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.
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..
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#1
Girls Group 1 State
Cross Country Championship,
Holmdel Park Nov 11, 2000
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starting from the left, Ashley Liberatore, Leisha
Jackucewicz, Lianne Price, Becky Piper, Jamie Squillare, Laura Paterson,
Alyssa Besho |
The CN girls went into the meet knowing they had a shot to
be the first Colts Neck team in any sport to win a State
Championship. This was the school's 3rd year and the first with
seniors. The girls cross country team had started with just 5 girls
the 1st season and none had returned for the 2nd season. The 2nd
season with all new girls had ended at the Central Jersey Championship
with only four CN girls finishing the race. The 2000 team had won the
Central Jersey Group 1 Championship by just 10 points over Metuchen.
The other sections were won by Haddon Twp, Saddle Brook and Mountain
Lakes. This team had the potential to win it all and it started with
Ashley Liberatore, Leisha Jackucewicz and Lianne Price finishing 5th, 6th
and 7th with Leisha and Lianne running season bests. Jamie finished
27th and when Laura Patterson ran a season best to finish 54th, it was all
over. CN scored 86 points to beat runner-up Haddon Twp who finished
with 129 points. In fact the CN team averaged 49 secs faster a
runner than they had at the Central Jersey meet. The boys followed
up moments later by just missing a 2nd State title for the school as they
were 2nd, losing by just two points. |
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full
race result CN
website race result 2000
season summary
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Girls State Group 1 Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 86 pts average 22:25.9
2 Haddon Heights 129 pts average 23:04.9
3 Gloucester City 158 pts average 23:17.8
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#2
Girls Group 3 State Cross Country Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 12, 2005
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from the left, Ashley Higginson, Allison Linnell,
Allie Flott, Briana Jackucewicz, Allison Donaghy, Kristen O'Dowd, Erin
Donaghy
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The CN girls went into the meet heavily favored. They
were ranked #1 in all of NJ and #4 in the Northeast region. They had
averaged 19:22.0 as a team in the Shore Conference Champs at Holmdel Park
which was the 4th fastest in state history but the pressure was on for a
different reason. They were looking for a big performance to move up
in the Northeast rankings to get a chance at going to the Nike Team
Nationals (NTN) in Oregon. They started out with a 1-2 finish by
Briana Jackucewicz and Ashley Higginson. Briana broke future
Olympian Erin Donahue's state freshman record for the course by 14 secs
with her 18:22. Ashley finished well off her 18:10 from the Shore
Conference with her 18:55 and the others, probably too fired up, went out
a little too fast. Behind the 1-2 finish was Erin Donaghy 20th,
Allison Donaghy 25th and Kristen O'Dowd 29th. They averaged 22 secs
slower than the Shore Conference race but they still managed to score just
61 pts to win by 49 pts over Ridge. It would be the most subdued
State Championship celebration ever seen. The team would come back
to average 19:23.6 the next week in the Meet of Champions to finish
2nd. The last team to be picked of the 20 teams invited to NTN
then came down to CN and a
team from Alaska. The committee picked the team from Alaska but
still the Harrier magazine ranked CN 17th in the US in their final
rankings to end a fantastic season. |
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Girls State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 61 pts average 19:44.8
2 Ridge 110 pts average 20:20.2
3 Moorestown 123 pts average 20:40.6
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#3
Girls
Group 4 State Cross
Country Championship,
Holmdel Park Nov 12, 2006
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From the left, Coach Jim Schlentz, Allison Donaghy,
Allie Flott, Kristen O'Dowd, Ashley Higginson, Briana Jackucewicz, Morgan
Clark, Erin Donaghy, Coach Joe Lykes |
Having won the Group III State Championship the previous
year, the CN girls moved up to Group IV for 2006. For the 2nd year
in a row, the CN girls came into the meet heavily favored, needing a big
performance to help their Northeast rankings and get a chance to make it
to the Nike Team Nationals (NTN). For the 2nd year in a row they ran
a bit slower than they wanted to. After setting course team records
at Ocean County Park at the Shore Conference Champs (18:29/runner) and at
Thompson Park in the Central Jersey meet (18:58), they had high hopes for
a great average at Holmdel Park but were hit by a warm, humid day.
Ashley Higginson would battle National mile champion, Danielle Tauro to
the finish, losing by just 4 secs in 18:10 and Briana Jackucewicz would
follow in 5th at 18:53. Allison Donaghy 23rd, Allie Flott 30th and
Erin Donaghy 35th completed the scoring. The team score was 75 pts
as they beat runner-up Cherry Hill East by 42 pts averaging 19:39.4.
The following week they would average the 2nd best in NJ history, 19:11.2,
as they won the Meet of Champions (NJ All-Groups State Championship) by 66
pts and then move on to the Nike Team Nationals where they finished
4th. See Meet of Champions winners for more on that. |
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Girls State Group IV Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 75 pts average 19:39.4
2 Cherry Hill East 117 pts average 20:22.0
3 Lenape 174 pts average 20:48.2
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#4
Boys Group 3 State Winter
Track Championship, Toms
River, Feb 20, 2016
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From the left, back row, Brad D'Antuono, Alex Megerle,
Kevin Berry, Jordan Brannan, Dean Raynor, Pat Bohen, Troy Bass, Coach
Schlentz, Rob Schandall, Coach Hein, Coach Petriella; front row, Bryan
Chehanske, Ryan Tompkins, Zack Csipkay, Anthony Russo. |
After winning their 2nd straight Central Jersey Group III
championship, the boys team suddenly found themselves favored to win their
1st Group Championship. The key would be to score a lot of points in
the 1600, High Jump and 3200. Pennsauken, the team CN needed to keep
an eye on, started big with a 1-5 finish in the 400. Jordan Brannan
finished 3rd and Zack Csipkay 4th in the 1600 but Pennsauken came back with
a 2-5-6 finish in the 55 and CN was behind 23 - 10. CN needed
something big and then suddenly Pat Bohen cleared 6' 00" in the high jump
for the first time and held on for 5th. Ryan Tompkins, in just his 3rd
meet back from foot surgery, jumped 6' 06", a personal best by 4", to pull
off a huge upset in winning the high jump. The score was now 23 - 22.
Pennsauken was favored to win the 4 x 400 relay, which would be worth 10 pts
so CN needed at least 12 pts in the 3200 to clinch the title or get 10 and
hope Timber Creek beat Pennsauken in the 4 x 400 relay. CN had three
entries in the 3200 but it was a loaded field. Alex Roth of Princeton
surged to a big lead after the first 1600 but a tired Jordan Brannan caught
Roth in the last 400 to run a big personal best to win in 9:19.60.
Anthony Russo then finished 5th for a combined 12 pts for CN. CN now
led 34 - 23 with one event left which clinched the championship.
Pennsauken would then lose to Timber Creek in the 4x400, but both teams
would then be disqualified after they pushed/shoved each other during the
race. Final score, Colts Neck 34 and Pennsauken 23. CN had won
their first indoor or outdoor Group State Championship! |
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Boys State Group III Results: 1 Colts Neck 34 pts
2 Pennsauken 23 pts
3 Neptune 22 pts
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#5
Boys Group 3 State Cross Country
Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 12, 2016
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From the left, back row, Kevin Berry, Jordan Brannan,
Dean Raynor, Pat Bohen, Troy Bass, Coach Schlentz, Rob Schandall, Coach
Hein, Coach Petriella; front row, Bryan Chehanske, Ryan Tompkins, Zack
Csipkay, Anthony Russo. |
The Colts Neck boys were in the midst of a great season.
They had destroyed the school, Freehold District and Shore Conference Public
school team average record at Ocean County Park. They had been ranked
as high as #13 in the US.
Colts Neck went into the Group III State
Champs ranked #4 in the State (All-Groups). The problem was that
Indian Hills, the defending champs (CN was a far back 2nd in 2015), was
ranked #2. They were known to have a tight pack of five runners that
often only had a spread of 20 secs. Could they put their top five in
front of CN's third runner? Would Indian Hills prevent CN from winning
their 1st Boys Group Championship for a 2nd year in a row? As they
came out of the woods, approximately 1100 meters into the race, Indian Hills
had their top 5 in the top 15, all ahead of Jordan Brannan, CN's lead
runner. At the mile, Jordan and Anthony Russo had moved into the
Indian Hills top five but CN's next three were way back. Had CN gone
out too slow or was Indian Hills that good? At the top of the bowl,
Indian Hills still looked good and CN's 3rd, 4th and 5th were back but were
passing people. At the 2 mile, the race was changing. Kevin Berry and
Matt Schaefer, CN's 3rd and 4th were moving up. Brad D'Antuono, CN's
5th was also on the move. With a half mile to go, Indian Hills was feeling
the first 1100 while CN was flying. At the finish, it was not even
close. Jordan was 3rd, Anthony 4th, Kevin 12th, Matt 15th and Brad
30th. CN had put three ahead of IH's 1st and four ahead of their 2nd.
In fact, CN's 5th, was only one second behind IH's 5th. More
importantly, CN had run the fastest team average of all of the State Group
Championships and had run the 16th fastest team average in Holmdel Park
history, tied for the 3rd fastest Public school ever. It also broke the
school record and Freehold District records. A week later in the Meet of
Champions, Colts Neck would be 2nd in one of the closest MOC races ever.
Just five points would separate the first three teams. Princeton would
be the surprise winners with 104, CN would finish at 106 and CBA would be
3rd with 109 pts. CN would then finish in 4th place at the Nike
Northeast Regional with senior Jordan Brannan finishing 2nd and qualifying
for the Nike Cross Nationals where he finished 25th. |
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, often only having a spread of 20 secs fromtheir 1st to their fifth
runners.
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Boys State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 41 pts team average: 16:19.6 (3rd
fastest NJ Public school ever)
2 Indian Hills 67 pts team average: 16:46.0
3 Morris Hills 100 pts team average: 16:56.2
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#6
Girls Group 3 State Cross Country
Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 12, 2016
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From the left, front row, Elizabeth O'Horo, Colleen
Megerle, Natalie Shapiro, Raeann Giannattasio, Catie Anderson, Delia
Russo, Eva Gibson; back row, Coach Lykes, Coach Schlentz. |
The 2016 Girls cross country team started the season
with so many questions. Three of the top seven had never run high
school cross country before. Three others had never really trained
over the summer before. Could they handle training in the heat of the
summer? Could they handle the 5000 meter distance? Could they stay
healthy for the whole season? So many questions.
They started the
season slow and as they adapted to the longer race distance, they started
winning. They won the Six Flags Inv, then the Monmouth County
Championship and then showed New Jersey they were the real thing in winning
the Shore Conference Champs in a blazing 18:48.0 team average. They
could do no wrong! Then they had their first hiccup. Middletown
South, who they had beat in both the Monmouth County and Shore Conference
Champs, beat CN by 8 pts in the North Jersey Group 3 Champs. They
would meet for the 4th time in the State Group Championships.
The
boys had won their 1st State Group Championships just 45 minutes earlier.
The girls were excited but kept to the race plan, they got out under control
and moved up the 2nd half of the race. Soph Colleen Megerle would
finish 2nd in 18:59, after finishing 66th the year before, improving 2 mins
and 26 secs. Soph Delia Russo was 17th at 19:50 in her 1st season.
Soph Eva Gibson was 19th in 19:54, after finishing 97th in 22:23 the year
before. Senior Raeann Giannatassio, finishing the race with what would
turn out to be a stress fracture, was 36th, still only 17 secs over her
personal best. Frosh Natalie Shapiro finished 38th with a new personal
best at Holmdel. It all added up to an average of 19:58.0 and a
victory by 27 pts over Northern Highlands. A week later, they would
finish 6th in the Meet of Champions, just 4 pts out of 4th, without Raeann.
They then finished 11th in the Nike Northeast Regional Champs. |
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Girls State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 84 pts team average: 19:58.0
2 Northern Highlands 111 pts team average: 20:19.6
3 Middletown South 112 pts team average: 20:15.6
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#7
Boys Group 3 State Winter
Track Championship, Toms
River, Feb 18, 2017
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From the left, back row, Ryan Tompkins, Coach Hein, Coach
Schlentz, Coach Petriella, Jordan Brannan, Matt Schaefer, Anthony Russo,
Kevin Berry, Gavin McDonnell, Jack Hayes, Kyle Roeder, Coach Lykes; front row, John Pezzolanti
and Brad D'Antuono. |
After winning their 3rd straight Central Jersey Group III
championship, by it's largest margin, 62 -34, the boys team was favored to
win it's 2nd straight Group III Championship. They would have to do it
like the previous year, score big in
the 1600, High Jump and 3200. Pennsauken, the team CN needed to keep
an eye on, started fast with a 1-6 finish in the 400. Jordan Brannan
finished 2nd and Matt Schaefer was 6th in the 1600 and Pennsauken only led
11 - 9. CN then went ahead as Ryan Tompkins defended his title in the
high jump. Now it was CN 19- 11. Pennsauken came back with
a 3-5 finish in the 55 and it was now tied at 19. Pennsauken was favored to win the 4 x 400 relay, which would be worth 10 pts
so CN needed at least 11 pts in the 3200 to clinch the title. CN had gone
1-2-3 in the Central Jersey 3200 but this was the State Group Champs and
that was unprecedented. Over the last 800, that's exactly what
happened as Jordan, Anthony Russo and Kevin Berry went 1-2-3 for 24 pts.
Pennsauken won the 4 x 400 but it was too little to late and CN had defended
their title. Final score, Colts Neck 43 and Pennsauken 29. CN had won
their 2nd indoor or outdoor Group State Championship! |
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Boys State Group III Results: 1 Colts Neck 43 pts
2 Pennsauken 29 pts
3 Old Tappan 18 pts
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#8
Girls Group 3 State Cross Country
Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 11, 2017
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From the left, Lucy Gardner, Natalie Shapiro, Colleen
Megerle, Eva Gibson, Delia Russo, Veronica Banat, Catie Anderson |
The 2017 Girls cross country team started the season
with big goals. They were defending Group III State Champs and only one of
the top 6 had graduated. They felt they had a shot at the Meet of
Champions title and a top two finish at the Nike Northeast Regional Champs,
which would qualify them for the National Champs in Portland, Oregon.
There was a big gap after the top 5, so they had to stay healthy.
Unfortunately, that never happened. It wasn't until the Monmouth
County meet on October 17th that they would have their top 5 all in the same
race and be able to race all out, and even then, Delia could not wear
spikes. They won with a great early season average at Holmdel of
19:53. The bad news, after the race, Delia rehurt her achilles and
Catie's leg bothered her. The good news, the trio of freshmen girls
were getting closer to the top 5. Delia was unable to run at the Shore
Conference meet so the team finished 2nd. The team was able to run
easy in Central Jersey Group III Champs and won with 6 in the top 10.
The Group III State Champs was the first time everyone was able to race and
wear spikes. Middletown South, the team that had beat them at the
Shore Conference, was the main competition. CN was ready to repeat!
The Cougars put 4 in the top 20, Colleen 10th, Eva 18th, Delia 19th and
Natalie 20th and Catie and Lucy were close behind at 32nd and 35th to win by
11 pts. At the Monmouth County Champs, Middletown South had put
6 ahead of CN's 5th. At the Group IIII Champs, we put our 5th and 6th
ahead of their 5th. With no seniors on the team and freshmen as the
6th, 7th and 8th runners on the team, the Cougars will be looking for their
3rd title in a row next year.
After the Group meet, the girls
finished 3rd at the Meet of Champions, 9 pts behind the 2nd place team,
Kingsway. At the Nike Northeast Regional Champs, Colleen would catch
the flu and Natalie's foot would be hurt and neither one was able to race.
North Hunterdon and Kingsway would go 1 - 2 and move on to the Nike
Nationals.
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Girls State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 89 pts team average: 19:55.4
2 Middletown South 100 pts team average: 20:00.2
3 Indian Hills 120 pts team average: 20:14.2
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#9
Girls Group 3 State Cross Country
Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 10, 2018
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From the left, front row, Coach Adam Petriella, Coach
Joe Lykes, Alex Martarella, Eva Gibson, Kavita Shah, Coach Jim Schlentz; back row,
Colleen Megerle, Lucy Gardner, Catie Anderson, Natalie Shapiro, Delia
Russo. |
The 2018 Girls cross country team returned everyone from
the 2017 Group III State Champs. They were going for their 3rd
straight Group III State Champs and had been 3rd in the 2017 Meet of
Champions. They had an outstanding stretch of training from early July to
running camp in mid-August. Then, the returning #3, Eva Gibson,
strained her hip flexor after camp and then two weeks later their returning
#1, Collen Megerle, got a stress fracture in her foot. This year, they
did return a strong 7, so the other five had to pick up the slack. Eva
was back by the Monmouth County meet but had been sick after recovering from
the hip flexor. The team still was able to finish 2nd in the Monmouth
County and Shore Conference Champs. In the Central Jersey Group III
Champs, the team was able to run easy for the first mile and push the last 2
miles and win with only 29 pts, only 3 pts over the school record of 26 pts
from 2017. Their top 5 all finished in the top 11. This led them
to the Group III State Champs where they were underdogs to Mendham, the #6
team in the state. (CN was ranked #14.) Colleen was now training
but still a week away from returning to racing. Delia Russo hd been
the surprise star of the team, having improved 50 secs at Holmdel Park to
win the Monmouth County meet in 18:45. On a very cold, windy day, she
would start the scoring with a strong 3rd place. Natalie Shapiro would
come through with a fantastic last mile to finish 5th. Behind them,
Catie Anderson would finish 15th, Eva Gibson 20th and Kavita Shah 24th.
The team would put 2 ahead of Mendham's 1st and then beat them at every spot
to score a girls school record 55 pts for a 21 pt victory. It was the
first CN sport to win three straight Group State Championships. The
team would finish 5th in the merge of all the group races on that day.
After the Group meet,
Colleen returned and the girls
finished 6th at the Meet of Champions, 1 pt behind the 5th place team,
South Brunswick. At the Nike Northeast Regional Champs, the team would
finish 6th, the 3rd best finish for NJ teams and Delia would finish 9th and
be the 1st girl knocked out of going to the Nike Nationals. She would
miss the Nationals by just 9 secs.
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Girls State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 55 pts team average: 20:00.0
2 Mendham 76 pts team average: 20:21.6
3 Middletown South 93 pts team average: 20:29.6
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#10
Girls Group 3 State Spring Track
Championship, Pennsauken June 11-12, 2021
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From the left, front row, Ava Wilmot, Kylie Jacoutot,
Isabella Marcinkiewicz, Katherine Taylor, Ava Suhocki; 2nd row Lilly
Shapiro, Kavita Shah, Grace Suhocki, Jasmine Bhattarcharjee, Grace
Pacchiano, Kelsey Kaub, Olivia Petschauer, Coach Camille Bertholon; 3rd
row Coach Dennis Bruch, Coach Kevin Hein, Coach Jim Schlentz, Coach John
Hickey, Coach John Flood. |
The 2021 Girls spring track team was trying to achieve
something special, win their 1st State Team Track title. They had
dominated the Central Jersey Group III Championship, winning by over 50 pts
and scoring a team record 148 pts, one of the highest scoring totals ever in
a NJ sectional championship.
Winslow had been the dominate Group III
school for many years. Northern Highlands was a better balanced team
than Winslow so they would be tougher to beat. At the end of Day 1,
Northern Highlands had 34 pts including State titles in the Shot Put and the
Pole Vault. Colts Neck was 2nd with 27 pts, winning championships in
the 1600 (Lilly Shapiro) and the 4 x 800 as well as a 4th from Grace Suhocki
in the 400 hurdles, Kylie Jacoutot 5th in the 400 and Ashley Cataneo 6th in
javelin. Winslow had a disastrous 1st day and had only 7 pts. CN
felt that their 2nd day had more potential so they were very excited for the
Day 2.
Day 2 started with a 3rd and 6th in the 3200 from Kavita
Shah and Ava Wilmot. It was now NH 34, CN 34, Wins 7.
Winslow won the 100 hurdles with Northern Highlands 6th but Lilly Shapiro
won the 800 and CN was now in 1st. CN 44, NH 35, Wins 17. In the
Triple Jump, Winslow would score 14 pts and in the High Jump, NH was 3rd for
6 pts. CN 44, NH 41, Wins 31. In the 4 x 100 relay, Winslow was
only 3rd while CN was 5th. In the Discus, it was NH finishing 2nd for
8 pts and CN 5th for 2 pts. It was now NH 49 to CN 48. 1 point
separating CN and NH! Winslow now was out of it. Colts Neck had
to beat Northern Highlands and place at least 4th to clinch the team title.
Using times from the sectionals, Northern Highlands was seeded 3rd with
Colts Neck 4th. It was going to be an exciting finish!
Grace
Suhocki would lead off with a personal best of 60.55 and hand off in 2nd, NH
was in 8th. Kyle Jacoutot would then run 58.87 (PB) and hand off to
Kelsey Nager with a 2.5 sec lead. Kelsey would run 61.08 (PB) to give
CN a 1/2 sec lead with Northern Highlands way back. The team title was
tied up, now could CN win their 4th Group III title of the weekend.
Lilly Shapiro, going for her 4th State title of the weekend, would allow
Ramapo, the favored team, to come up to her shoulder with 100 meters left
and run side-by-side until 50 meters to go, where Lilly pulled away for the
win in 3:58.20. She was 57.71 (PB). It was the 2nd fastest 4 x
400 in CN history. CN would end up with 58 pts as NH was 6th in the 4 x 400
and 2nd team with 50 pts. Title #1 was completed!
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Girls State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 58 pts
2 Northern Highlands 50 pts
3 Winslow 42 pts
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#11
Girls Group 3 State Cross Country
Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 13, 2021
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From the left, front row, Olivia Petschauer, Ashley
Pavlovsky, Lilly Shapiro, Presslie Mariner, Liz Scarpa, Ava Suhocki, Ava
Wilmot; back row, Coach Camille Bertholon, Coach Jim Schlentz, Coach John
Hickey, Coach Mike Pinnola. |
The 2021 Girls cross country team had five girls back
who had run under 5:17 for 1600 the previous spring but would need a 6th
girl to step forward, in case of sickness or injury. The plan was
different than previous years because the Spring Track Nationals had taken
place in July in Oregon. This forced the team to start summer training
almost 3 weeks later than normal. The varsity did not compete in a
meet until the last week of September and then took another training block
without races of almost 4 more weeks. This was due to the fact that they
would then have to race 5 races in 5 weeks.
The first big race was Six
Flags Wild Safari Inv where the team destroyed the Meet Team Average record
by 20+ secs. They then won the Monmouth County meet by 50 pts with the
4th best CN team average ever. They followed that with course records
for Team Average and Lilly Shapiro at Ocean County Park. The 18:16.8
ave broke the record of 18:22.8 as the team won by 45 pts. The team
ran through the Central Jersey Group III Champs, winning their 5th straight
title with just 29 pts. Ava Wilmot, who was still having trouble with
Lymes Disease, had struggled at the Central Jersey Champs. The decision was
made to hold her out of the Group III Champs and save her for the Meet of
Champions. This was where the importance of a good 6th girl was
critical. Freshman Liz Scarpa had steadily improved all year and it
was felt she would be able to make up for most of the absence of Ava W.
With Lilly winning her 1st Group III cross country title and Presslie
Mariner 9th, CN was leading 10-11 over North Hunterdon after two. NH's
3rd was 13th to CN's 22nd so CN was now down by 8 pts. Olivia
Petschauer followed Ashley Pavlovsky's 22nd with a 23rd and Liz's 28th place
wrapped up a 30 pt win, CN's 4th title in the last 5 and their 7th in cross
country overall.
The team would finish 3rd in the Meet of Champions,
the 3rd best finish for a CN team behind the 2006 winner and the 2005
runner-up. They would then run in the Running Lane Nationals (Nike
Nationals were canceled due to the pandemic) in Huntsville, AL and finish
26th. Lilly Shapiro would finish 2nd in the Meet of Champions in
17:35, a Shore Conference record and the 4th fastest time in NJ history.
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Girls State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 79 pts team average: 19:41.8
2 North Hunterdon 109 pts team average: 20:02.2
3 Mendham 111 pts team average: 20:18.4
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#12
Boys Group 3 State Cross Country
Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 9, 2024
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From the left, Coach Jake Brown, Coach Samantha Hoagland,
John Shapiro, Deeko Rudko, Jay Adimala, Hunter Celkupa, Dom Marino, Rowan
O'Connor, Coach Zach Greenberg, Kyle Schandall, Coach Jim Schlentz. |
The 2024 Boys team had finished 2nd, just 7 points out
of 1st, at the 2023 Group III State meet. They dedicated the summer to
making sure they didn't feel that failure again. After 5 days in the
Poconos of training/bonding, the team was fit but would still need to rely
on 4 sophomores at the 4-5-6-7 spots Two were running cross country
for the 1st time. The Pre-Season NJ ranking had the team as # 8, the
top Group III school, with Ocean City #11. The season opener was the
Shore Conference A North meet at Holmdel Park, against #1, US #2 CBA and NJ
#7 Manalapan. The Cougars were 2nd but beat Manalapan by 1 point. The
sophomores would need to improve a lot but they were on the right path.
Skipping Six Flags to compete at the Bowdoin Classic in Wappingers Falls,
NY, the now #7 Cougars finished 1st, beating #9 Westfield by 4 pts and #8
Manalapan. At the Monmouth County Champs, with CBA holding out their
top 7, the Cougars ended CBA's run of 22 straight County titles, beating
them by 39 pts. The sophomores had shown they were the real deal!
After a 2nd place finish to CBA at the Shore Conference Champs, the Cougars
were able to hold back and easily win the Central Jersey Group III Champs,
as John Shapiro, Hunter Celkupa and Jay Adimala tied for 1st. The day
of the Group III State Champs dawned with now #3 Colts Neck ready to battle
#11 Ocean City and #12 Chatham. They had both easily won their
sectional titles. With Jay and Hunter finishing together in 1st and
3-4-5 all finishing within the top 30, CN was victorious, winning by 18
points to win their 2nd state title in XC.
Coming soon,
the rest of the season.....
|
|
|
Boys State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 64 pts team average: 16:38.4
2 Ocean City 82 pts team average: 16:45.8
3 Chatham 146 pts team average: 17:03.8
|
|
#13
Girls Group 3 State Cross Country
Championship, Holmdel Park Nov 9, 2024
|
|
From the left, Coach Zach Greenberg, Coach Jake Brown,
Coach Samantha Hoagland, Siena Nicholson, Lydia Bereznitski, Julianna
Sciacca, Hailey Molina, Elizabeth Scarpa, Emily Scarpa, Natalie O'Connor,
Coach Jim Schlentz |
The 2024 Girls team was coming off a 11th place finish
at the 2023 Group III State meet, the worse finish for a CN team since the
12th place finish in 2015. There was a lot of urgency to go back to
the days of old, being on the podium (top 3) at the State meet. After
a great summer of training and 5 days in the Poconos of training/bonding,
the team was ready to leave the past behind. The Pre-Season NJ ranking
had the team as # 14, the 4th best Group III school. The season opener
was the Shore Conference A North meet at Holmdel Park and they lost but
competed well against Freehold Twp, the #4 team in the state, despite
sickness on the team. After winning the Six Flags Wild Safari Inv, the
Girls had momentum going into the Monmouth County meet. Now ranked #17
in NJ, the Cougars had to compete against NJ #6, #7, #8, #12 and #14.
They finished 2nd, 1 pt behind Middletown South as the top 4 teams were
within 2 pts. After a 4th place finish at the Shore Conference Champs,
the #9 Cougars had to race #7 Middletown South for the Central Jersey Group
III Champs. Trailing by 20 points at the mile, they took a 3 point
lead at 2 miles before extending it to 13 by the finish for the win.
At the Group III State Championships, the now #7 girls would have to beat #2
Ocean City, #9 Middletown South and #13 Moorestown to win their 8th state
title. At 2 miles, Middletown had a 10 point lead over the Cougars
with Ocean City 3 points back. (not counting non-team runners). What
followed was one of the best closing 1.1 miles in CN history as the girls
passed a comined 30 runners to score 89 points to win by 11 pts. The
dream was complete!!
Coming soon, the rest of the season.....
|
|
|
Girls State Group III Results: (1st 3 teams)
1 Colts Neck 89 pts team average: 20:06.8
2 Middletown South 100 pts team average: 20:09.4
3 Ocean City 137 pts team average: 20:28.0
|
Individual
State Champions
|
#5 Ashley
Higginson
(Indoor 3200m), Princeton, Group
III, Jan 16, 2005
|
|
need a picture |
Princeton no longer wanted the state meets in their gym so
they upped their price and gave lousy dates to force the track meets
out. This led to the earliest State Championship date ever
run. Craig Forys, coming back from a stress fracture missed it
completely. ashley hadn't even run a 3200 meter at this point in the
season. She had opened her season with a 5:10.2/2:24.2 1600/800
double in the NYC Armory and had followed that up with a 5:14.8/2:22.5 at
the State Relays in Princeton. This was her 1st good chance at
winning a state title but she had no idea who the competition would
be because the meet was so early. The plan would be run with the
pack and allow the pace to slow. With about 1000 meters to go,
Ashley would take the lead and pick the pace up and try to break away or
take their kick away. Ashley settled in and made her move with 1000
meters to go (5 laps) and was able to gap the field. She closed well
over the last 400m to win by 5 secs. It was the first girls
individual state championship for the school. She would go on to win
the Monmouth County 3200 and 1600 meter titles and the Shore Conference
1600 meter title. She would finish the season winning her 1st
Meet of Champion title in 10:52.72 and make All-American for the first
time in the 2 mile.
400m Splits:
| 85.4 |
2:51.0 (85.6) |
4:14.9 (83.9) |
5:37.1 (82.2) |
| 7:01.1 (84.0) |
8:26.9 (85.8) |
9:50.7 (83.8) |
11:09.97 (79.3) |
| first 1600 5:37.1 |
last 1600 5:32.9 |
|
|
|
full
race result CN
website race result 2005
season summary
|
| Group 3 3200m |
| 1 Ashley Higginson |
Colts Neck |
SO |
11:09.97 |
| 2 Kristen Stevens |
Roxbury |
JR |
11:14.28 |
| 3 Catherine Van Horn |
Triton |
SR |
11:27.99 |
| 4 Kathleen Henry |
Ridge |
SR |
11:29.35 |
| 5 Colleen Weber |
Clearview |
SR |
11:38.56 |
| 6 Lindsey Pierret |
Morristown |
JR |
11:40.40 |
|
#6 Craig Forys
(Outdoor 1600m), Egg Harbor, Group
III, June 3, 2005
|
|
need a picture
|
At this point of his career, Craig had never won a state
championship and had finished 2nd in every state championship he had ever
run. He had five runner-up finishes, only once had he lost by more
than 1 sec. He had lost twice to Korey Edwards, once in cross
country and once in the 3200 the year before. Cory would be in this
race as well. Though only a sophomore, Craig was tired of being the
bridesmaid. The plan was to let the pace settle in but then make
sure the middle of the race was fast enough to take everyone's kick
away. They were faced with a stiff breeze on the homestretch with
pouring rain. The pace was moderate for a lap and then slowed
down. James Kavaliauskas of Highland then drastically picked the
pace up with a 63.6 3rd 400 with Craig on his back. Waiting until
the backstretch, where the wind was at his back, Craig accelerated by
Kavaliauskas with 300 meters to go to win his first state championship by
3.5 secs. His last 400 was 60.9 and his last 800 was 2:04.5.
Craig wouldn't get much time to enjoy it since he would be running the 3200
the next day to try to make it a pair.
400m Splits:
| 64.6 |
2:13.0 (68.4) |
3:16.6 (63.6) |
4:17.55 (60.9) |
| first 800 2:13.0 |
last 800 2:04.5 |
| Craig's first of 12 state titles |
|
|
|
full
race result CN
website race result 2005
season summary
|
| Group 3 1600m |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
SO |
4:17.55 |
| 2 James Kavaliauskas |
Highland |
SR |
4:21.05 |
| 3 Ben Diestel |
No Highlands |
JR |
4:23.03 |
| 4 Korey Edwards |
Parsippany Hills |
SR |
4:23.70 |
| 5 James LaGreca |
Demarest |
SR |
4:23.94 |
| 6 Jayson Decker |
Morris Hills |
JR |
4:25.60 |
|
#7 Ryan Jagielski
(Outdoor 800m), Egg Harbor, Group
III, June 4, 2005
|
|
Ryan Jagielski nears the finish in the Meet of
Champions. picture courtesy of Toby Nygard
|
Colts Neck was off to it's greatest state championship
weekend ever. Craig Forys had won the 1600 the afternoon before and
now it was time for Ryan Jagielski, CJ Clark and Zach Tedoff, who had all
qualified in the 800. CJ and Zach were in the unseeded heat.
An official's mistake had given CJ a seed time of 2:00.44 instead of the
1:59.5 he had run the week before. His only chance to place high and
get to the Meet of Champions was to run fast from the start by
himself. He went out a little too fast, 55.7 at the 400, and held on
for a 1:58.15 with Zach at 1:59.31. The top seed was Andrew Porter
(Mt Olive) in 1:58.44 so CJ's time looked good. Ryan had had a great
winter track season and an outstanding spring season in the relays,
running 1:55s twice. He had only run 1:57.27 in an individual race
and had won his first 800m individual championship the week before in the
Central Jersey Champs. Used to running fast from the front, he went
out, instead, in an easy 58.0. It was still slow at 600 and CJ had a
chance of stealing the race from the slow heat. Ryan Jagielski
exploded with 100 meters to go to pull away from a group of three and win
going away. CJ's time held on for 2nd for CN's first 1-2 finish in a
state championship. Zach just missed top 6th (.07) with his 7th
place finish. With the 18 pts from this event, as well as Forys' two
titles, and a 4th place finish in the 4 x 400 with all three 800 runners
plus Evan Stivala, CN finished 2nd as a team with 42 pts, 13 behind
Camden's 55. Ryan and CJ would finish 5th and 8th in the MOC
in 1:54.66 and 1:55.23, four days later. The 800 runners would show
their team depth by adding Craig Forys and breaking the State record for
the 4 x 800 meter relay in 7:39.54 and finishing 2nd in the Distance
Medley at the National Championships.
400m Splits:
| 58.0 |
|
1:57.52 |
|
| first 400 58.0 |
last 400 59.5 |
|
|
| Group 3 800m |
| 1 Ryan Jagielski |
Colts Neck |
SR |
1:57.52 |
| 2 Chris Clark |
Colts Neck |
SR |
1:58.15 |
| 3 Nikolajs Batarags |
No Highlands |
JR |
1:58.45 |
| 4 Andrew Porter |
Mount Olive |
SR |
1:58.67 |
| 5 Steven Chennells |
Lakewood |
SR |
1:59.19 |
| 6 Greg Hample |
Oakcrest |
SR |
1:59.24 |
| 7 Zach Tedoff |
Colts Neck |
SR |
1:59.31 |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2005
season summary
|
#8 Ashley
Higginson (Outdoor 3200m), Egg Harbor, Group
III, June 4, 2005
|
|
need a picture |
After winning the MOC title indoors, Ashley's confidence
went sky high and it showed in her races. She had finished 3rd in
the prestigious Penn Relays 3000 meter run in 10:02.48, by far her best
3000/3200 type race. She had won the 1600/3200 double at the
Monmouth County Champs, won the 1600 in 5:02.61 at the Shore Conference
Champs and had won the 1600/3200 (5:02.4/11:14.3) double and run 2:18.9 in
the 800 at the Central Jersey Champs. She was strong and she had
greatly improved her last 800. In the first day, in the rain and
wind, she finished 3rd in the 1600 in a personal best (PB) 5:01.25.
When the 2nd day of the state championships dawned, the rain had stopped
but the runners had air thick with 98% humidity. Ashley hung in the
pack as the pace slowed in the middle to 84-85s. With three laps to
go, she surged to an 80.5, and followed it to 79.1 and 76.3. She had
run the 2nd 1600 12.6 secs faster than the first 1600 to pull away and win
by 4.6 secs. It was her 1st spring track title. She would go
on to finish 2nd in the MOC 3200 with a PB of 10:47.91.
400m Splits:
| 79.0 |
2:42.5 (83.5) |
4:08.0 (85.5) |
5:33.0 (85.0) |
| 6:57.5 (84.5) |
8:18.0 (80.5) |
9:37.1 (79.1) |
10:53.44 (76.3) |
| first 1600 5:33.0 |
last 1600 5:20.4 |
|
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2001
season summary
|
| Group 3 3200m |
| 1 Ashley Higginson |
Colts Neck |
SO |
10:53.44 |
| 2 Brianna Rogers |
Moorestown |
SO |
10:58.03 |
| 3 Megan Fitzpatrick |
Hopewell Valley |
SO |
11:05.44 |
| 4 Karen Guthrie |
Mendham |
SR |
11:05.80 |
| 5 Eleonora Spinazzi |
Montgomery |
JR |
11:07.36 |
| 6 Blair Sullivan |
Mendham |
JR |
11:08.63 |
|
#9 Craig Forys
(Outdoor 3200m), Egg Harbor, Group
III, June 4, 2005
|
|
need a picture |
Craig had won his first state
championship the day before. He wanted to continue his fine
sophomore spring track season and prepare for the MOC. He and his
teammates had big plans for the relays in the post season. After
winning the indoor national distance medley relay and finishing 2nd in the
4 x 800, they were 3rd at the Penn Relays but faster than the
winter. Craig had won the Monmouth County 1600/3200 and did the same
at the Central Jersey Group III Champs. There was no rain but the
air was thick with 98% humidity and Craig would also have to deal with his
nemesis, Korey Edwards. Korey had beat his twice at state
championships and was a big kicker. The pace was moderately quick,
for the weather conditions, with a 4:39.6 1st 1600. Then Craig
started to slowly bring the pace up, a lap at a time. Each lap got
faster as he ran the 2nd 1600 in 4:31.9 to win by 13 secs and get his 2nd
state title in the weekend. Craig would move onto the Meet
of Champions (MOC) the next week and win the 1600 with a state sophomore
record. He would then be the anchor leg on the state record 4 x
800 meter relay team and the distance medley team that finished 2nd in the
national championships.
400m Splits:
| 69.5 |
2:19.9 (70.4) |
3:30.5 (70.6) |
4:39.6 (69.1) |
| 5:48.4 (68.8) |
6:56.6 (68.2) |
8:04.2 (67.6) |
9:11.49 (67.3) |
| first 1600 4:39.6 |
last 1600 4:31.9 |
|
|
|
full
race result CN
website race result 2005
season summary
|
| Group 3 3200m |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
SO |
9:11.49 |
| 2 Korey Edwards |
Parsippany Hills |
SR |
9:24.35 |
| 3 Kyle Soloff |
Morris Hills |
SO |
9:25.14 |
| 4 James Kavaliauskas |
Highland |
SR |
9:25.95 |
| 5 Dale Taylor |
North Hunterdon |
JR |
9:28.73 |
| 6 Adam Lampell |
Holmdel |
JR |
9:29.54 |
|
#10 Craig Forys
(Cross Country), Holmdel Park, Group
III, Nov 12, 2005
|
|
need a picture |
Craig's 2005 Cross Country season had taken some
bumps. He had been nursing a hip injury late summer and into
September. He had set a course record at the Paul Short Inv on the
Lehigh course but had followed that up with a sub-par race at Van Cortland
Park in the Manhattan Inv. He defended his County title and then ran
a personal best 15:51 at Holmdel Park in the Shore Conference. After
winning the Central Jersey Champs, he was looking ahead to the Meet of
Champions race against Ben Massam but he had some work to do at the State
Group III Champs. There was also the fact he had finished 2nd, both
his freshman and sophomore years, at the State Group champs. The
plan was simple. He needed to win here but prepare himself for the
kind of race he would have at the MOC. He knew Ben would force the
pace the 2nd mile so he needed to practice here. He let the others
control the pace and it resulted in a very slow 5:29 first mile.
With the focus on the 2nd mile, Craig opened up a huge lead with a 5:05,
which included the bowl. It was his fastest time ever for that
mile. He backed off the pace after the 2 mile, to save something for
the next week and coasted in with a 8 sec victory. The
move would pay off big the next week at the MOCs as he would beat Massam,
who had a personal best at Holmdel Park that was 15 secs faster than
Craig's.
Mile Splits:
| 5:29 |
10:34 (5:05) |
last 1.1 15:55 (5:21) |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2005
season summary
|
| Group III Cross Country Results -
Holmdel Park |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
JR |
15:55 |
| 2 Kyle Soloff |
Morris Hills |
JR |
16:03 |
| 3 Jayson Decker |
Morris Hills |
SR |
16:10 |
| 4 Chris Southwick |
Voorhees |
JR |
16:14 |
| 5 Greg Kremler |
Ocean Twp |
SR |
16:24 |
| 6 Alex Brenner |
Ridge |
JR |
16:26 |
| 7 Simon Gordonov |
Hightstown |
SR |
16:28 |
| 8 Brandon Rodkewitz |
Morris Hills |
SR |
16:30 |
| 9 Peter Murphy |
Millburn |
SO |
16:31 |
| 10 Ozzie Huerta |
Kingsway |
SR |
16:33 |
|
#11 Briana
Jackucewicz (Cross Country), Holmdel Park, Group
III, Nov 12, 2005
|
|
need a picture |
Briana had come into high school with huge
expectations. In 7th grade she had won a national championship,
against high school kids, in the indoor 5000 meters, setting
a national scholastic record of 16:43.02. She had grown so much
in 8th grade that she developed osgood-schlatters disease in her knees and
had been unable to train most of the spring and summer. She had
recovered as her growth slowed down and had been training well through the
fall. She had tied for 1st with teammate Ashley Higginson in the
Cougar Inv, had run a real nice 17:45, losing to defending national
champion, Aislinn Ryan, at the Paul Short Inv and was 6th, right behind
Ashley, at the Eastern States Champs. Bri then tied for 1st with
Ashley in the County Champs and the Central Jersey Champs, with a sub-par
race in between at the Shore Conference Champs. Her training was
going well and the team had run great at the Shore conference
Champs. In the Group III State Champs, Bri and Ashley were favored
to go 1-2 in the individual race and the team was favored to win their 1st
Group III title. Bri went out even faster than at the Shore
Conference Champs and was 6:00 for the uphill 1st mile. She was 10
secs ahead of Ashley. At 2 miles, Bri was 12:07, way ahead of the
state freshman record pace. Closing strong, she poured it on to run
18:22, a new freshman record, breaking the old record of 18:36 by Erin
Donahue, who would go on after high school to become one of USA's top 1500
meter runners. Erin would make the World Championship team in
2009. Ashley finished 2nd and the ream won easily on their way to a
final ranking of 17th in the nation. Bri would go on to qualify and
compete in the Footlocker National Champs in San Diego, CA where she
finished 37th.
Mile Splits:
| 6:00 |
12:07 (6:07) |
last 1.1 18:22 (6:15) |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2005
season summary
|
| Group III Cross Country Results -
Holmdel Park |
| 1 Briana Jackucewicz |
Colts Neck |
FR |
18:22 |
| 2 Ashley Higginson |
Colts Neck |
JR |
18:55 |
| 3 Amanda Goetschius |
Delsea |
JR |
19:00 |
| 4 Melanie Thompson |
Voorhees |
FR |
19:03 |
| 5 Christina Valerio |
West Milford |
JR |
19:12 |
| 6 Renee Tomlin |
Ocean City |
SR |
19:15 |
| 7 Eleonora Spinazzi |
Montgomery |
SR |
19:16 |
| 8 Nicole Traynor |
Ridge |
JR |
19:22 |
| 9 Laura Gallo |
Cranford |
JR |
19:28 |
| 10 Emily Sherrard |
Hopewell Valley |
SR |
19:37 |
|
#12
& #13 Craig Forys (Indoor 1600/3200m), Princeton, Group
III, Jan 29, 2006
|
|
need a picture |
Craig was having a fantastic junior winter track
season. At the Lavino Relays, only his 2nd meet of the winter track
season, he had doubled 4:14.4 in the distance medley relay and 1:55.8 in
the sprint medley relay. It was his best 1600/800 double ever and
showed he had good speed. The week before the State Group III
Champs, he had anchored his team to a first place finish. For the
Group meet, there was no special plan. He would be running the 1600
first and then after a couple of hours rest, he would come back in the
3200. His fitness level was such that he expected no serious
competition and his focus was on getting ready for a mile race against
post-collegiate competition the following weekend. He ran with the
pack for 5 laps (1000 meters) and then started a long drive to the
finish. He quickly pulled away from the pack and coasted in the last
400 to win by just over 6 secs.
400m Splits:
| 66.5 |
2:13.7 (67.2) |
3:17.7 (64.0) |
4:22.03 (64.3) |
| first 800 2:13.7 |
last 800 2:08.3 |
| Craig's first winter track title |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2005-6
season summary
|
| Group III 1600 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
JR |
4:22.03 |
| 2 Dale Taylor |
North Hunterdon |
SR |
4:28.37 |
| 3 Chris Behre |
Mount Olive |
SR |
4:29.03 |
| 4 Dennie Waite |
Red Bank |
JR |
4:30.12 |
| 5 Brian Toms |
Triton |
SR |
4:30.97 |
| 6 Chris Reale |
West Winds-Plains So |
JR |
4:31.77 |
|
| Group III 3200 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
JR |
9:22.08 |
| 2 Tony Salvatore |
Wayne Valley |
JR |
9:39.91 |
| 3 Simon Gordonov |
Hightstown |
SR |
9:40.71 |
| 4 Doug Smith |
Roxbury |
FR |
9:41.81 |
| 5 Matthew Cowhey |
Ocean City |
SR |
9:49.30 |
| 6 Chris Southwick |
Voorhees |
JR |
9:49.55 |
|
The first part of the double was down, so on to the
3200. Again, the plan, win as easy as possible. Craig stayed
with the pack as it slowed to 74-73s. Finding that he was tripping
over everyone in the tight pack, he accelerated down to 70.2 and then 68s
and the race was over. He continued hitting 68s until dropping it to
66.9 for the last 400 to finish in 9:22.08 to win by half a
lap.
400m Splits:
| 71.6 |
2:26.0 (74.4) |
3:39.0 (73.0) |
4:49.2 (70.2) |
| 5:57.8 (68.6) |
7:06.7 (68.9) |
8:15.2 (68.5) |
9:22.08 (66.9) |
| first 1600 4:49.2 |
last 1600 4:32.9 |
He would go on the next week to run 4:09.77 for the mile to become only
the 4th junior in US history to break 4:10 for the indoor mile. He
would also win both the 1600
& 3200 at the MOC, only the 2nd time that had been done and then
finish 2nd in the nationals in the 2 mile..
|
#14
Craig Forys (Outdoor 1600m), South Plainfield, Group
III, June 2, 2006
|
|
need a picture |
Craig had gone from his greatest indoor season to struggling
with iron deficiency and workouts. He had not done a full, hard
workout for about a month, as he struggled to recover from anything
hard. He used races to get some work in. He had done tons of
150s, just hard enough not to go anaerobic. Coach Schlentz and Craig
had decided if he didn't feel better in the two races at the State Group
meet, they would call the rest of the season off. In the 1600, Craig
allowed the pace to go slow, hoping he could break the field with a big
3rd 400. That's exactly what happened so he hammered a 61.3.
And then, something surprising happened, he felt great. He turned
loose a 59.8 last 400 to run his last 800 in 2:01.1 for the win. It
felt easy. there was now hope for the next day and maybe the MOCs.
continue to #16 for the 3200
400m Splits:
| 67.6 |
2:14.5 (66.9) |
3:15.8 (61.3) |
4:15.58 (59.8) |
| first 800 2:14.5 |
last 800 2:01.1 |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2006
season summary
|
| Group III 1600 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
JR |
4:15.58 |
| 2 Kyle Soloff |
Morris Hills |
JR |
4:19.40 |
| 3 Ben Diestel |
Northern Highlands |
SR |
4:21.43 |
| 4 Tony Salvatore |
Wayne Valley |
JR |
4:22.45 |
| 5 Tommy Fiscia |
Red Bank |
SR |
4:23.17 |
| 6 Chris Behre |
Mt Olive |
SR |
4:23.38 |
|
#15 Ashley
Higginson (Outdoor 3200m), South Plainfield, Group
III, June 3, 2006
|
|
need a picture |
Ashley was having a break through year. She had set a
new meet record in winning the Meet of Champions 3200m indoors and had won
the prestigious Penn Relays 3000 meter event in Philadelphia, PA
outdoors. She had run 4:56 for 1600 meters at the Monmouth County
Champs and tied for 1st with Briana Jackucewicz in the 3200 at the Central
Jersey Group III Champs. She was defending champ in the 3200 and was
looking to get ready for the MOC. On Friday, the day before, she had
finished a disappointing 5th in the 1600 in 4:58.46. A slow middle
of the race had hurt her. She wanted to make sure the middle was
strong in this race. The race started with a 78 and then settled
into six straight laps of 81+. The middle stayed strong but at the
same time, it becomes the kind of race that pulls everyone to a fast time
because there are no surges to break the pack up. It is also
dangerous because it leaves the people in the front pack with more energy
to kick. This time, it was Ashley with the big kick as she pulled
away over the last lap of 75.8 to win by 2 secs. It showed she had
learned a new way to win. It was her fastest outdoor time up to this
point and she felt ready for a shot at her first spring track MOC title.
400m Splits:
| 78.2 |
2:40.1 (81.9) |
4:02.0 (81.9) |
5:23.3 (81.3) |
| 6:44.3 (81.0) |
8:05.3 (81.0) |
9:26.4 (81.1) |
10:42.19 (75.8) |
| first 1600 5:23.3 |
last 1600 5:18.9 |
| Ashley would end up 3rd in the MOC 3200m as a big
surge later in the race left her susceptible to getting caught by
late in the race. It was an outdoor personal best of 10:38.42. |
|
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2006
season summary
|
| Group III 3200 |
| 1 Ashley Higginson |
Colts Neck |
JR |
10:42.19 |
| 2 Megan Fitzpatrick |
Hopewell Valley |
JR |
10:44.11 |
| 3 Blair Sullivan |
Mendham |
SR |
10:47.63 |
| 4 Laura Gallo |
Cranford |
JR |
10:48.72 |
| 5 Melanie Thompson |
Voorhees |
FR |
10:48.75 |
| 6 Claire Buck |
Hopewell Valley |
FR |
10:51.40 |
|
#16 Craig Forys (Outdoor
3200m), South Plainfield, Group
III, June 3, 2006
|
|
need a picture |
After a very satisfying 1600 victory the day before, Craig
entered the 3200 with a plan to help him win the 3200 at the Meet of
Champions (MOCs), the following week. Ben Massam, the main
competitor, would try to run Craig off his feet in the middle of the race
so he would need to prepare for that type of race. The plan was to
run the 2nd 1600 under 4:30 with a big surge with 1200 to go. After
the surge he could relax. The pace went out moderately and then
started to slow as they waited for Craig to take the lead. As they
went through the 1600 in 4:46.4, Craig picked the pace up to 68.8.
The next lap was even faster as he hit 65.7 to break the race open.
Now it was Craig against the clock and he eased back the last two laps but
was able to run the last 1600 in 4:28.5. It was his 7th state title,
with his senior year to try and get five more.
400m Splits:
| 69.3 |
2:23.0 (73.7) |
3:35.2 (72.2) |
4:46.4 (71.2) |
| 5:55.2 (68.8) |
7:00.9 (65.7) |
8:07.0 (67.1) |
9:14.85 (67.9) |
| first 1600 4:46.4 |
last 1600 4:28.5 |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2006
season summary
|
| Group III 3200 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
JR |
9:14.85 |
| 2 Jared Labar |
Morris Hills |
SR |
9:25.71 |
| 3 Simon Gordonov |
Hightstown |
SR |
9:27.79 |
| 4 Brandon Rodkewitz |
Morris Hills |
SR |
9:28.44 |
| 5 Chris Southwick |
Voorhees |
SR |
9:31.54 |
| 6 Ozzie Huerta |
Kingsway |
SR |
9:33.66 |
|
#17 Craig Forys
(Cross Country), Holmdel, Group
IV, Nov 11, 2006
|
|
 |
Craig had set five new course records during the fall.
He had set records at Penn State, Bucks Mill Park, Van Cortland Park,
Ocean County Park and Thompson Park. The one he wanted the most was
the record at Holmdel Park, the state championship course since
1978. He knew he would have to go for it by himself because there
was no one who would attempt to go with him at the pace needed. He
wanted to run fast at the Group Champs and then just run to win at the
MOCs, the following week. That would allow him to be rested for the
Northeast Footlocker Champs the week after. There was one major
problem, the day dawned humid with temperatures in the mid 60s, very warm
for this time of year. He decided he would go for it anyway and with
the course record holder, Jason DiJoseph (15:16.2 in 1988), on hand to
watch, Craig went out in a suicide pace. He was too charged up and
went out way to fast the first uphill 800. He was at the time he
wanted at the mile but was already feeling the pace. When he was
forced to slow down the 2nd mile, the race for the record was over.
He finished with a new personal record of 15:31, the 3rd fastest time in
course history. It was so warm that he was the only one to break
16:00.
Mile Splits:
| 5:06 |
10:15 (5:09) |
last 1.1 15:31 (5:16) |
|
| Craig would come back the next race and race to
win. In the process, he realized he was ahead of record pace
with a mile to go and would break it by one second. His first
mile was 9 secs slower. The following week he would set a NJ
record for the Van Cortland 5000m course in winning the Footlocker
NE Regional and then finish 2nd at the Footlocker Nationals in San
Diego. |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2006
season summary
|
| Group III Cross Country Results -
Holmdel Park |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
SR |
15:31 |
| 2 Matt Ciambriello |
Old Bridge |
SR |
16:02 |
| 3 Christian Gonzalez |
Franklin |
SR |
16:03 |
| 4 Kris Carle |
Jackson |
SR |
16:06 |
| 5 Ed Sheridan |
Phillipsburg |
SR |
16:19 |
| 6 Brian Leung |
West Wind-Plains So |
JR |
16:25 |
| 7 Jermaine Coore |
Franklin |
JR |
16:33 |
| 8 Alex Yersak |
Cherokee |
JR |
16:37 |
| 9 Zach Bahor |
Randolph |
SR |
16:47 |
| 10 Robby Andrews |
Manalapan |
SO |
16:49 |
|
#18 & #20 Craig Forys
(Indoor 1600/3200m), Toms River, Group
IV, Feb 18, 2007
|
|
need a picture |
This was Craig's 3rd meet of the year. He had hurt his
high hamstring area in the Footlocker Nationals and it had kept him from
normal training until mid Jan. He ran a 4:16.92 mile in Boston in
late Jan and then doubled a 9:29.79/4:26.19 3200/1600 double at the Shore
Conference Champs to test his fitness a couple of weeks later. He
felt out of race shape but figured he would need the state meet to get
more race fit for the MOCs. Even though he'd be running just the
3200 at the MOCs, he needed to run both to get more race action. In
the 1600, he wanted to practice surging over the 2nd half of the race so
he let the race slow in the 2nd 400. After the 800, he picked up the
pace sharply, opened a lead and then just maintained it over the last 400
to finish in 4:21.43. It was his 9th state championship and it set
him up to go for his 10th, a couple of hours later.
400m Splits:
| 64.7 |
2:13.1 (68.3) |
3:17.6 (64.5) |
4:21.43 (63.8) |
| first 800 4:13.1 |
last 800 2:08.3 |
A couple of hours later, he was back on the track for the 3200.
The pace was relatively easy but uneven, with laps of surging and then
slowing down. The pace slowed dramatically with a 1200 to go (6
laps) as everyone waited for someone to make a move. After the first
turn with 4 to go, Craig took the lead and dropped the pace from 75.5 to
67.6. He accelerated more with two laps to go and he was home free.
He won by just less than 4 secs with a last 800 of 2:13.3. He
had focused on strong last 800s in both races to set up a similar
race in the MOCs, where he knew the competition would come from someone
who had focused on gradually picking it up the last 1600. He felt he
was now ready for the race.
400m Splits:
| 71.5 |
2:24.9 (73.4) |
3:35.0 (70.1) |
4:46.1 (71.1) |
| 5:59.6 (73.5) |
7:15.1 (75.5) |
8:22.7 (67.6) |
9:28.40 (65.7) |
| first 1600 4:46.1 |
last 1600 4:42.3 |
Craig would follow this meet with a big win in the MOC 3200, running
the last 1600 in 4:23.0 and the last 800 in 2:06.6. His final time
was 9:03.58 was a new meet record. A couple of weeks later he win
his 1st national championship in the 2 mile.
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2006-7
season summary
| Group IV 1600 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
SR |
4:21.43 |
| 2 Christian Gonzalez |
Franklin |
SR |
4:24.37 |
| 3 Conor Sullivan |
Don Bosco |
SR |
4:25.51 |
| 4 Doug Weeks |
Toms River East |
SR |
4:28.07 |
| 5 Andrew Brodeur |
Brick Memorial |
JR |
4:28.47 |
| 6 Ryan Fenimore |
Jackson Memorial |
SR |
4:29.60 |
|
| Group IV 3200 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
SR |
9:28.40 |
| 2 Matt Ciambriello |
Old Bridge |
SR |
9:34.10 |
| 3 Zach Bahor |
Randolph |
SR |
9:34.17 |
| 4 Jason Baker |
Don Bosco |
SR |
9:28.44 |
| 5 Robert Molke |
Don BoscoB |
SO |
9:38.23 |
| 6 Ed Sheridan |
Philipsburg |
SR |
9:38.67 |
|
#19 Ashley
Higginson (Indoor 3200m), Toms River, Group
IV, Feb 18, 2007
|
|
 |
Ashley had mixed it up during the winter season. She
had run her fastest 800 ever, a 2:14.9 relay split, set a new Monmouth
County record in the 1000 meters, and a couple of fast miles. She
had not run a serious 3200 and would be doing it after running the 1600
earlier the same day. She ran a Freehold District record by running
4:53.70 in the 1600, finishing 2nd. She had a couple of hours to
recover and then would have to take on teammate, Briana Jackucewicz, and
Theresa Cattuna of Cherry Hill East, who was having a breakthrough
year. Ashley and Bri had finished 1 - 2 in the MOC indoor
3200, the previous year. The race went out and settled into consistent 80
and 81s. It was soon a three girl race as those three distanced
themselves from the rest of the field. Right after 11 laps of the 16
they would need to run, Briana fell back and it was just Ashley and
Theresa. Ashley picked it up a little more with 3 laps to go and
then extended the lead over the last 400 to win by just under 4 secs.
She had run a fast 10:38.73, just 2 secs off her 3200 best after running a
4:53 1600. It boded well for the next couple of meets, the MOC and
the winter nationals.
400m Splits:
| 79.4 |
2:39.9 (80.5) |
3:59.3 (79.8) |
5:20.8 (81.5) |
| 6:42.4 (81.6) |
8:02.5 (80.1) |
9:22.1 (79.6) |
10:38.73 (76.6) |
| first 1600 5:20.8 |
last 1600 5:17.9 |
Ashley would win the MOCs in a new meet record, breaking her own record
and then break the state 2 mile record while winning the national title.
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2006-7
season summary
|
| Group IV 3200 |
| 1 Ashley Higginson |
Colts Neck |
SR |
10:38.73 |
| 2 Theresa Cattuna |
Cherry Hill East |
SR |
10:42.42 |
| 3 Briana Jackucewicz |
Colts Neck |
SO |
10:54.32 |
| 4 Amanda Marino |
Jackson Memorial |
SR |
11:00.04 |
| 5 Tori Berard |
Morris Knolls |
SO |
11:03.27 |
| 6 Allyson Moskal |
Freehold Twp |
SO |
11:10.42 |
|
#21 Craig Forys (Outdoor
1600m), Egg Harbor, Group
IV, June 1, 2007
|
|
need a picture |
Craig had already set state records in the 3000m, 3200m and
2 mile this spring but he had never run a fast open 1600. He had run 4:04
or 4:05 four times, all anchoring relay teams, but had not broken 4:10 in
an open high school race. He wanted to take a shot at a fast
1600 even though he knew he would have to do it on his own. Since he
was going to attempt the 1600/3200 double at the MOC the following week,
this would be his last chance to go for one. The plan was to try to
go out in 60, settle into 61s for the middle and then finish the best he
could. As the team arrived at the meet, it was evident that the race
would be a struggle. There was a huge wind going down the
backstretch. Craig decided to do the best he could and went to the
lead immediately. He had a couple of second lead by the 200.
He hit 59.5 at the 400 and slowed to a 63.0 for the 2nd 200. He was
slowing noticeably against the wind on the backstretch and then trying to
pick it back up on the homestretch. After a 62.8 3rd 400, he could
manage only a 62.0 in the last 400 to finish in 4:07.36. It was a
new All-Groups meet record for the Groups Champs.
400m Splits:
| 59.5 |
2:02.5 (63.0) |
3:05.3 (62.8) |
4:07.36 (62.0) |
| first 1600 2:02.5 |
last 1600 2:04.9 |
Craig would come back the next day to run the 3200. click
here to see what happens.
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2007
season summary
|
| Group IV 1600 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
SR |
4:07.36 |
| 2 Andrew Brodeur |
Brick Memorial |
JR |
4:18.49 |
| 3 Brian Leung |
West Wind-Plains So |
JR |
4:20.61 |
| 4 Christian Gonzalez |
Franklin |
SR |
4:21.10 |
| 5 Kevin Cronin |
Mainland |
SR |
4:22.47 |
| 6 Robby Andrews |
Manalapan |
SO |
4:23.55 |
|
#22 Ashley
Higginson (Outdoor 3200m), Egg Harbor, Group
IV, June 2, 2007
|
|
need a picture |
After dream seasons in cross country and winter track,
Ashley was continuing where she left off. She had run state records
in the 5000 meter (16:38.31), the 2000m steeplechase (6:50.39) and just
missed the state record for 3000m. She had defended her title in the
Penn Relays and run a 2:11.9 split for 800m. She was fit and ready
for fast times. This weekend she would focus on the 1600 and then
run the 3200 fast enough to win. The MOCs were just a few days later
so it didn't make sense to run all out twice. In the 1600 on Friday,
6/1, she hooked up with the two Southern Reg stars, Danielle Tauro and
Jillian Smith. Despite high winds on the backstretch, Ashley set a
very fast pace as they went through 800 in 2:23. On the 3rd lap,
Ashley forced the pace to try to get a gap. She couldn't get away
from their big kicks and finished 3rd but ran her fastest time ever,
4:47.71 and a new Monmouth County record. On Saturday, it would be
run with the pack and surge away later. In the 3200, it was a race
of attrition. They ran 81s before slowing to 83 on the 4th.
After the 5th lap was increased back to 80, Ashley had a small gap.
She ran just fast enough to keep the gap open and win by 4 secs in
10:52.49. It was her 3rd consecutive 3200 win at the spring track
group champs and gave her 5 state titles for her career.
400m Splits:
| 76.8 |
2:38.2 (81.4) |
4:00.1 (81.9) |
5:23.1 (83.0) |
| 6:43.5 (80.4) |
8:06.8 (83.3) |
9:31.4 (84.6) |
10:52.49 (82.1) |
| first 1600 5:23.1 |
last 1600 5:29.4 |
Ashley would move on to the MOCs the next week and win her 4th MOC
title before moving to the nationals where she would win the 2 mile in a
new state record. It gave her national championships in all three
seasons. She would also run the steeplechase, her 3rd race in 16 hrs
and set a new state record in finishing 3rd.
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2007
season summary
|
| Group IV 3200 |
| 1 Ashley Higginson |
Colts Neck |
SR |
10:52.49 |
| 2 Theresa Cattuna |
Cherry Hill East |
SR |
10:58.44 |
| 3 Lauren Penny |
Roxbury |
JR |
11:08.64 |
| 4 Amanda Marino |
Jackson Memorial |
SR |
11:08.67 |
| 5 Sophia Ginez |
South Brunswick |
FR |
11:13.21 |
| 6 Victoria Berard |
Morris Knolls |
SO |
11:20.44 |
|
#23 Craig Forys (Outdoor
3200m), Egg Harbor, Group
IV, June 2, 2007
|
|
need a picture |
After fighting the wind and the clock the previous day in
the 1600, Craig was looking forward to running with the pack. The
last thing he needed to work on for the upcoming nationals was a huge
surge with two laps to go. So the plan was to run with the pack
until 1200 to go, pick up the pace with 1200 to go and then run as close
to 61-62 on the 7th 400 as possible. Then, he could ease off the
pedal. It would prepare him for the big move he wanted to make at
the nationals. the pace went out in a comfortable pace and stayed in
the 71-72 area. On the 5th lap it slowed significantly as everyone
waited for a move. On the next lap, the move came as Craig
accelerated almost 9 secs faster for that lap. After opening a lead,
he picked it up even more for the 7th 400, running a hyper fast 62.1
before easing back in the last 400. The last 1200 took only 3:12.9
and he won his 12th and final state championship in 9:14.93. It tied
the state record for boys for most state titles, the most by a track
runner.
400m Splits:
| 68.4 |
2:19.7 (71.3) |
3:30.8 (71.1) |
4:43.0 (72.2) |
| 5:57.8 (74.8) |
7:07.7 (65.7) |
8:09.8 (62.1) |
9:14.93 (65.1) |
| first 1600 4:43.0 |
last 1600 4:31.9; last 1200
3:12.9 |
| Craig's 12th State Group Championship, ties State
record |
|
Craig would go on to win the
MOC 1600/3200 double 4:09/8:52 to become only the 2nd to pull it
off. He became the first ever to do it indoors and outdoors.
He then finished 2nd in the 2 mile at the nationals to set a new State
record for 3000 meters and 2 miles. In that race he ran a 61 7th 400
to break all but one runner in one of the greatest high school fields
ever.
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2007
season summary
|
| Group IV 3200 |
| 1 Craig Forys |
Colts Neck |
SR |
9:14.93 |
| 2 Christopher Carle |
Jackson Memorial |
SR |
9:24.14 |
| 3 Brian Leung |
West Wind-Plains So |
JR |
9:26.24 |
| 4 Daniel Emont |
Ridgewood |
SR |
9:31.41 |
| 5 Zach Bahor |
Randolph |
SR |
9:35.43 |
| 6 Matt Ciambriello |
Old Bridge |
SR |
9:36.20 |
|
#24 Allison
Linnell (Indoor 3200m), Toms River, Group
IV, Feb 16, 2008
|
|
Briana Jackucewicz leads teammate, Allison Linnell.
The positions would be the opposite at the end. |
Allison had killed herself in training for four years and
was finally getting the results she had dreamed of. She had finally
won Shore Conference and Central Jersey Championships, had broken 5:00 in
the 1600 and was on the verge of breaking 11:00 in the 3200. She had
become a winner due to a killer surge that she could throw in anywhere
from 1200m to 400 to go. She had used it over and over again in
races to fine tune it. It had become a devastating move. The
week before the Group Champs, she had won the 1600 and then come back and
finished 2nd to teammate Briana Jackucewicz in the 3200. With
national champ, Jillian Smith in the 1600, Allison knew her only chance
for an elusive state title was to run the 3200 against her younger
teammate. Briana set a suicidal early pace to stay away from
Allison's kick. All Allison could do was let her go and hope to
catch her later. In fact, Bri was so fast, she was on state record
pace for the first 800. After the 800, Bri started to gradually
slowing. By the the 1600, Allison had closed the gap to 1 sec as she
was 5:16.8, extremely fast for someone with a 11:00 personal best.
Two laps later, they were together and ran that way until two laps to go
where Allison made her move and went by her teammate. Briana would
hold on for 2nd as they completed their 1-2 finish. Allison's final
time of 10:48.33 would be the #21 time in NJ history at the time.
400m Splits:
| 75.8 |
2:35.0 (79.2) |
3:56.1 (81.1) |
5:17.8 (81.7) |
| 6:41.6 (83.8) |
8:08.1 (86.5) |
9:33.2 (85.1) |
10:48.33 (75.1) |
| first 1600 5:17.8 |
last 1600 5:30.5 |
The two would go on to finish 5th and 6th in the MOC the next week but
their big breakthroughs came a little later in the national
championships. They would take the 4 x 1 mile relay team from 13th
to 4th and All-American in the final two legs of the relay. The next
day, Allison would move down to the mile and finish 4th in 4:55.56
and Bri would run her fastest high school 2 mile in 10:33.57 to
finish 2nd.
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2007-8
season summary
|
| Group IV 3200 |
| 1 Allison Linnell |
Colts Neck |
SR |
10:48.33 |
| 2 Briana Jackucewicz |
Colts Neck |
JR |
10:54.67 |
| 3 Caitlin Orr |
Lenape |
SO |
11:15.74 |
| 4 Lindsey Lambert |
Howell |
SR |
11:22.19 |
| 5 Maria Ruiz |
Williamstown |
JR |
11:28.74 |
| 6 Natalie Anthony |
Randolph |
SO |
11:29.36 |
|
#25 Briana
Jackucewicz (Indoor 3200m), Toms River, Group
IV, Feb 15, 2009
|
|
|
Briana had won her 1st state championship
individual title in her very first season in high school. She had
finished 2nd in the indoor MOC 3200 as a soph and in the indoor 3200 as a
junior, both times to teammates. She also had a 2nd at the group
meet her sophomore year. She had started her senior winter track
season hurt, just like the year before, and hadn't raced until Jan
24th. she had run 11:00 winning the County Champs but had only run
5:10 in the 1600. To make matters worse, she had only finished 3rd
in the 3200 at the Central Jersey Champs the week before. the good
news was she now had a secret weapon. She didn't have the closing
speed but she did have a mid race surge she had been working on in her
races. It hadn't worked at the Central Jersey Champs, but that was
more of a hard week of training. Her plan was to let the pace slow
and then pick it up drastically around the 1600 mark. The pace
quickly slowed to 84s after the first 400 and Briana made her move a
little before the 1600 mark. She quickly opened a lead as the others
did not want to pick it up, that much, that early in the race.
Running her 2nd 1600 eight secs faster than her first 1600, she won by 6
secs in 10:51.54. It was her 1st state title in winter or spring
track.
400m Splits:
| 78.4 |
2:43.2 (84.8) |
4:07.3 (84.1) |
5:29.8 (82.5) |
| 6:50.3 (80.5) |
8:11.7 (80.9) |
9:34.4 (82.7) |
10:51.54 (77.1) |
| first 1600 5:29.8 |
last 1600 5:21.7 |
The next week, Bri would finish 3rd in the Meet of Champions 3200
running 10:41.35. Her winter season would end with a DNF (did not
finish) in the 5000 meter race as she tried to run recovering from a bad
case of the flu, just days before.
| Group IV 3200 |
| 1 Briana Jackucewicz |
Colts Neck |
SR |
10:51.54 |
| 2 Angela Rugino |
Toms River North |
SR |
10:57.64 |
| 3 Maria Ruiz |
Williamstown |
SR |
10:59.04 |
| 4 Jillian Prentice |
Montgomery |
JR |
11:02.52 |
| 5 Sophia Ginez |
South Brunswick |
JR |
11:09.76 |
| 6 Natalie Anthony |
Randolph |
JR |
11:10.14 |
|
|
full
race result CN
website race result
2008-9
season summary
|
#26 Mark Leininger
(Indoor 3200m), Toms River, Group
IV, Feb 15, 2009
|
|
|
Mark had come close to a state championship once
before. In the cross country state championships, he had thrown down
a huge surge with 1 mile to go, opening a 5 sec lead over the great Robby
Andrews. He had held the lead until 200 meters to go before Robby
was able to sprint by him. It was a day Mark had dared to take a
chance. He had run his two fastest 1600s ever and had won the
Monmouth County 1600 title and the Central Jersey 3200 title but he still
wanted that state championship. Would he dare to make a early big
move again? The pack went through an easy first 1600 in
4:48.3. The 5th 400 was a little faster than the 4th but still
easy. Suddenly, with 1000 to go, Taro Shigenobu of Ridgewood made a
strong move to the front. Only Mark was able to go with him as the
pace dropped significantly. Mark sat on Taro for two laps and then
took the lead and surged even harder. He opened a small gap and was
able to open a little more daylight by end. His last 800 was 2:13
and it was also a personal best. The gamble with three laps to go
had paid off.
400m Splits:
| 71.1 |
2:22.8 (71.7) |
3:34.5 (72.0) |
4:48.3 (73.5) |
| 6:00.7 (72.5) |
7:11.6 (70.9) |
8:20.2 (68.6) |
9:24.58 (64.4) |
| first 1600 4:48.3 |
last 1600 4:36.3, last 800 2:13.0 |
Mark would go on to finish 4th at the MOC 3200, running 9:16.01.
At the nationals he would run under 4:20 for 1600 on two consecutive days,
anchoring the Distance Medley Relay to All-American status.
| Group IV 3200 |
| 1 Mark Leininger |
Colts Neck |
SR |
9:24.58 |
| 2 Taro Shigenobu |
Ridgewood |
SR |
9:28.31 |
| 3 Mike O'Dowd |
Colts Neck |
SO |
9:35.48 |
| 4 Matt Valeriani |
Southern |
JR |
9:35.61 |
| 5 Andrew Fine |
Ridegwood |
SR |
9:37.92 |
| 6 Chris Banafato |
Bridgewater-Raritan |
JR |
9:39.45 |
|
|
full
race result CN
website race result
2008-9
season summary
|
#27 Ryan Tompkins
(Indoor High Jump), Toms River, Group
III, Feb 20, 2016
|
|
|
The season started slow for Ryan as he had
foot surgery in December to take out a nerve that was causing pain in his
take-off foot. He was able to start training just three weeks before
his first meet, his 3rd place finish in the Shore Conference, where he
cleared 6' 00". Hs 2nd meet was two weeks later at the Central Jersey
Group III meet where he cleared 6' 02" to tie for 2nd and equal his best
jump ever. The 3rd meet was the Group III State Champs. The
favorite, Jenkins-Powell had a best of 6' 06". Ryan cleared the
opening height, 6' 00", on his first attempt but cleared 6' 02" on his 2nd
attempt. Jenkins-Powell had cleared it on his 1st to take the lead.
Ryan and Hill were tied for 2nd, just as they had the week before at the CJ
Group III Champs going to 6' 04". Ryan was the first to jump and
cleared it on his first attempt. Jenkins-Powell cleared it on his 2nd
and Hill missed all three. Ryan also jumped first at 6' 06" and
shocked everyone by clearing on his 1st attempt again. Jenkins-Powell
cleared it on his 2nd but would now need to clear 6' 08" before Ryan to win.
They both missed three times and Ryan won on fewer misses. The
10 pts team points earned by Ryan along with the 2 pts earned by Pat Bohn in
5th would help lead the Colts Neck team to the State Team Championship.
Ryan would go on to finish 4th at the Meet of Champions (MOC), clearing
6' 04".
| Group III High Jump |
| 1 Ryan Tompkins |
Colts Neck |
JR |
6' 06" |
| 2 Rhashawn Jenkins-Powell |
Neptune |
SR |
6' 06" |
| 3 Robert Hill |
Brick Memorial |
SR |
6' 02" |
| 4 Matt Grillo |
Mainland |
SR |
6' 02" |
| 5 Pat Bohn |
Colts Neck |
SR |
6' 00" |
| 6 Isaiah Jones |
Winslow |
SR |
6' 00" |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website event result
2015-16
season summary
|
#28 Jordan Brannan
(Indoor 3200m), Toms River, Group
III, Feb 20, 2016
|
|
 |
For Jordan, 2015-2016 had been a breakout year, filled
with runner-up finishes. In
cross country, he was 2nd in the Monmouth County, Central Jersey
Group III and Group III State Champs.
Indoors, he had continued with a 2nd in the 3200 at the
County meet. He had finally
broken through at the Central Jersey Group III Champs, running the 3rd
400 of the 1600 in 62.5 to gap the field and win his first championship.
He came back a couple of hours later to win the 3200.
Now at the Group III Champs, Jordan and Coach Schlentz had decided to
have him double the 1600/3200 to get critical team points and try to win the
team title, a first for Colts Neck in track.
After a disappointing 1600 where he was 3rd, Jordan came
back in the 3200 hoping for as many points as possible.
He stayed in 3rd for the first 1600 of the race until Roth
of Princeton threw in a big surge to gap the field.
He moved into 2nd shortly after and stayed 20 meters
behind the leader. As they hit
400 meters to go, Jordan picked up the pace slightly and was able to gain on
the leader. He then accelerated
some more and took the lead with 250 meters left to win by 3 secs in a new
personal best of 9:19.60, 11 secs faster than his indoor best.
With Anthony Russo’s 5th place, the 12 pts scored in the
3200 clinched the team title for the Cougars.
400m Splits:
|
68.5
|
2:20.0 (71.5)
|
3:32.5 (72.0)
|
4:45.5 (73.0)
|
|
5:53.8 (68.3)
|
7:04.8 (71.0)
|
8:15.0 (70.2)
|
9:19.60 (64.6)
|
|
first 1600 4:45.5
|
last 1600 4:34.1, last
800 2:14.6
|
One week later, Jordan would go
upset the favorites and win the Meet of Champions 3200 meter title in
9:14.96. At the New Balance Scholastic Nationals, he would run a
personal best of 9:10.22 for 2 miles, about 9:06.9 for 3200 meters.
|
Group III 3200
|
|
1 Jordan Brannan
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
9:19.60
|
|
2 Alex Roth
|
Princeton
|
JR
|
9:22.19
|
|
3 Matt Grossman
|
Millburn
|
JR
|
9:29.61
|
|
4 William Hare
|
Princeton
|
SO
|
9:30.01
|
|
5 Anthony Russo
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
9:30.82
|
|
6 Matt Todaro
|
Middletown North
|
SR
|
9:32.22
|
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2015-16
season summary
|
#29 Ryan Tompkins
(Indoor High Jump), Toms River, Group
III, Feb 18, 2017
|
 |
Ryan had started the season well ahead of
the previous year. In 2016, he had missed most of the season before
winning his only championship, the Group III State Championship. This
year, he had already won the Monmouth County, Shore Conference and Central
Jersey Group III titles. He was defending champion but missed his
first jump of the day at the opening height, 5' 10". He would then
take charge and not miss again until he was the only one left and had
defended his title. He then chose to go for 6' 07". The last two
jumps were so close, it looked like he had cleared it. It was not to
be on that day but the
10 pts team points earned by Ryan would help lead the Colts Neck team to the
Group III State Team Championship, their 2nd in a row.
Ryan would go on to finish 4th at the Meet of Champions (MOC).
| Group III High Jump |
| 1 Ryan Tompkins |
Colts Neck |
SR |
6' 04" |
| 2 Tim Lorenzo |
Northern Highlands |
SR |
6' 02" |
| 3 Diomari Gordon |
Timber Creek |
SO |
6' 02" |
| 4 Andrew Alex |
Middletown North |
SR |
6' 02" |
| 5 Deandre Carter |
JFK-Iselin |
JR |
6' 00" |
| 6 Keion Oglesby |
Timber Creek |
SR |
6' 00" |
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2016-17
season summary
|
#30 Jordan Brannan
(Indoor 3200m), Toms River, Group
III, Feb 18, 2017
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2016-17
season summary
Video
|
After a cross country season that had seen the team
ranked as high as 13th in the US, the top 3 seniors had big plans for winter
track. They wanted to prove they were the best threesome in NJ.
They ran a 3000 at Yale and then went 1-2-3 in the 3200 at the Central
Jersey Group III Champs out of the unseeded heat. It was time to show
their strength at the state level. Needing just 11 pts to clinch the
team title, the trio stayed back in the pack for most of the first 1600.
As the pace picked up after the 1600, they moved up closer to the front.
Jordan went with the leader, Derek Barney (Indian Hills) as he surged and
then went by him with just over 800 to go. Anthony was in 3rd and
Kevin was 5th. With a 400 to go, they were now 1st, 2nd and 5th but
Kevin would move into 3rd with 350 meters to go. An unprecented
sweep of the top three was now a possibility. In the last 300, the CN
trio was so dominant that they put over 11 secs on 4th place, as all three
broke 9:25 and clinched the team title with 24 pts, in the 3200 alone.
They would go into the next week's Meet of Champions seeded 1st, 4th and
5th.
400m Splits:
|
69.3
|
2:21.0 (71.7)
|
3:33.9 (72.9)
|
4:46.9 (73.0)
|
|
5:57.6 (70.7)
|
7:08.4 (70.8)
|
8:14.6 (67.2)
|
9:17.70 (63.2)
|
|
first 1600 4:46.9
|
last 1600 4:30.9, last
800 2:10.4
|
One week later, Jordan would defend his MOC title in the 3200, running
9:08.32. Anthony would finish 5th in 9:19.13.
|
Group III 3200
|
|
1 Jordan Brannan
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
9:17.70
|
|
2
Anthony Russo
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
9:24.24
|
|
3
Kevin Berry
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
9:24.26
|
|
4
Matthew Santamaria
|
WWPN
|
JR
|
9:33.88
|
|
5 Matt Lepine
|
Middletown South
|
JR
|
9:34.59
|
|
6
Daniel Do
|
Absegami
|
SR
|
9:35.42
|
|
|
#31 Lilly Shapiro
(Indoor 1600m), Toms River, Group
III, Feb 22, 2020
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2019-20
season summary
Video
|
As a freshman, Lilly had only competed in winter track
but was runner-up in the Group III State Champs in the 800. As a
sophomore, she had given up soccer to compete in all three running seasons.
After a season of cross country, she was stronger. She was also the
favorite to win as she had beaten the other favorites in the Central Jersey
Group III Champsionships, two weeks before. At that meet, no one
wanted to lead so they had gone out in a ridiculously slow 2:45.2 for the
1st 800 before coming back in 2:21.9 for the win. With many of the
same runners, would the pace be similar? The only problem, if they ran
too slow, they would not make the seeded heat in the Meet of Champions the
following week.
The first lap was fast as they jockeyed for the best
positions but then no one wanted to pass Lilly, who was in the front in lane
1. Lilly continued to lead, as they slowed with the runners running
three abreast, even around the turns. After a 400 of 77.7, the pace
slowed more the next lap. Lilly picked up the pace slightly but it was
still only 2:36.9 at the 800 with a tight front pack of 6. They were
all still there until Lilly made a major move with 550 meters to go.
With 400 to go, it was down to four, in single file. She cranked
up the pace more with 350 to go and with 400 to go had a 5 meter gap over
Reese Fahys of Middletown South, the Group III XC Champion. Down the
backstretch Lilly picked it up to a new gear and it was over. She
stretched the lead to almost 4 secs to win her first State title.
400m Splits:
|
77.7
|
2:36.9 (79.2)
|
3:52.3 (75.4)
|
5:01.81 (69.5)
|
|
first 800 2:36.9 |
|
last 800 2:24.9 |
|
One week later, Lilly would run 4:59.06, to finish 2nd in the 1600 in
the Meet of Champions. She would not get to run the Distance Medley
Relay or the 4 x 1 mile relay, where they were seeded 2nd, at the Nationals,
when it was cancelled due to the coronavirus, 36 hours before the start of
the meet.
|
Group III
1600
|
|
1 Lilly Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
SO
|
5:01.81
|
|
2
Reese Fahys
|
Middletown South
|
FR
|
5:05.47
|
|
3
Lucy Afanasewicz
|
Middletown South
|
SO
|
5:06.73
|
|
4
Lily Oliver
|
Toms River South
|
FR
|
5:07.34
|
|
5 Merideth Finley
|
Randolph
|
SR
|
5:16.99
|
|
6
Salini Iyer
|
WWPN
|
SR
|
5:17.49
|
|
|
#32 Lilly Shapiro
(Indoor 800m), Toms River, Group
III, Feb 22, 2020
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2019-20
season summary
Video
|
Earlier in the winter, Lilly had won her first major
title when she won the Shore Conference Championship in the 800. In
the Central Jersey Group III Champs, she had doubled back from winning the
1600 to win the 800 over Trinity Eason (Woodbridge), passing her in the last
straight to win by 1.01 secs. She would be doubling back again but
this time had run over 5 secs faster in the 1600. How much would she
have left?
Eason had come up with a new plan, go out faster to take away
Lilly's kick. She went out fast from the start but Lilly did not go
with her as she had in the past. Being tired from the 1600, Lilly was
forced to hang back and try to make up ground in the 2nd 400. At the
400, Eason had a lead of 1.6 secs and was running strong. Lilly was
stuck behind Jenai Berry (Scotch Plains-Fanwood). At the 600, Eason's
lead was now 2.3 secs and Lilly was still stuck behind Berry. She
would need a big finish. With 100 to go, it was down to 1.7 secs and
Lilly could sense that Eason was starting to tire. Jessica Lyons
(Allentown), the 2019 Spring Track 800 champion, known for her kick, was on
Lilly's back. Lilly continued to close and with just 40 meters to go,
moved past Eason and away from Lyons as she would win by .8 of a sec.
Her teamate, Arianna Sakoutis, would finish 6th and also move on to the Meet
of Champions.
200m Splits:
|
32.8
|
67.5 (34.7)
|
1:43.7 (36.2)
|
2:18.67 (35.0)
|
|
first 400 67.5 |
|
last 400 71.2 |
|
One week later, Lilly would run 4:59.16 to finish 2nd in the 1600 in
the Meet of Champions. She did not run the 800. She would not
get to run the Distance Medley Relay or the 4 x 1 mile relay, where they
were seeded 2nd, at the Nationals, when it was cancelled due to the
coronavirus, 36 hours before the start of the meet.
|
Group III
800
|
|
1 Lilly Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
SO
|
2:18.62
|
|
2
Trinity Eason
|
Woodbridge
|
SR
|
2:19.42
|
|
3
Jessica Lyons
|
Allentown
|
SO
|
2:20.16
|
|
4
Jenai Berry
|
Scotch Plains-Fanwood
|
FR
|
2:20.20
|
|
5 Andie Murray
|
Allentown
|
SO
|
2:20.65
|
|
6
Arianna Sakoutis
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
2:21.50
|
|
#33 Natalie Shapiro
(Indoor 3200m), Toms River, Group
III, Feb 22, 2020
|
|
|
Natalie had gone into her senior year, never having won
a championship race. After a strong spring, she felt like she was
ready. Cross Country did not go the way she wanted, despite a great
summer of training. She had come down with whooping cough and it had
taken forever to get healthy. It was a nice fall season but not a
great one.
The winter season was going much better. She had felt
great all winter and had run a huge personal best (PB) in the mile at the
Morris County Inv (5:03.81). She had followed that with her first
individual title, winning the Central Jersey Group III 3200 title in an
indoor PB and had then run a smoking 1200 leg on the Distance Medley Relay.
This was her chance to win a major title! She was the favorite but the
race plan meant she would have to lead much of the race which was dangerous.
Alexis Palmieri (Ocean City) led the first six laps as the pace
gradually slowed. The splits were 80.4, 83.4 and then 85.3. Once
it slowed to 85, Natalie would take the lead 50 meters later to accelerate
to 83.6 and then 82.7. From a pack of 10 at the 1200 (6 laps), the
lead pack was down to 3 at 1600 meters and just two at 2000 meters, Natalie
and Catherine Wimmer (Red Bank). Natalie took an easier 400 and then
accelerated one more time with 800 to go. In that last 800, she would
extend the lead to just short of 20 secs. Each of the last three 400s would
get gradually faster. Her teammate, Ava Wilmot, would finish 3rd and
also move on to the Meet of Champions.
400m Splits:
|
80.4
|
2:43.8 (83.4)
|
4:09.1 (85.3)
|
5:32.7 (83.6)
|
|
6:55.4 (82.7)
|
8:20.1 (84.7)
|
9:42.4 (82.3)
|
11:03.27 (80.9)
|
|
first 1600 5:32.7 |
|
last 1600 5:30.6,
|
last 800 2:43.2 |
One week later, Natalie would run 11:00.05 in the 3200 to finish 7th to
medal (top 8) in the Meet of Champions. She would not get to run the
Distance Medley Relay or the 4 x 1 mile relay, where they were seeded 2nd,
at the Nationals, when it was cancelled due to the coronavirus, 36 hours
before the start of the meet.
|
Group III
3200
|
|
1 Natalie Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
11:03.27
|
|
2
Catherine Wimmer
|
Red Bank
|
SR
|
11:22.93
|
|
3
Ava Wilmot
|
Colts Neck
|
FR
|
11:24.69
|
|
4
Michelle Coyotl
|
Middletown South
|
SR
|
11:25.19
|
|
5 Ava Augustine
|
Mendham
|
SO
|
11:25.29
|
|
6
Alexa Palmieri
|
Ocean City
|
JR
|
11:32.60
|
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2019-20
season summary
Video
|
#34 Lilly Shapiro
(Outdoor 1600m), Pennsauken, Group
III, June 11, 2021
|
|
courtesy of
nj.milesplit.com
full
race result
CN
website race result
2021
season summary
Video
|
Lilly had not run a State Championship race since she
doubled in winning the 1600 and 800 meter races at the Winter Track Group
III meet in February of 2020. It had been 16 months since that day,
time in which she could have won 5 more titles. She was in the midst
of her best season ever with a State Record 4:40.15 for the 1600.
The
1600 was going to be the first of four races, in 2 days, to help the team
try to win their first Team State Group title. She had noticed a
soreness in her foot, the week before this meet, so the decision was made to
wear road racing shoes in this race. This made it a little more
slippery due to the race being run in a steady rain.
The plan was simple,
run the race as if it was a 3200 and pull away the last lap if she needed
to. She led a pack of 9 through the 400 in 73.2, a little fast. She
backed off a little too much and was 2:31 at the 800 with 6 others still
hanging on. She picked up the pace slightly to get back at just under
5:00 pace and only Laura Cota (Summit) was able to hang on. She stayed
until 600 to go where Lilly gradually pulled away. Lilly was 73.3 and
then 71.3 over the last 2 laps to win by just over 5 secs. Most
importantly, it was 10 pts for the team. Lilly would then warm down,
rest a bit and then come back in the 4 x 800 and anchor the team to their
6th consecutive 4 x 800 title (combined indoors and outdoors). The
next day, would be another busy day, the 800 and then anchor the 4 x 400
meter relay. Hopefully it would end in a Team title.
400m Splits:
|
73.2
|
2:31.0 (77.8)
|
3:44.3 (73.3)
|
4:55.56 (71.3)
|
|
first 800 2:31.0
|
last 800 2:24.6
|
One week later, Lilly would finish 2nd in the 1600 and then come back
and win the 800 at the Meet of Champions.
|
Group III 1600
|
|
1 Lilly Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
4:55.56
|
|
2
Lara Cota
|
Summit
|
JR
|
5:00.76
|
|
3
Jessica Lyons
|
Allentown
|
JR
|
5:05.28
|
|
4
Lucy Afanasewicz
|
Middletown South
|
JR
|
5:05.35
|
|
5 Maddie Scheier
|
Somerville
|
SO
|
5:07.73
|
|
6 Grace Wassell
|
Highland Reg
|
SO
|
5:09.87
|
|
|
#35 Matt Bogdan
(Outdoor 1600m), Pennsauken, Group
III, June 11, 2021
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2021
season summary
Video
|
Matt had gone into the 2020-2021 school year hoping to
sweep the Group III Cross Country title, the 1600/3200 in winter track and
then the same in spring track. The pandemic had limited the cross
country season to a Central Jersey Group III title, where the official
season ended. Others put on a post season Unofficial Meet of Champions
where Matt was 2nd, 38 secs ahead of the nearest Group III runner.
There were no sectionals or Group Championships during winter track.
He was now down to his last chance to win a State title.
For the
first time in years, they decided to have two heats and since the CJ Group
III race had been tactical, he was in the unseeded heat. This meant
that he would have to run as fast, leading the whole way, to make sure his
time was faster than the seeded heat, to be the champion. In a soft
drizzle, he went off on his own. He hit 62.0 and then 2:08.1 (66.1).
He would need to keep this pace going and then kick hard to be sure his time
was fast enough. He hit 66.2 for the 3rd lap and Nikhil Makker (WWPN)
was still sitting on him. With 200 to go, a gap started opening
between them and with 100 to go, Matt pulled away, closing in 62.0, to
finish in 4:16.31.
Then a funny thing happened, no one wanted to lead in
the seeded heat. It was slow until they hit 1 lap to go, finally they
all kicked like crazy. It was won in 4:22.66. The top 3 in the
unseeded heat, including CN's own Ryan Johnson, ended up 1-2-3. You
don't see that much. Matt's time would be faster than any Group III
runner ran the whole spring season. Matt finally had his 1st Group
State title. He would only wait one more day until his chance at his
2nd, the 3200 the next day.
400m Splits:
|
62.0
|
2:08.1 (66.1)
|
3:14.3 (66.2)
|
4:16.31 (69.5)
|
|
first 800 2:08.1 |
|
last 800 2:08.2 |
|
One week later, Matt would finish 5th in the Meet of Champions in the
1600 and run 4:12.64, his fastest 1600 ever. He would then go to the
Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, OR and win the steeplechase in the 6th fastest
time in US history.
|
Group III
1600
|
|
1 Matt Bogdan
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
4:16.31
|
|
2
Nikhil Makker
|
West Winsor Plainsboro North
|
JR
|
4:18.63
|
|
3
Ryan Johnson
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
4:22.55
|
|
4
Ryan Beegle
|
Chatham
|
SO
|
4:22.66
|
|
5 Thomas Schulz
|
Roxbury
|
SR
|
4:23.18
|
|
6
Sam Ellis
|
Chatham
|
JR
|
4:23.38
|
|
|
#36 Matt Bogdan
(Outdoor 3200m), Pennsauken, Group
III, June 12, 2021
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2021
season summary
Video
|
Day 2 opened with the 3200. The NJSIAA had
finally decided to move the 3200s from the heat of the afternoon to the
morning. Time to go after State Title #2 and help the CN boys in the
team battle.
The race started in a drizzle in mid 70s weather.
Someone took it out hard the first 400 at 66.5, with Matt running in 2nd,
but it soon slowed down. At the 800 it had slowed to 72.6 pace with 18
in the front pack. A WWPN runner took over the lead at 800 and picked
it back up to 71.5 but then let it slow down the 4th lap in 74.8. The
whole pack of 17 now bunched together after the slowest lap of the race
(75.2) as they hit 2000 meters. Matt had seen enough as he took the
lead at the line with 3 laps to go and promptly ran a 67.1, which gave him a
3 sec lead. Slowing slightly but keeping the pressure on, he ran a
69.1 as his lead had grown to 5 secs. Matt picked it up but lost some
of his lead as a pack of 7 raced each other for 2nd place. He won by
just over 3.5 secs, the big surge having done it's job.
400m Splits:
|
66.5
|
2:19.1 (72.6)
|
3:30.6 (71.5)
|
4:45.4 (74.8)
|
|
6:00.6 (75.2)
|
7:07.7
(67.1)
|
8:16.8 (69.1)
|
9:21.56 (64.8)
|
|
first 1600 4:45.4 |
|
last 1600 4:36.2,
last 1200 |
3:21.0, last 800 2:13.9 |
One week later, Matt would finish 5th in the Meet of Champions in the
1600 and run 4:12.64, his fastest 1600 ever. He would then go to the
Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, OR and win the steeplechase in the 6th fastest
time in US history.
|
Group III
3200
|
|
1 Matt Bogdan
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
9:21.56
|
|
2 Zachery Hodges
|
Mendham
|
SR
|
9:25.18
|
|
3
Ryan Tobin
|
Toms River South
|
SR
|
9:26.17
|
|
4
Sam Ellis
|
Chatham
|
JR
|
9:27.07
|
|
5
Brandon Chen
|
West Morris Central
|
JR
|
9:27.65
|
|
6 Thomas Schulz
|
Roxbury
|
SR
|
9:27.91
|
|
#37 Lilly Shapiro
(Outdoor 800m), Pennsauken, Group
III, June 12, 2021
|
|
|
It was Day 2 of the Group III State Champs and Lilly
was in her 3rd event of four. She had won the 1600 in 4:55.56 and then
taken the team from 4th to 1st place in the 4 x 800 with a 2:13.83 anchor
leg. It was time for the 800.
She was planning to run the 1600/800
double in the Meet of Champions and she needed to prepare for a fast first
lap in the 800, if it happened, at the Meet of Champions. She had
never gone out faster than 65.3 so the decision was made to run the 1st 400
fast. The race started and everyone let her go. She hit the 200
in 31.0 and the 400 in 63.50 (32.5). She had a lead of approximately 2
secs. She continued to pour it on and went through 600 in 1:35.9
(33.4) and continued through the finish in 2:09.83 (33.9). She won by
just over 5.5 secs. It was her 3rd gold medal of the meet.
Lilly
would come back and anchor the 4 x 400 in a personal best of 57.71.
The team was 1 point back in the team standing at the time and it would give
the girls their 1st Group State Track Championship. It ended one of
the greatest weekends for a Colts Neck track athlete ever, four races, four
gold medal finishes!
400m Splits:
One week later, Lilly would finish 2nd in the 1600 and then come back
and win the 800 at the Meet of Champions. Lilly would then run the 2 mile in the Brooks PR meet in Seattle, WA.
She would then drive 5 hours down to Eugene, OR and the following day run
the Distance Medley Relay and then anchor the Sprint Medley Relay to a 3rd
place finish to make All-American.
|
Group III
800
|
|
1 Lilly Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
2:09.83
|
|
2
Cara Hliboki
|
Old Tappan
|
JR
|
2:15.39
|
|
3
Jessica Lyons
|
Allentown
|
JR
|
2:15.77
|
|
4
Lilly Oliver
|
Toms River South
|
SO
|
2:16.00
|
|
5 Maddie Scheier
|
Somerville
|
SO
|
2:16.01
|
|
6
Grace Wassell
|
Highland
|
SO
|
2:18.38
|
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2021
season summary
Video
|
|
#38 Cole Tucker
(Outdoor Shot Put), Pennsauken, Group
III, June 12, 2021
|
|
.jpg)
full
throw result
CN
website race result
2021
season summary
|
Cole had waited a long time for a chance to win his
first Group State title. Most of Winter Track had been wiped out by
the pandemic. He had finished 2nd in the Adidas Indoor Nationals and
had the best throw in the United States with his 65' 04" throw at the Shore
Track Coaches Shore Conference Championship. Now he needed a State
Championship.
He had had an outstanding spring season. He had thrown a
school record of 161' 05", in the dicus, 10 feet over the previous record.
He had a total of 6 meets of over 154'. On the first day of the Group
III Champs, in a slight rain, making for a very slippery circle, he threw
158' 06" to finish 2nd. A great start to the Group meet.
On Day 2,
it was time for his main squeeze, the Shot Put. There had been
confusion the day before. There were two different meet schedules.
He had come the day before expecting to throw the shot put but it had been
changed to the discus. At least, this time, he would be prepared for
the right event.
His two main Shore Conference rivals were also in the
field. Cole took the lead on the first throw but Robert Babson (Toms
River South)followed it with his first official lifetime 60+ throw.
His teammate, Tyler Konopka threw 59' 02" but had a personal best of 62'
03.75". This title was not going to come easy!
Cole
refocused and then hit 65' 03.5", his 2nd best outdoor shot throw ever.
The throw would win it for him as Babson's 60' 7.25" throw would hold up for
2nd with his teammate 3rd. More importantly, he had scored 18 pts for
Colts Neck in the two events as the team would finish 3rd overall, just 4
pts out of 2nd. It took a while but Cole had his first State
Championship. The following week he would have a shot at the Meet of
Champion title.
One week later, Cole would win the Shot Put at the Meet of Champions,
CN's first field event MOC winner.
|
Group III Shot Put
|
|
1 Cole Tucker
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
65' 03.5"
|
|
2 Robert Babson
|
Toms River South
|
SR
|
60' 07.25"
|
|
3
Tyler Konopka
|
Toms River South
|
SR
|
59' 02"
|
|
4
VeRon Garrison
|
Dwight Morrow
|
SR
|
57' 02.5"
|
|
5
Gavin McGarrity
|
Wayne Valley
|
SR
|
54' 06.5"
|
|
6
Christopher Guerrieri
|
Cherry Hill West
|
SR
|
52' 00"
|
|
|
|
#39 Lilly Shapiro
(Cross Country), Holmdel Park, Group
III, November 13, 2021
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2021
season summary
Video
Interview
|
Lilly was having a dream season. She had set a new course record at
Ocean County Park, running 17:07, leading the team to a course record
18:16.8 average. She had won the Monmouth County (Holmdel Park) and
Central Jersey Group III Champs (Thompson Park) with personal bests on those
courses. She was looking forward to winning her 1st Group III XC title
after missing out the year before because of the pandemic and winning the
team title.
The plan was to run the first 1.5 miles at the same
time/effort she hoped to run at the Meet of Champions the next weekend and
then coast the rest of the way. She had never gone out faster than 6:13
(2020) so she had to feel that effort before the MOC. Lilly hit the
mile in 5:58 with a lead of about 15 secs, backing off on the stretch from
the bowl to the 2 mile, she still led by 30 secs at 11:54. She ran a
comfortable pace until seeing the clock at the finish, she realized she
could break 18:00 if she kicked. Kicking the last 100 meters, she
finished in 17:59, to break 18:00. It made Colts Neck the first school to
have 2 girls under 18:00. Lilly also led the team to their 4th Group
III title in the last 5 championships. They finished 30 pts ahead of
North Hunterdon without running Ava Wilmot, the 3rd runner on the CN team.
Mile Splits:
| 5:58 |
11:54 (5:55) |
last 1.1 17:59 (6:05) |
|
Lilly would go on to finish 2nd in the Meet of
Champions, running a Shore Conference record 17:35, the 4th fastest
time in NJ history. She would then finish 10th at the Northeast
Eastbay (formerly Footlocker) regional to qualify for the Nationals,
finish 13th in the Running lane Nationals in Huntsville, AL (which
replaced the Nike XC Nationals) and then finished 19th at the Eastbay
Nationals in San Diego, CA.
|
|
Group III Cross Country
|
|
1 Lilly Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
17:59
|
|
2 Liliah Gordon
|
Northern Burlington
|
FR
|
18:44
|
|
3
Cassidy Roop
|
North Hunterdon
|
FR
|
18:47
|
|
4
Laura Cota
|
Summit
|
SR
|
18:47
|
|
5
Lilly Oliver
|
Toms River South
|
JR
|
19:02
|
|
6
Sofia Day
|
Mainland
|
FR
|
19:06
|
|
7
Grace Wassell
|
Highland Reg
|
JR
|
19:08
|
|
8
Addison Schmidt
|
North Hunterdon
|
SR
|
19:12
|
|
9
Presslie Mariner
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
19:17
|
|
10
Zui Chinchalkar
|
West Windsor Plainsboro
|
FR
|
19:24
|
|
#40 Lilly Shapiro
(Indoor Track), Toms River, Group
III, February 26
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2022
season summary
Video
|
It had been a great stretch of training for Lilly. After a great cross
country season, she had only run in 5 meets, focusing on getting training,
instead of races. She had run 4 races at the Group III State Relays,
anchoring 3 to state titles (The SMR was then disquaified for exchange zone
violation.) She had not run great at the Milrose Games but then came
back running a mile at the Bostton University college meet in 4:45.39, #2
all-time NJ and then running 2:10.11 for 800 the next day for a Freehold
District record. She had defended her titles in the 1600 (5:14.41) and
800 (2:18.45) at the Central Jersey Group III Champs and was hoping to
defend both titles again at the Group III Champs. She had run 10 secs
faster than the next fastest competitor. She took the lead after 180
meters and focused on the race plan, an easy first 1000 and then increase
the pace for each of the last 3 laps. After 400s of 75.0 and 75.3, she
ran 37.3, 36.3, 36.2 and 35.3 to win by 6.5 secs. It was her 2nd
winter track Group III 1600 title and her 4th Group III distance title.
400m Splits:
|
75.0
|
2:30.3 (75.3)
|
3:43.9 (73.6)
|
4:55.41 (71.5)
|
|
first 800 2:30.3 |
|
last 800 2:25.1
|
last 600 1:47.8 |
|
Lilly would move on the next week and become the
first female to win both the 1600 and 800 at the winter track Meet of
Champions and be named NJ Indoor Track Athlete of the Year by the Star
Ledger.
|
|
Group III 1600
|
|
1 Lilly Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
4:55.41
|
|
2 Grace Wassell
|
Highland Reg
|
JR
|
5:01.96
|
|
3
Sophia Reich
|
North Hunterdon
|
SR
|
5:03.72
|
|
4
Lily Oliver
|
Toms River South
|
JR
|
5:04.94
|
|
5
Sarah Petitjean
|
Chatham
|
SR
|
5:07.88
|
|
6
Caroline Melhorn
|
Montgomery
|
SR
|
5:08.38
|
|
#41 Lilly Shapiro
(Indoor Track), Toms River, Group
III, February 26
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2022
season summary
Video
|
Lilly had just won the 1600, her 4th Group III individual championship and
was going for #5 in the 800. Remember, she had missed out on 5 others.
She was the favorite in the 1600 and 800 in spring track, cross country and
the 1600 and 800 in winter track, from spring 2000 to winter 2001. They had
all been cancelled due to the pandemic. This could have been #10, she
was going for.
She had to race the two Scotch Plains girls who had
finished 2nd and 3rd in the 400. Lilly had to be careful that the race
didn't come down to a speed race at the end. Following the race plan,
Lilly sat back early. She was 4th at the 200 and then moved up and
took the lead with 430 meters left. She wanted to run a big 3rd 200.
After the first two 200s of 34.6 and 36.2, she ran the 3rd in 32.4 to open
an almost 4 sec lead with 200 to go. Saving some energy for the 4 x
400, she backed off the last 200 to finish in 2:17.24, to win by 3.5 secs.
It kept the team in a position to finish 2nd in the team battle. She
would come back in the 4 x 400 to run 59.5 to help the team finish 3rd and
finish 2nd as a team.
200m Splits:
|
34.6
|
70.8 (36.2)
|
1:43.2 (32.4)
|
2:17.24 (34.0)
|
|
first 400 70.8 |
|
last 400 66.4 |
|
|
Lilly would move on the next week and become the
first female to win both the 1600 and 800 at the winter track Meet of
Champions and be named NJ Indoor Track Athlete of the Year by the Star
Ledger.
|
|
Group III 800
|
|
1 Lilly Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
2:17.24
|
|
2 Grace Wassell
|
Highland Reg
|
JR
|
2:20.70
|
|
3
Grace Kennedy
|
Scotch Plains
|
SR
|
2:20.75
|
|
4
Jenai Berry
|
Scotch Plains
|
JR
|
2:21.28
|
|
5
Jessica Lyons
|
Allentown
|
SR
|
2:21.28
|
|
6
Olivia Petschauer
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
2:22.79
|
|
#42 Kylie Jacoutot
(Outdoor Track), Pennsauken,
Group III, June 10, 2022
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2022
season summary
Video
|
Kylie had struggled for 3 years to stay healthy long enough to show her
talent. She had tried hurdling in 2021 but it had led to some
injuries. She was giving it one more shot. After running some 55
meter hurdles races in the winter, she was ready to try the 400 hurdles, a
race that "hurts a lot!" She made her debut at the Monmouth Relays and
had the fastest time of the day (65.98). She then won the Monmouth
County and Shore Conference Champs in 64.48 and 64.28, breaking the school
record both times. Next, was the Central Jersey Group III Champs where
she was challenged for the 1st time. Miriam Okwudibonye (Ewing) and
Kylie ran most of the final 50 meters shoulder to shoulder until Kylie edged
ahead the last 10 meters to win by .11 of a second in 62.62, a Freehold
District record. Group III would be a rematch with Miriam as they had
the fastest two times going in. It was Kylie in lane 4 and Miriam in
lane 5. As they hit the final straight, it was Kylie and Miriam way
ahead of the field. Miriam had a 1 step lead over hurdle 8. It
stayed that way over hurdles 9 and 10. With no hurdles left, Kylie dug
down and was even with Miriam with 40 meters to go and inched ahead in the
last 2 meters to outlean her, winning by .03 secs in 62.69. She had
found her event.
|
Kylie would go on and finish 3rd at the Meet of
Champions and run in the Championship section of the New Balance
National Championships.
|
|
Group III 400 hurdles
|
|
1 Kylie Jacoutot
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
1:02.69
|
|
2 Miriam Okwudibonye
|
Ewing
|
SR
|
1:02.72
|
|
3
Molly Bennett
|
Northern Highlands
|
SR
|
1:05.20
|
|
4 Anna Bryan-Jones
|
Northern Highlands
|
SO
|
1:05.61
|
|
5
Isabella Alvarez-Gomez
|
Cranford
|
FR
|
1:06.44
|
|
6
Hayley Brookes
|
Morris Knolls
|
SR
|
1:06.47
|
|
#43 Ava Wilmot
(Outdoor Track), Pennsauken,
Group III, June 10, 2022
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2022
season summary
Video
Interview
Meet Story
|
It had been a tough 1 1/2 years for Ava. After a fantastic frosh
season, cut short by the pandemic, she was excited to make her soph year
special. Feeling fatigued and nursing an ankle injury, her season
cross country season ended with a stress fracture. Still feeling
fatigue in the winter season, she found out she had Lymes disease which had
probably affected the fall season. It continued to affect her in the
spring as she contined taking rounds of medication. Seemingly better
and running well in cross country (19:16 at Holmdel Park PB), the fatigue
returned. As it continued into the winter, she found it was now iron
deficiency. Now taking iron pills, her serum ferritan numbers slowly
started to rise. Her 1st steeplechase race qualified her for the
Nationals and an 800 PB (personal best) at the Colts Neck Spring Inv showed
promise. A near PB in the Nite of 3200s (11:20.29) and another near PB
in the 1600 (5:09.78) at the Monmouth County Champs showed she was close to
being back. The breakthrough race was winning the Shore Conference on
a very hot day in 11:14.75. More importantly, she was able to finish a
race strong for the 1st time since freshman year. She followed that
winning both the 3200 and 1600 at the Central Jersey Group III Champs.
In the Group III race, she was the 2nd seed. Melina Johnston
(Robbinsville) took off fast and gapped the field. Ava Augustine
(Menham) was by herself in 2nd as Ava stayed with the main pack. Near
the end of the 2nd lap, Ava left the chase pack to go after the leaders.
Augustine took the lead at 1000 meters as Ava caught up to the top 2.
Those three pulled away as Ava sat in 3rd. On the 4th lap, Ava moved
into 2nd as Johnston fell back. Ava would stay in 2nd until 950 meters
to go, where she made a big surge to quickly pull away. By 600 to go, it was
a 2.5 lead and by the finish, the lead had grown to 10+ secs. The
comeback was complete!
400m Splits:
|
80.1
|
2:43.2 (83.1)
|
4:05.6 (82.4)
|
5:28.6 (83.0)
|
|
6:52.6 (84.0)
|
8:16.6 (84.0)
|
9:38.6 (82.0)
|
10:55.92 (77.3)
|
|
first 1600 5:28.6 |
2nd 1600 5:27.3 |
last 800 2:39.3 |
|
|
Ava would come back the next day and finish 4th
in the 1600 in a PB 5:00.62. She would then finish 8th at the
New Balance Nationals in the 2000 meter steeplechase in 7:07.65, a CN
junior record
|
|
Group III 3200
|
|
1 Ava Wilmot
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
10:55.92
|
|
2 Ava Augustine
|
Mendham
|
SR
|
11:06.27
|
|
3
Melina Johnston
|
Robbinsville
|
SO
|
11:09.67
|
|
4 Cassidy Roop
|
North Hunterdon
|
SO
|
11:14.92
|
|
5 Taylor Guthrie
|
Toms River South
|
SR
|
11:16.87
|
|
6
Meghan Rentner
|
Allentown
|
JR
|
11:17.33
|
|
#44 Hunter Celkupa
(Indoor Track), Toms River,
Group III, February 17, 2024
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2024
season summary
Video
Meet Story
|
Hunter was having an outstanding junior year. He had beat his personal
best at Holmdel Park by 1:23 in running 16:19. He was undefeated in
the 1600, winning Monmouth County (4:18.81) and the Central Jersey Group III
Champs (4:24.41) and had run big personal bests in the 800 (1:55.52), 1000
(2:32.53) and the 3200 (9:27.31). He was the #1 seed in the Group III
race but was going to try to win the 1600 and the 3200. He would need
to win the 1600 as easy as possible. The decision was made to run an
honest first 800, even if he had to lead, and then bring the pace up until
everyone was broken and then relax. Through the 200, he was 4th in an
honest 31.3 and then the pace slowed just before the 400. Hunter took
the lead at 400 picked the pace back up and they let him go. He had 5
meters at 600 and then expanded it to 2.5 secs at the 800 and 6.5 secs at
the 1200. From there, Hunter started to coast to save his strength for
the 3200. Read about the 3200 below.
Hunter had a break through
season indoors, winning the Group III individual titles in the 1600 and
3200, before getting the flu right before the Meet of Champions. In
the spring, he had run personal bests of 4:15.10 in the 1600 and 9:08.44 in
the 3200. He was now the one with the target on his back. At
race time, it was 80 degrees and breezy so the plan was to sit and kick
late, to save energy for the 1600, the next day. Joshua Tejada
(Teaneck) was the early leader and he kept the pace honest, despite the hot
temperatures. Hunter was in 5th through the 800 as the whole field was
still together. Hunter was still in 5th at the 1600 but the
front pack was down to 7. Included in that pack was Jay Adimala (Colts
Neck) who would be forced to stop just past the 1600 when his shoe was
stepped on and came off. Tejada still led with Matt Hoffman (Ocean
City) on his shoulder until 1500 to go when Hoffman passed Tejada and the
pace picked up. Hunter quickly moved into 3rd and stayed right behind
the two. The three pulled away from the rest as the pace moved under
70 for the first time. With 800 to go, the three were in single file,
Hoffman, Tejada and Hunter. Hunter moved past Tejada with 600 to go.
With 300 to go, he moved by Hoffman and when he accelerated with 170 meters
to go, he broke away and won by 4+ seconds. Now the 1600 waited for
him after a night's sleep. Read about the 1600 below.
400m Splits:
|
64.8
|
2:10.5 (65.7)
|
3:14.5 (64.0)
|
4:20.50 (66.0)
|
|
first 800 2:10.5 |
2nd 800 2:10.0 |
|
|
|
Hunter would be one of the favorites for the Meet
of Champions but would come down with a virus 7 days before and be
unable to compete.
|
|
Group III 1600
|
|
1 Hunter Celkupa
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
4:20.50
|
|
2 Matthew Littlehales
|
Delsea
|
SO
|
4:21.71
|
|
3
Cortland Webb
|
Highland Reg
|
SR
|
4:23.21
|
|
4 Kennan Byers
|
Randolph
|
SO
|
4:23.49
|
|
5 Preston Gumann
|
Randolph
|
JR
|
4:27.56
|
|
6
Carter Herman
|
Summit
|
JR
|
4:31.66
|
|
#45 Hunter Celkupa
(Indoor Track), Toms River,
Group III, February 17, 2024
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2024
season summary
Video
Meet Story
|
Hunter was coming back from winning the 1600 (see above). The meet had
been pushed back a few hours because of early morning snow and it was now
late at night. The officials decided to have one heat of 22 to save
time. To make matters worse, noone wanted to push the pace so it was
overcrowded, three abreast with lots of tripping. Hunter was #1 seed
in this event as well after winning the Central Jersey Group III meet in
9:29. Hunter managed to get on the
inside and was 8th at the 400, 7th at 800, 8th at 1200 and 6th at the 1600,
with people running three wide. The pace picked up after 1600 as
Hoffman of Ocean City went to the lead at 1900. The pack was down to
11 with tons of tripping still going on. With 800 to go, it was still
11 in the front group with Hunter in 3rd and John Shapiro in 4th. With
3 laps to go (600), there was still 9 together, four wide. Hunter went
to the lead, followed by John. He hit 400 to go with a Weiss of
Roxbury a meter behind with Hoffman a step behind him. It was a meter
lead over Hoffman at the bell and then Hunter ran away to win by just over 3
secs.
400m Splits:
|
72.4
|
2:26.6 (74.2)
|
3:39.3 (72.7)
|
4:54.0 (74.7)
|
|
6:04.3 (70.3)
|
7:17.0 (72.7)
|
8:26.7 (69.7)
|
9:31.17 (63.5)
|
|
first 1600 4:54.0 |
2nd 1600 4:37.2 |
last 800 2:13.2 |
|
|
Hunter planned to run the 1600 as one of the
favorites for the Meet of Champions but would come down with a virus 7
days before and be unable to compete.
|
|
Group III 3200
|
|
1 Hunter Celkupa
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
9:31.17
|
|
2 Matt Hoffman
|
Ocean City
|
SR
|
9:34.36
|
|
3
Jared Weiss
|
Roxbury
|
SR
|
9:34.85
|
|
4 Thomas Amato
|
Randolph
|
JR
|
9:36.93
|
|
5 Joshua Tejada
|
Teaneck
|
SR
|
9:37.55
|
|
6
Andrew Tatesure
|
Lacey Twp
|
SR
|
9:38.38
|
|
#46 Hunter Celkupa
(Spring Track), Delsea,
Group III, May 31, 2024
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2024
season summary
Video
|
Hunter had a break through season indoors, winning the Group III individual
titles in the 1600 and 3200, before getting the flu right before the Meet of
Champions. In the spring, he had run personal bests of 4:15.10 in the
1600 and 9:08.44 in the 3200. He was now the one with the target on
his back. At race time, it was 80 degrees, humid and breezy so the
plan was to sit and kick late, to save energy for the 1600, the next day.
Joshua Tejada (Teaneck) was the early leader and he kept the pace honest,
despite the hot temperatures. Hunter was in 5th through the 800 as the
whole field was still together. Hunter was still in 5th at the
1600 but the front pack was down to 7. Included in that pack was Jay
Adimala (Colts Neck) who would be forced to stop just past the 1600 when his
shoe was stepped on and came off. Tejada still led with Matt Hoffman
(Ocean City) on his shoulder until 1500 to go when Hoffman passed Tejada and
the pace picked up. Hunter quickly moved into 3rd and stayed right
behind the two. The three pulled away from the rest as the pace moved
under 70 for the first time. With 800 to go, the three were in single
file, Hoffman, Tejada and Hunter. Hunter moved past Tejada with 600 to
go. With 300 to go, he moved by Hoffman and when he accelerated with
170 meters to go, he broke away and won by 4+ seconds. Now the 1600
waited for him after a night's sleep. Read about the 1600 below.
400m Splits:
|
70.1
|
2:20.7 (70.6)
|
3:31.7 (71.0)
|
4:43.1 (71.4)
|
|
5:52.8 (69.7)
|
7:02.5 (69.7)
|
8:12.3 (69.8)
|
9:16.54 (64.2)
|
|
first 1600 4:43.1 |
2nd 1600 4:33.4 |
last 800 2:14.0 |
|
|
Hunter would decide to focus on just the 1600 at
the Meet of Champions and finish 3rd in 4:08.92. He would also
anchor the 4 x 1 mile at the New Balance Nationals, the day after the
Meet of Champions to a 6th place finish, running 4:17.06. three
days later, he anchored the Distance Medley Relay with a 4:15.10.
With NJSIAA screwing up the end of season schedule, Hunter ended up
running a 9:16, 4:12, 4:08, 4:17 mile and a 4:15 in 10 days.
|
|
Group III 1600
|
|
1 Hunter Celkupa
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
9:16.54
|
|
2 Matt Hoffman
|
Ocean City
|
SR
|
9:22.90
|
|
3
Joshua Tejada
|
Teaneck
|
SR
|
9:23.85
|
|
4 Andrew Tatesure
|
Lacey
|
SR
|
9:29.54
|
|
5 Jared Weiss
|
Roxbury
|
SR
|
9:33.78
|
|
6
Jimmy Hernandez
|
Bergenfield
|
JR
|
9:34.20
|
|
#47 Hunter Celkupa
(Outdoor Track), Delsea,
Group III, June 1, 2024
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2024
season summary
Video
|
After a good night's sleep and a 1.5 hour drive to Delsea, Hunter was ready
to go after his 4th state title. The weather was a little nicer than
the evening before, slightly cooler but with much less humidity. Alex
Pelov (Montville) was the #1 seed and was known for his mid-race surge.
The gun went off and it seemed like no one wanted to lead. As they
passed 300, Hunter was 4th, teammate John Shapiro 3rd, with Pelov leading.
At 350 meters, Pelov drastically picked up the pace with Shapiro 2nd and
Hunter 3rd. After a 400 in 67.5, the 2nd lap was 63.9. As they
hit 800, Pelov accelerated again and only Hunter 2nd, Shapiro 3rd and
Hoffman (Ocean City) were able to stay with him. With 600 to go, it
was only Pelov, Celkupa and Hoffman left in the front pack. They hit
1200 after a 60.8 lap and the order was the same. Hunter went to
Pelov's shoulder with 300 to go and Pelov accelerated again. With 150
to go, Hoffman tried to go past both and tried to cut Hunter off as they
both passed Pelov. They ran shoulder to shoulder for 50 meters until
Hunter pulled away with 70 meters to go to win by 1 second.
400m Splits:
|
67.5
|
2:11.4 (63.9)
|
3:12.2 (60.8)
|
4:12.00 (59.8)
|
|
first 800 2:11.4 |
2nd 800 2:00.6 |
last 1200 3:04.5 |
|
|
Hunter would decide to focus on just the 1600 at
the Meet of Champions and finish 3rd in 4:08.92. He would also
anchor the 4 x 1 mile at the New Balance Nationals, the day after the
Meet of Champions to a 6th place finish, running 4:17.06. Three
days later, he anchored the Distance Medley Relay with a 4:15.10.
With NJSIAA screwing up the end of season schedule, Hunter ended up
running a 9:16, 4:12, 4:08, 4:17 mile and a 4:15 in 10 days.
|
|
Group III 1600
|
|
1 Hunter Celkupa
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
4:12.00
|
|
2 Matt Hoffman
|
Ocean City
|
SR
|
4:13.00
|
|
3
Alex Pelov
|
Montville Twp
|
JR
|
4:13.78
|
|
4 Adam Petitjean
|
Chatham
|
JR
|
4:20.57
|
|
5 John Shapiro
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
4:20.68
|
|
6
Grayson Wolf
|
Jackson Liberty
|
SR
|
4:22.44
|
|
#48 Jay Adimala/Hunter Celkupa
(Cross Country), Holmdel Park,
Group III, November 9, 2024
|
|
full
race result
CN
website race result
2024
season summary
Video
Interview
|
Hunter was the 2nd fastest returner from 2023 but Jay was coming off his 1st
cross country season (he did not compete as a freshman). In fact, Jay
was only the 26th returner with a best of 17:24 at Holmdel Park. They
had become training partners, along with John Shapiro, after Jay's
breakthrough spring. They had all trained side by side all summer and
fall. Jay had become the #1 runner mid season but after a form
correction the week of the State meet, Hunter felt like his old self, a 4 x
State champion. On race day, the plan was to work together and the
goal was a 1-2 finish. After an extremely slow first mile (5:37), a
huge lead pack headed for the bowl. Right after the mile, a Chatham
runner surged to the lead and started to force the pace. Using the
downhill into the bowl, Hunter and Jay surged into a small 5 meter lead.
As they started up the bowl hill, Pelov (Montville) surged hard up the hill
and opened a 20 meter lead. Using the first downhill after the bowl,
Hunter and Jay caught back up and opened a 5 meter lead over Pelov by 2
miles. The lead grew to about 7-8 seconds as they hit the homestretch.
They eased up as they tried to talk the other into going over the line
first. Finally, they finished together as they became the first CN
boy's runner to win a cross country individual title since Craig Forys in
2006. Mile Splits:
| 5:37 |
10:53 (5:16) |
last 1.1 16:10 (5:17) |
|
After the State meet to come.
|
|
Group III 1600
|
|
1 Jay Adimala
|
Colts Neck
|
JR
|
16:10
|
|
1 Hunter Celkupa
|
Colts Neck
|
SR
|
16:10
|
|
3
Alex Pelov
|
Montville Twp
|
SR
|
16:15
|
|
4 Jimmy Hernandez
|
Bergenfield
|
SR
|
16:22
|
|
5 Sean Wemmlinger
|
Morris Knolls
|
JR
|
16:23
|
|
6
Marcus Valenzuela
|
Chatham
|
JR
|
16:24
|
|
7
Thomas Amato
|
Randolph
|
SR
|
16:29
|
|
8 Preston Guman
|
Randolph
|
SR
|
16:30
|
|
9 Ethan Buck
|
Ocean City
|
SR
|
16:31
|
|
10
Keenan Neuman
|
Ocean City
|
SO
|
16:32
|
|
Relay
State Champions
|
