When November comes for cross country runners, they’re hit with a cold, hard reality. You either perform well or you go home, both as a team and as individuals. It’s as simple as that. If you want your season to continue, you have to either finish among the top five teams or the top 10 individuals at the NJSIAA cross country state sectionals.
If you fail, it’s time to make preparations for indoor season. That’s just the way it goes. Only the strong survive.
Last Saturday at the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1 championships at Garret Mountain Park in West Paterson, all of Hudson County’s public schools faced that challenge — run your best or you’re done.
For three local boys’ teams, there was reason to rejoice. Their respective seasons continued on to the All-Group championships this weekend in Holmdel with impressive top five finishes in their respective enrollment classification groups.
For one particular girls’ team, there was the agony of the unexpected, when a runner fell, went down injured and ended the team’s hopes of qualifying for the next round.
Among the boys’ groups, Memorial in Group IV, McNair Academic in Group II and Secaucus in Group I all made the leap from the sectional to the All-Groups. Memorial was the most impressive of the boys’ teams, finishing second in the Group IV sectional, behind state power Ridgewood.
McNair Academic, still in its infant stages in terms of fielding a competitive team, surprisingly finished fourth among the teams in Group II. Led by a group of dedicated youngsters who just keep improving, Secaucus finished third in the Group I sectional.
All three teams had plenty of reasons to feel good about their respective performances. They have reasons to run this week, motivation to train. Their seasons move on.
Not many people gave Memorial a chance to finish among the top five teams in the North Jersey Section 1, Group IV contingent. After all, defending champion West Milford appeared to be poised to repeat. Ridgewood is always one of the best teams in New Jersey. Paterson Kennedy had the group’s best runner in the “Moroccan Missile,” also known as Mohamed Khadraoui. Clifton also fielded a strong squad.
“No one gave us any hope,” Memorial head coach Julio Lopez said. “But our kids were not intimidated. I actually told them beforehand that they could actually win the meet. The mental challenge is the biggest hurdle. We had to have them believe they could win. If they’re not mentally prepared, then they can’t win. But they all knew that they had to forget about what people were saying, that they had to believe they were going to win no matter what.”
The surprising Tigers had a great day, both individually and as a team. Senior Luis Capellan led the way, finishing fifth overall in 16:40.7, about a half minute behind winner Khadraoui. Juniors Silfrido Torres and Dennis Rendon were close behind, finishing seventh and eighth respectively, also with fine times under 17 minutes.
Junior James Sanchez, who never ran cross country before this year, also ran well, finishing 22nd overall.
“He popped a 17:26 today and he had been running 18 minutes all year,” Lopez said. “James was our man today. He came through in a huge way for us and really helped us.”
Senior Jesus Javier was the fifth runner for the Tigers and his 31st place finish was good enough to clinch second place for the Tigers, behind Ridgewood.
“As a team, we ran a super time,” Lopez said. “I think the team is finally coming around. I’m very happy with the way we ran today. I think we’ll be able to surprise a lot of teams next year. We’ll go for it all next year.”
Lopez believes that if the Tigers run this weekend in Holmdel the way they ran at Garret Mountain, then they could actually qualify as a team for the Meet of Champions.
When the season began, McNair Academic head coach Matt Hogan thought that his team had the makings of being a force to be reckoned with in Group I.
There was only one problem. An enrollment increase bumped the Jersey City school to Group II status.
“I thought we were still Group I going into the season and didn’t know we were Group II until the season began,” Hogan said. “I had to switch our goals, shooting to qualify in Group II. I had to scout out the other Group II schools.”
Considering that no McNair Academic boys’ team had ever qualified for any group championship, it was going to be a major accomplishment.
But the Cougars ran out well competing with the bigger schools, finishing fourth overall, led by Kelechuku Okoji, who finished ninth overall. James Sackor was 18th and Dorian Nealon 19th, which aided the Cougars’ cause.
“The weather definitely helped us,” Hogan said of the 70 degree temperature at race time. “We have a couple of warm weather runners, so that was a key. It’s a great accomplishment for us. I think everyone is really happy.”
The sentiments were echoed at Secaucus, where Coach Stan Fryczynski’s young team continues to come of age, finishing third in Group I behind powerful Palisades Park and Midland Park.
“They probably finished better than I thought they would,” Fryczynski said. “This is a tribute to the kids’ hard work. We had a good week of practice and I thought we were ready. I didn’t know how they would finish, but I knew the kids didn’t want the season to end.”
Juniors Tom Amendola and Rich Kane ran right along side of each other, one finishing ahead of the other. Amendola was 14th overall, with Kane right behind in 15th.
“I think they got a little bit of sectional experience last year, and that went a long way this year,” Fryczynski said. “I really think they all ran according to form, with Amendola and Kane leading the way. It’s not unusual to have them run so close together. They did what they were supposed to do so they could stick together for another week.”
While the three boys’ teams were elated with their results, only one girls’ team enjoyed success — although it was at the hands of another local team’s misfortunes.
After surprising everyone to capture the Hudson County Track Coaches’ Association championship a week earlier, North Bergen’s girls’ harriers were really looking forward to qualifying in Group IV.
“We were happy we won the county and happy we were second in the HCIAA,” North Bergen coach Yael Martinez said. “We had high hopes of doing well here.”
However, those hopes plummeted when Priscilla Arboleda fell two-thirds through the 3.1-mile race and was unable to finish. Arboleda fell hard and was injured, needing medical attention.
“I didn’t even know she fell,” Martinez said. “She’s our third best runner. When she didn’t finish among the top 30, I knew there was a problem.”
If Arboleda had run according to form, then the Bruins would have accumulated enough points to finish either third or fourth. Without Arboleda, the Bruins finished sixth, enabling Memorial’s girls to finish fifth instead, earning a berth to the All-Groups.
“It’s a tough one to take,” Martinez said. “It’s very disappointing. I’m upset that we won’t be able to run as a team, because we had a great season. No one wants to end it this way. I’m upset for senior Vanessa Panameno, because she won’t be able to go on. I have years to keep going. The seniors don’t have years.”
While the Bruins won’t move on as a team, two of the Bruins’ runners did qualify as individuals. Jennifer Collado finished eighth and Kim Galvin finished 10th, so those two harriers will continue their season.
“I’m happy for Jen and I’m especially happy for Kim, because she finished 11th last year and couldn’t go on,” Martinez said. “It’s a shame the way this turned out.”
Thus, the agony and the ecstasy of high school cross country. It can all end so quickly. Too many locals found that out the hard way last Saturday.