CROSS-COUNTRY

Franklin's Billy Hill is the CN Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year

Angel D. Ospina
@AngelDOspina

Franklin’s Billy Hill spent the summer contemplating which sport he was going to play in the upcoming fall season of his senior year.

Last year, Hill was the varsity goalkeeper for the Franklin boys soccer team, but the Rutgers track and field commit knew that running cross country would be the sport that would be the better prepare him for his college athletic career.

Hill sat down with his parents to weigh his options and ultimately decided he would leave the sport he had been playing since he was four years old.

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Franklin's Billy Hill finishes first at the Somerset County Championships on Oct. 13, 2016.

It was a gamble, but the right decision was made. In his first season as a cross country runner, Hill finished first in his first five meets and clinched first at the Somerset County Championships. At the conclusion of his rookie season on the trails, he is being named the 2016 Courier News Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

“I decided to do cross country because I wanted to get better in track,” Hill said. “I played soccer for so long and my main point was that I didn’t want to leave the team because I felt I’d let them down. But as I talked to my parents I realized I needed to make a decision that was best for me.”

After leaving his soccer team, the speedy senior made a direct impact for his new respective sport. In his cross country debut, Hill finished first in 16:06.55 at the Brookedale Invitational.

“My first race I was just having fun with it because I had no idea what to expect,” Hill said. “I was just kind of joking around but then during the race I realized I had a chance of winning, so I stayed up at the top and when I ended up winning the race, I realized this is what I wanted to do and that I made the right choice.”

The following week, Hill clinched another first placed finish with a nearly identical time of 16:06.42 at the Thompson Park Class Meet. The cross country rookie would keep his undefeated streak alive with another victory at the Shore Coaches Invitational with a time of 16.36, and then clocked in with the best time of the season at 15.42.80 at the 11th annual XC Fall Classic.

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At the Somerset County meet, he earned a gold medal with a time 15.53. Hill’s instant success was a surprise to himself and even his own coach, who knew he was going to be good, but not that good.

Hill closed out his first season with a 15:58.86 third-place finish at the Skyland Conference meet, earned second at the Central sectional meet with a time of 15:37.1 and then a top 20 finish in both the Group IV Championships (16th place in 16.36) and at the Meet of Champions (20th place in 16.22).

“I don’t think anyone expected to do as well as he did,” Franklin coach Ja’mon Dunn said. “I know his training habits and how hard he works, so I knew the transition from soccer to cross country would be an easy one."

Dunn has coached Hill since he was a freshman running in track, where he runs the 1600 and 3200. After last year’s successful season in track, which he capped off with a sixth place finish in the Group IV 1600 with a time of 4:17.38, Hill knew he would ultimately have to retire the goalie gloves.

Hill was thinking about starting cross country in his junior year, but ultimately decided he wanted to play on the same soccer team with his brother Christopher Hill, who was an incoming freshman. In his last year playing soccer, Hill recorded 207 saves in goal.

Whatever sport Hill is playing, he exceeds expectations due to his relentless work ethic.

“His work ethic is second to none,” Dunn said. “He brings it every day to practice. He’s never a kid that you have to worry about giving effort. His only response is, ‘Yes coach.’ He is a very special athlete."

While the decision to switch sports was clearly the correct decision, some of his former teammates like to fool around about him not being on the soccer team.

“They joke around a little bit but they are supportive,” Hill said.

Despite his former teammate's friendly jokes, Hill knows the decision was one of the best decisions of his life.

“It’s really satisfying because now I know that my decision really paid off for what I wanted to do,” he said.  “Cross country helped me out big time.”

ALL-SOMERSET COUNTY TEAMS

As selected by the coaches

FIRST TEAM

Billy Hill, Franklin; Ajay Sarathy, Montgomery; Thomas Tarantino, Pingry; Owen Szabo, Hillsborough; Robert Tidona, Montgomery; Dillan Spector, Montgomery; Ryan Lindrud, Ridge.

SECOND TEAM

Bobby D'Angelo, Gill St. Bernard's; Ryan Martins, Watchung Hills; Stuart Gruters, Bernards; Connor Roehr, Bernards; Mathieu Petit, Gill St. Bernard's; Ryan Mitchell, Hillsborough; Greg Shanahan, Watchung Hills.

THIRD TEAM

Thomas Miscia, Ridge; Matt Mychalowich, Ridge; Harry Gould, Montgomery; Sean Lynch, Hillsborough; Pranav Reddy, Montgomery; Tyler Baum, Hillsborough; Jeffrey Meyer, Montgomery.