CROSS-COUNTRY

Metuchen's Beacher is HNT Boys XC Runner of the Year

Andy Mendlowitz
@andy_mendlowitz
Metuchen's Jake Beacher competes in the NJSIAA Group I sectionals on Nov. 5, 2016 at Thompson Park.

Before school, it would be dark and cold on those autumn mornings. Birds chirped in the background. For Jake Beacher, it was a peaceful time for a three mile or so run, cars honking and all. The Metuchen High School senior made sure to take in his surroundings.

“I would see shooting stars shooting across the sky, early morning and you’d see the sunrise,” Beacher said. “You just see things about the world that you wouldn’t notice and that just made running better. Made me want to go out and explore and run. And it just made me notice that running is a lot more than putting in miles. Running’s finding yourself and finding what you love.”

Beacher himself was a shooting star on 3.1-mile courses this season. He’s the Home News Tribune Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year for his achievements. Notably, he captured the Greater Middlesex Conference individual championship on Oct. 21 at Thompson Park in 15:56.35.

He became the second boys Metuchen runner to win and had the fourth-fastest time since 2005. (The Bulldogs’ Larry Weiss won in 1989.) He also helped Metuchen three-peat as Central Group I champions with a third-place individual finish (16:08.40) at Thompson Park on Nov. 4.

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In the Group I finals at Holmdel Park on Nov. 11, Beacher again took third in 16:26, which improved on his 10th-place finish last season (16:51). As a team, Metuchen took second by three points behind Mountain Lakes.

“He’s worked very hard and put in some extra mileage,” Metuchen coach Marty Holleran said. “I was glad to see it paid off for him. … He’s made some nice strides every single season.”

In 2016, Beacher finished third in the GMCs behind Old Bridge’s Rey Rivera (now running at Georgetown) and South Amboy’s Patrick Walsh (now at Rutgers).

After the spring track season, though, Beacher hit a lull and said he didn’t train much in June and July. All the hard work and sacrifices and dedication had taken a toll. Remember, these top athletes are still teenagers, after all.

“I was at a point, I was like I don’t even know if I want to do this anymore,” Beacher said. “I lost all passion to run. I didn’t really want to do the work. You know, everything was hard to do. I couldn’t run more than like five miles.”

He met with his teammates — who also were friends he grew up with — and they made it clear that they were relying on him. Beacher said, “Coach was like, ‘C’mon you know you can be great. You can do great things. You just got to put your mind to it.’ ”

Something clicked. Beacher decided cross country and his teammates were too important to run away from.

“And that’s when I really started working a lot harder than I ever worked before,” he said. “Like all my workouts were awesome. Everything started lining up.”

By early August, Beacher was re-dedicated.

“The program I run for is a lot bigger than me,” he said. “We all kind of had this responsibility that we had to execute during the season. Knowing that really helped me run better. … I owe it all to them and coach because without them, this wouldn’t be happening.”

In addition to the team’s practices, Beacher began waking at 6 a.m. for a solo run. Or, he’d do an occasional late-night run. That meant 10-12 miles several days a week, a pace that Beacher said he continued until around the GMC race.

Often, cars would honk. If people knew him, they’d yell, ‘Let’s go Beach.’ If they didn’t, he might get a, ‘Let’s go. Keep going.’  Beacher said he got motivation out of the toots and it was “really awesome knowing that people notice your work and want to support you.”

Some runners are lanky, but the 5-foot-10, 150-pounder is more chiseled through years of weight lifting and doing push-ups and planks. All that strength has helped him power through races and over hills.

A week before the GMC race at Thompson Park, Beacher ran a relatively slow 16:44.80 in the Fall Classic at the same course. As he said, it wasn’t “a confidence booster.” That race, though, was slow overall as Shore Regional’s Drew Maher won in 16:29.30 in the Small School race.

“Going into my county meet, I was just a little like, ‘Oh okay, if I don’t perform well this weekend like the season’s botched,’ ” he said. “ ‘Like I really have to get this done.’ There was a lot of pressure. It was something else. … I enjoy running with the pressure. Because with pressure comes responsibility and you know that you have to get it done — so you get it done.”

The GMC Championships started fast and Beacher decided to burst out with the leaders. Over the hill, a handful jockeyed for position. In the last 800 meters, Beacher kicked to the victory, three seconds ahead of Old Bridge’s Cyril Harvey.

“The thing I take pride the most in as a runner is my ability to make adjustments when they’re needed,” Beacher said. “I’m mostly able to roll with the punches.”

On Nov. 18, Beacher didn’t finish the Meet of Champions race at Holmdel Park because of a lingering cough combined with asthma. While obviously disappointed, it didn’t negate his fine season or career.

One other highlight stands out for him: Metuchen winning the 2016 GMC team championship for the first time. The Group I school based on enrollment knocked off larger powers such as East Brunswick, Old Bridge and South Brunswick.

“That was probably one of the greatest experiences ever,” Beacher said. “Like I can’t think of anything that’s happened better to me. I know that sounds crazy.”

Now, he heads into the indoor and outdoor track seasons with high goals and enthusiasm.

“It was a good season,” Beacher said. “I’m really proud of what we accomplished. And we’re not done yet. So there’s no need to be nostalgic about it. I’m really excited about the indoor season now.”

2017 ALL-GMC BOYS CROSS COUNTRY SELECTIONS

As selected by the coaches

ALL-CONFERENCE

Jake Beacher, Metuchen; Cyril Harvey, Old Bridge; Reyden Davies, East Brunswick; Peter Tilton, Highland Park; Brandon Diaz, South Brunswick; Chris Smith, Edison; Eduardo Cermeno, Dunellen; Leland Davies, East Brunswick; Dylan Rodriguez, Sayreville; Dario Epifania, South Brunswick; Divij Gupta, Metuchen

GMC Coach of the Year: Wilfredo Rivera, South Brunswick

ALL-RED DIVISION

Joey Coyle, East Brunswick; Ethan Febinger, South Brunswick; Kevin Schipan, Old Bridge; Charles Harvey, Old Bridge; Amael Audibert, South Brunswick; Rahul Tanna, Piscataway; Timothy Purcell, Old Bridge; Matthew Costello, Saint Joseph; Rohit Narayanan, South Brunswick; Nicholas Minkel, East Brunswick; Michael Keefe, Old Bridge

Coach of the Year: Wilfredo Rivera, South Brunswick

Sportsmanship: Piscataway

ALL-WHITE DIVISION

Andrew Rebele, North Brunswick; Steven Payne, Woodbridge; Joseph Harold, Spotswood; David Essel, Bishop Ahr; Anthony Nobile, Spotswood; Justin Dekovics, Spotswood; John Kuchler, North Brunswick; Justin Moran, Sayreville; Alejandro Garcia, South Plainfield; Brandon Jarrett, Woodbridge; Connor Rebele, North Brunswick

Coach of the Year: Roland D'Orvilliers, Spotswood

Sportsmanship: Sayreville

ALL-BLUE DIVISION

Caelan Johnson, Metuchen; Ed Malague, Metuchen; Jonah Silverman, Highland Park; Stephen Tang, Metuchen; Andrew Habeeb, Middlesex; Shawn Green, Dunellen; Matt Cox, South River; Anthony Buccino, Dunellen; Sean Mejorada, East Brunswick Vo-Tech; Alex Yakowenko, Metuchen; Ravi Chawla, Metuchen

Coach of the Year: Marty Holleran, Metuchen

Sportsmanship: Highland Park