RAIDER ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High boys’ cross country team posted an impressive sweep of last week’s tri-meet at North Hunterdon with Warren Hills.
Hillsborough (3-0) placed seven of the top nine runners within a span of 1:22 to defeat North (15-48) and Warren Hills (18-45).
Mike Klueber continued his hold on the front of the pack by winning the race in a time of 17:00. Nick Vaccaro wasn’t far behind in 17:04, while Matt Lunemann finished fourth in 17:11. Dan Ruch of Warren Hills squeezed in for third place.
"That kid from Warren Hills is pretty good," HHS head coach Rich Refi said. "I wanted them to let him go and run in a pack, but they went after him."
The competitive edge got the best of Klueber and Vaccaro, who didn’t want to lose any personal battles to runners from other schools.
Jared Lewinski led Hillsborough’s second pack by finishing fifth overall in a time of 18:05. He was closely followed by Erik Szabocsik (6th, 18:07), Kani Brown (8th, 18:19) and John Folger (9th, 18:22).
The Raiders were set to challenge Hunterdon Central and Watchung Hills at Warren Municipal Fields yesterday.
Uniszkiewicz leads
girls to split
Ashley Uniszkiewicz crossed the finish line first but none of her Hillsborough teammates followed until after seven North Hunterdon runners in last week’s tri-meet.
Uniszkiewicz won the race in a time of 19:25. The deep and balanced Lions went 2-8 to sweep the meet. Hillsborough lost to North (20-43) but blanked Warren Hills (15-50).
"We’re young and it’s going to take some time to develop," Refi said. "We’re improving, but North Hunterdon is very good."
Sophomore Jess Tsai ran her personal-best (21:21) to finish ninth overall for the Raiders (2-1). Other HHS finishers included Amanda Walzer (13th, 22:28), Eileen Cafferty (14th, 22:29), Ingrid Mellor (15th, 22:35), Emily Geng (16th, 22:59) and Stacey Ablett (18th, 23:24).
Geigert goals end
field hockey skid
Jenn Geigert scored her seventh and eighth goals of the season to lead the HHS field hockey unit to a huge 2-1 victory over Bridgewater.
The Raiders were trailing at the half and in danger of losing their fourth consecutive game after starting the season with two wins. Geigert scored twice in the second half, once on an assist by Colleen Yancheck, and the host Raiders evened their record at 3-3.
Dana Scarantino and Sarah Brennan combined in goal for the Raiders, who shut down Bridgewater for most of the game after Mackenzie Stewart connected in the fourth minute of the first half.
Hillsborough was scheduled to begin its second run through the Delaware Division schedule with games vs. North Hunterdon and Hunterdon Central this week. Last week’s rained out game against Watchung Hills was moved to Oct. 30.
Girls beaten in
physical battle
The Lady Raider soccer team will be looking forward to a little payback in the Oct. 23 rematch after last Friday’s 4-1 loss at Bridgewater.
HHS first-year head coach Cindy Vacacela felt her team played hard but the Panthers got all the breaks and benefited from some favorable officiating. Hillsborough sustained three injuries, including two concussions when no fouls were called.
The game was scoreless at the half but Bridgewater struck quickly in the second half, scoring twice in the first 6:34 to take a 2-0 lead. Natalie Inman connected off a Katelyn Powers assist a minute later and the HHS girls gained a little momentum. After 20 more minutes of scoreless action, the Panthers scored twice in a six-minute span to put the game away.
Hillsborough goalkeeper Lindsay Krahn played an inspired game with nine saves, including two breakaway stops in the first half.
Injuries are starting to mount for the Raiders (5-2), who played their fourth straight game without standout midfielder Danae Risoli. Vacacela figured her club needed to sweep this week’s division games vs. North Hunterdon and Hunterdon Central to stay in contention for the title.
Risoli is expected to return by next week, which should boost the team’s chances in the upcoming Somerset County Tournament.
"It was hard for the girls (without Risoli) in the beginning," Vacacela said. "Of course, it’s not the same type of game. We’re getting to a tough part of our schedule. We’re worrying about the conference first, then the counties, then the states. It’s one step at a time."
Vacacela credited Inman and Sara Fedorczyk with taking on a greater role in providing offense. Captain Becky Dmuchowski has become more vocal in keeping the team focused. Younger players like Ashley Lunemann, Renee Kelly, Kaitlin Gerberville and Shari Kleiman have also helped pick up the slack.
Tennis girls
just miss states
A bad break in the schedule may have kept the HHS girls’ tennis squad from qualifying for the state tournament.
Friday’s match at Phillipsburg was moved to Oct. 10, which is past the state deadline. That left the Raiders with a 3-4 record at the cut-off.
Hillsborough needed to sweep last week’s two matches but dropped a 4-1 decision to Bridgewater after blanking Franklin. The second doubles team of Sara Lavell and Carolyn Chen scored a 6-4, 6-3 victory for the team’s lone point.
The rest of the HHS lineup was beaten in straight sets. Katie Merriam and Kristen Shoop took one game each in their matches at first and third singles, respectively, while Catherine Kinrade provided more resistance in her 6-2, 6-4 setback.
Erin Aiello and Jen Wagner lost their first doubles match by the same score.
The Raiders completed a season sweep of Franklin with an easy victory earlier in the week. Kinrade only dropped one game, while Merriam and Shoop allowed two each in their straight set wins.
Wagner and Aiello posted a 6-1, 6-2 triumph, while Lavell and Chen scored a 6-3, 6-3 victory to complete the shutout.
Hillsborough was scheduled to face Hunterdon Central, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Watchung Hills and Voorhees during this busy week of action.

