiMarcello (18:12) and Angela Kearsley (18:40) finished first and second. Anna DiMarcello was fourth in 18:45, Emily Nugent (18:55) was eighth and Brenna Talamo (18:57) was ninth.

Ridge's Caitlin Haggard was third in 18:43, Catherine Giuseffi was fifth in 18:50, while Claire Jones (18:50.29) and Brooke Hirsh (18:50.58) were sixth and seventh. Lexy Donaldson (19:08) rounded out the top 10.

Westfield finished third in the team standings, while Bridgewater-Raritan was fourth and Watchung Hills qualified with the fifth spot.

The Union Catholic boys team placed fifth in the NJCTC, and Nate Papachristos finished 10th in 16:25. The Vikings girls team placed second behind Pope John, 47-56. Megan McCabe finished fifth in 19:30 and Jerika Lufrano was 10th in 20:07.