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CROSS-COUNTRY

Rivera, Walsh win program's first individual titles at Group XC Championships

Lauren Knego
@laurenknego
South Amboy's Patrick Walsh won the Group I championship on Saturday at Holmdel Park.

HOLMDEL - There were a number of firsts at the NJSIAA Group Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Holmdel Park.

Old Bridge's Rey Rivera and South Amboy's Patrick Walsh won the first individual Group titles in their program's histories.

The top three teams and top 10 individuals advance to the Meet of Champions next Saturday at Holmdel Park.

Rivera won the Group IV title in 15:47 while Walsh won Group I in 16:26.

"It was same race as last week, just a little more competition, a lot more guys to work with," Rivera said. "I just came here with an open mindset, ready to run hard like everyone else was running and just adjust during the race and try to go for the win."

Rivera finished a full 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Alex Roth of Princeton. He was coming off a performance in the Central Group IV sectional meet last weekend where he broke the course record by six seconds with a time of 15:27. Rivera, who runs the 800 during the winter track season, has only been running cross country for a full two seasons.

"It’s a new feeling, it’s cross country, I’m not really a cross runner per say," Rivera said. "It’s different than the 800, 800 I come in and it’s just 800 aggressive, I’m adjusting more, I’m adjusting to the people and I’m still trying to figure out how I race."

Walsh, became the first cross country runner last weekend to win a sectional title, added to his list of accomplishments on Saturday with a Group title and a berth in the Meet of Champions.

"It was surreal to win sectionals, I just wanted to race hard and give it everything I’ve got, and to be able to pull off Groups as well is really a dream come true," Walsh said. "It’s something freshman year I couldn’t have dreamed of, it’s something that I worked hard for and I was lucky to be able to pull it off.

"I wanted to win the race, it’s bottom line, if I’m going into a race trying to get second, trying to get third, I’ve already lost. My main goal is to go out hard and be in a spot where I could make that final kick at the end and I just wanted to win it and I was able to make some good moves. So I’m just happy I was able to pull it off today for the school and for my team, we all work so hard."

Group I

The Metuchen boys and girls teams swept the Group I titles, continuing the success from last weekend's sectionals. The Metuchen boys won with 76 points and Jake Beacher placed 10th in 16:51.

The girls team took first with 66 points, just two points ahead of runner-up Kinnelon. Nina Suss was 10th in 21 minutes even.

Highland Park's Ethan Bull finished in fifth in 16:42.

Group III

Colonia's Shelby Piccinic punched her ticket to the Meet of Champions, just one week removed from becoming the first female in Patriots' history to win a cross country sectional title. She finished fifth in 19:06.

"Just to run as always, just run my best, make the Meet of Champs, so I’m excited for next week because I really want to get a better PR, I really want to break 19, so I think it’ll be good," Piccinic said of the expectation heading into the Group meet. "It feels great, it’s running against the top runners in the state, so it’s really fun and challenging and it just pushes you to be your best."

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