At first glance, Crystal Ortiz doesn’t look like much of an athlete. She’s diminutive, slight of build, standing no more than 5-foot-3 and weighing less than 100 pounds.
She’s also very demure and shy, speaking only a few words and uttering few syllables louder than a whisper.
But the Hudson Catholic freshman is certainly making a lot of noise in the world of cross country, exploding onto the scene as perhaps the premier female harrier in the county already.
Ortiz will get a chance to earn that distinction for real this weekend as she competes in the Hudson County Track Coaches Association championships at Bayonne County Park.
Ortiz was raised in Manchester, Conn., but moved to the Greenville section of Jersey City two years ago. She arrived in Jersey City already having a love for running, since her father Angel was a standout half-miler in his native Puerto Rico.
“I started running when I was in kindergarten,” Ortiz said. “I always used to run for fun. I started racing when I was very small.”
Yeah, like she’s real big now.
Ortiz started competing with the Jersey City Recreation Panthers when she moved to Jersey City and competed in a national meet two years ago, placing 11th overall in her 13-and-under age bracket in Detroit.
When she had to decide on a high school, Ortiz chose Hudson Catholic, even though the school didn’t really have a girls’ cross country team.
“I liked the school, but the coach really sealed it for me,” Ortiz said.
The coach is none other than Gerry McCann, the former Jersey City mayor. McCann has been coaching cross country and track and field at St. Peter’s Prep, before moving on to his alma mater Hudson Catholic last year.
“It’s kind of funny,” McCann said. “All along, I always thought I was a boys’ coach. And I never had a great runner, just guys who always finished second or third.”
But McCann has a great one now.
“Crystal is amazing,” McCann said. “She goes out and leads from the start. She takes off and she’s in the lead in the first five steps and she just keeps going.”
McCann said he knew he had a special talent in Ortiz.
“I could tell by the intensity she had in her face,” McCann said. “She has so much confidence. She knows she’s there to run and that’s what she does.”
In her first varsity race at the Randolph Invitational in early September, Ortiz was talking to her father when the race went off.
“She was behind and had to catch up,” McCann said. “By the first mile, she was leading. I mean, she weaved her way through 200 meters.”
Ortiz didn’t win her debut, but finished second.
“But she’s won every single race since then,” McCann said.
Ortiz won the Stewart Invitational in Greystone Park in Morris Plains and the Brett Taylor Invitational at Darlington Park in Mahwah. She also recorded the fastest time ever posted by a freshman at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
In the last two weeks, Ortiz won the South Hudson and Jersey City championships. In the South Hudson championships, she broke the all-time county record at Bayonne Park, crossing the finish line in 18:29. Yes, she’s just a freshman. The future is so incredibly bright.
“She goes out fast and everyone tries to go with her,” McCann said.
“Every time I run, I just block out everything and go,” Ortiz said. “I block out noise and the people around me. I’m just worried about my times and whether I go out too fast or too slow.”
Ortiz likes the fact that she’s making a name for herself. Right now, she’s currently the third fastest freshman in the entire state. A county championship would be a first for the school, certainly for girls and incredibly for boys. The school was an all-boys institution until becoming co-ed six years ago.
“I’m really excited by it all,” Ortiz said. “It’s fun to get recognized. It’s a fun feeling. I am kind of surprised by it all. But I love running and I’m happy I’m doing well.”
It’s just the start of something that could turn out to be really big…
Speaking of Hudson Catholic, former Hawk hoop standout J.R. Lynch, who is currently attending the prep school St. Andrew’s Prep in Rhode Island, announced last week that he has accepted a scholarship to the University of Hartford and will play there in the fall of 2015.
Lynch went the prep school route because he felt he could play at the NCAA Division I level and didn’t have good college offers at the time because of his smaller frame.
“I mostly had offers from Division II schools,” Lynch said. “I sat down with Coach [Nick] Mariniello and we made a plan. This was something I had to do. I had to get physically stronger. I’ve actually gained a little weight and gotten bigger.”
Lynch, the younger brother of former Hudson Reporter Female Athlete of the Year Sybil Lynch, currently at Pine Manor College in Massachusetts, said that he felt comfortable at Hartford.
“It felt like home,” Lynch said. “It was similar to Hudson Catholic, which changed my life. I felt the same feeling of comfort right away. I knew it’s what I wanted to do. I made my decision right away.”
Lynch said that he’s motivated to do his best for his year at St. Andrew’s.
“My job is not done here,” Lynch said. “I still feel like I have to prove myself. But it’s the best thing I did, to get away and get away from any distractions.”…
The Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame dinner will return this year. It will be held Thursday night at Puccini’s in Jersey City, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Among the honorees this year will be the late Arturo Gatti, the two-time world champion boxer; Olympic gold medal winning skier Donna Weinbrecht, who was born in Hoboken; Mark D’Onofrio, the former North Bergen grid standout who played at Penn State and then the Green Bay Packers and is currently an assistant coach at the University of Miami; soccer great Matt Percontino of Hoboken; former Marist and Monmouth basketball standout John Giraldo, former NFL offensive lineman J.D. Maarleveld and the entire 1966 Hoboken state championship football team, coached by the immortal Vince Ascolese, the first of his seven NJSIAA state champions.
Tickets for the event are $65 and can be secured by calling (201) 915-1388…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Football Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (6-1). 2. Union City (5-2). 3. North Bergen (6-1). 4. Lincoln (5-1). 5. Hudson Catholic (7-0)…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Soccer Top Five: 1. North Bergen (11-6-1). 2. St. Peter’s Prep (13-4-1). 3. Dickinson (11-3-1). 4. Memorial (8-7). 5. Union City (8-9-1)… – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.