Click above to read the story of each team, individual or relay state champion.
Team: Colts Neck Cross Country/Track has won 14 team titles. The 2000 girls cross country team was the first team in the school to win a State Championship. Fifty minutes later the boys team finished 2nd, losing by just 2 pts. CN finished 2nd in a State championship meet 12 times. Other team 2nd place finishes included the girls 2005 winter track relay team, the boys 2005 spring track team, the girls 2006 winter track team, the boys 2007 spring track team, the 2010 and 2015 boys cross country teams, the girls 2019 winter track relay teams, the girls 2019 cross country team, the boys 2023 cross country team and the 2025 boys winter and spring track teams..
Individual: Colts Neck Cross Country/Track has had 19 different individual state champions and they've won 53 State championships. Craig Forys leads with 12 (tied for State record), 2 in cross country, 4 in winter track, and 6 in spring track. He was also 2nd five times, twice in XC, once in winter and twice in spring, all during his freshman and sophomore years, before finally winning his first title in spring of sophomore year. He never lost to a NJ runner in the 1600/3200 after his freshman year. Hunter Celkupa has won 8, 3 in winter track, 4 in spring track and tied for 1st in XC. He has never finished 2nd. Lilly Shapiro won 7, 4 in the winter, she won 2 on the same day, twice, 2 in the spring and 1 in XC and was 2nd twice, once XC and once in the winter. She could have won as many as 5 more but was stopped by the pandemic. Ashley Higginson won 5, 2 in winter track and 3 in spring track. She was also 2nd five times, (twice in XC, twice in winter, and once in spring). Jorge Ventura won 3, 1 in winter track and 2 in spring track. He was also 2nd twice, once in XC and once in the spring. Jay Adimala won three times, tie for 1st in XC and an additional on the next year and 1 in winter track. Briana Jackucewicz won 2, once in XC and once in winter track. She was also 2nd four times, once in XC and 3 in the winter. Jordan Brannan and Ryan Tompkins also won two winter track titles, on the same exact days. Jordan was 2nd 4 times, once in XC, once in winter track and twice in the spring. Matt Bogdan won twice, both in the spring. He would have won 3 others (XC and two in the winter) but was stopped by the pandemic. Dave Gaines, Ryan Jagielski, Allison Linnell, Mark Leininger, Natalie Shapiro, Cole Tucker, Kylie Jacoutot and Ava Wilmot, all won once. Linnell had a 2nd in the spring, Leininger a 2nd in XC and Brannan a 2nd in XC and two in spring track. Mike O'Dowd, Israel Payan, Chris Clark, Kevin Kelly and Ryan Johnson are the only people to finish 2nd and not win a State title. Mike has the most 2nd place finishes without a state title. He was 2nd in XC twice. Israel was 2nd in XC once. Ryan was 2nd once in winter track. Chris, Kevin and Cole were each 2nd once in spring track. We've had a total of 29 runner-up finishes.
The most individual championships in one day was three which has happened 4 times. On June 12th, 2021, Matt, Lilly and Cole all won State titles and Matt and Lilly won the day before making it 5 State titles for the weekend. They also won 2 State relay titles that weekend for a total of 7 titles on the weekend as well as the Girls team title. On June 4th, 2005, Ryan, Ashley and Craig all won State titles. It was the 2nd biggest one meet championship haul as well. Craig won a different event the day before to make it 4 State titles for Colts Neck (CN) for the weekend. CN also won three events on February 18, 2007 as Craig won two and Ashley won 1 and February 29, 2020, when sisters Lilly and Natalie Shapiro combined to win the 800, 1600 and 3200.
The most team championships in one day occured twice, November 12th, 2016 when the boys and girls both won the Group III title in cross country, an hour apart and the same thing happened again on November 9, 2024..
Craig and Lilly are the only two to win more than once in a single day. Craig did it twice, both on Feb 19, 2006 and Feb 18, 2007. Lilly did it twice, on Feb 29, 2020 and Feb 26, 2022.
Hunter Celkupa is the only one to win three different individual track events. He won the 800 once, the 1600 three times and the 3200 twice. He also tied for 1st with Jay Adimala in cross country.
There has been one 1-2-3 finish and that occured Feb 18th, 2017 in the 3200 meter run. Jordan Brannan, Anthony Russo and Kevin Berry were 1st, 2nd and 3rd and they helped lead the team to the state title that day.
There has been four 1-2 finishes by Colts Neck runners. In the 2005 spring track championships, Ryan Jagielski was 1st and Chris Clark 2nd in the 800 meter run, in the 2005 girls cross country championship, Briana Jackucewicz was 1st with Ashley Higginson 2nd, in the 2008 winter track 3200 meter race, Allison Linnell was 1st and Briana Jackucewicz was 2nd and in the 2024 boys cross country championship, Jay Adimala and Hunter Celkupa tied for 1st..
Relay: CN has had 23 State Relay champions. These are only done mostly during the winter season but they do run three relays outdoors. CN has had three champions in one day once. On Jan 17, 2024, the boys won the Distance Medley and 4 x 800 relays and the girls won the Sprint Medley relay. CN has had two champions in one day five times. On Jan 9th, 2005, the girls won the Pole Vault and High Jump Relays. On Jan 22nd, 2006, both the boys and the girls won the Distance Medley Relay. On Jan 22, 2019, the girls won the 4 x 800 and Distance Medley and then repeated on Jan 21, 2020. On Jan 16th, the girls won the distance medley and the 4 x 800. They also won the sprint medley but were then disqualified for an exchange violation. It also cost them the team title.
Most Times State Relay Champion (88, HJ/PV only had 2 per relay): Ariana Sakoutis 7, Lily Shapiro 7, Natalie Shapiro 5, Colleen Megerle 4, Ashley Pavlovsky 3, Olivia Petschauer 3, Hunter Celkupa 3, Jay Adimala 3, John Shapiro 3, Dom Marino 3, Ashley Higginson 2, Allison Linnell 2, Delia Russo 2, Eva Gibson 2, Catie Anderson 2, Kelsey Nager 2, Ava Wilmot 2, Kyle Schandall 2, Rowan O'Connor 2, Andrew Leimbach 1, Kevin Robinson 1, Zach Tedoff 1, Dave Gaines 1, Amy Lewis 1, Gretchen Volherbst 1, Rose Lang 1, Jessie Pagliano 1, Brenden Krewer 1, Hunter Karass 1, Shane Hart 1, Craig Forys 1, Meryl Wimberley 1, Brianna Jackucewicz 1, Morgan Clark 1, Kristen O'Dowd 1, Sasha Lerner 1, Kylie Jacoutot 1, Grace Suhocki 1, Nikki Cataneo 1, Presslie Mariner 1, Andrew Krok 1, Charles Labkovski 1, Jacob McNamara 1, Lucas Sanginari 1, Makayla Currie, Iyu Franklyn 1, Julia Maldonado 1, Natalie O'Connor 1, Mason McQuagge 1.
State Champions by the numbers:
By season: Cross Country - 11 teams, 6 individuals, Winter track - 2 teams, 18 relay teams, 24 individuals, Spring Track - 1 team, 5 relay teams, 21 individuals
By individual event: Cross Country - 6, 400 hurdles - 1, 800 meters - 6, 1600 meters - 15, 3200 meters - 21, High Jump - 2, Shot Put - 1, 4 x 400 relay - 1, 4 x 800m relay - 12, Sprint Medley relay - 1, Distance Medley relay - 7, High Jump relay - 1, pole vault relay - 1.
Championships by gender: 47 boys, 42 girls; Team: Girls - 9, Boys - 5; Individual: Boys - 35, Girls - 18; Relays: Girls - 16, Boys - 7