Skyland Conference represents at Group XC Championships
The Skyland Conference represented well in the NJSIAA Group Cross Country Championships at Holmdel Park on Saturday.
In the Group IV girls race, Ridge placed first for the second straight year, winning ahead of North Hunterdon 59-79. Hillsborough was third with 190 points, as the top three teams and top 10 finishers in each Group advance to next Saturday’s Meet of Champions.
Lexy Donaldson was the top finisher for Ridge, as she placed seventh in 18:58. Catherine Giuseffi was 10th in 19:08.
“Certainly we hoped to win, obviously, we did last year. We were kind of in the same position that we were last year, we didn’t win sections but we just had all expectations to do this again and hopefully we can do it again next week,” Donaldson said. “I just think we do well at Holmdel as a team, obviously this is where it counts most, everything else is obviously great to win, but I think we just really pull it together as a team here.”
For North Hunterdon, Ellie DiMarcello finished fifth in 18:40, while Anna DiMarcello was eighth in 19:05. Hillsborough’s Chloe Wong qualified for the MOC as well, placing sixth in 18:55.
The Red Devils are excited to get back to the MOC, which they won last season for the first time in program history.
“We’re so excited just to have the chance to do it again, especially because a lot of us are seniors,” Donaldson said. “So hopefully we can end it on a really good note.”
On the boys side, Montgomery placed third in Group IV with 139 points behind first place finisher Princeton (69) and Cherokee (135). Ajay Sarathy finished ninth in 16:17.
“I wanted to place a lot higher than that, I expected top five, I just had a bad race, it was a tight pack,” Sarathy said. “As a team it was great, when I finished my race I was so upset with my own performance, but when my coach came over and said we came in third, it turned my day around. I can deal with one bad race if the team gets to move on.”
It’s been a season of firsts for Montgomery, which won the Skyland Conference title for the first time, as well as advanced to the sections, the Groups and the Meet of Champions for the first time.
“This is our first time making Groups, let alone making MOCs, so I think this is a great year for us,” Sarathy said. “We won our county for the first time in history, we won sections for the first time, now Groups, it shows that our program is on the rise and all the training we did this summer paid off.”
Hunterdon Central’s Justin Cornetta finished third in Group IV in 16:04, while Watchung Hills’ Ryan Martins was seventh in 16:11.
Group I
New Providence’s Mark Pasquariello qualified for the MOC, finishing in seventh in 16:47. The Pioneers girls qualified as a team, placing third with 130 points behind Metuchen (66) and Kinnelon (68).
Group II
The Voorhees boys team won the Group II title, besting second place finisher Haddonfield 53-106. Chris Romero was fourth and Evan Minor was fifth. Both finished in 16:37.
On the girls side, Lauren Wagner of Voorhees was sixth in 19:29, while teammate Nicole Cassavell was ninth in 19:48 as the Vikings took second as a team with 125 points behind first place Haddonfield (108). Governor Livingston’s Victoria Vanriele was eighth in 19:48.
Non-Public A
The Union Catholic girls team finished third with 102 points, behind Red Bank Catholic (67) and Pope John (76). Nate Papachristos finished 10th for the boys in 16:32.
Non-Public B
The Pingry boys team earned a berth in the MOC, finishing second behind Bishop Eustace, 50-79. Thomas Tarantino was ninth in 17:32. Mathieu Petit of Gill St. Bernard’s was second in 16:54, while teammate Bobby D’Angelo was fourth in 16:57.