Monroe’s first female cross country team since 1999 defeats Carteret for a successful return
By: Redd E. Patrick
The Monroe High School girls cross country team defeated Carteret on Tuesday in a dual meet at Thompson Park. That may not exactly be earth-shattering news, but for Kristi Motyka and the rest of the Falcons, it was huge.
Even though it was a forfeit victory Carteret had just four runners it marked the first time the Monroe girls had a full team since the 1999 season. Last year, Motyka and Amy Finkel were the only two runners on the team as the Falcons had to forfeit every meet.
When the 2001 season began, it was just Motyka and freshman Jessica Magid. But first-year coach Frank Bonich did some recruiting. He was able to get Kim Garavente, the sister of boys’ team member Joe Garavente, along with Anna Kumor. So the Falcons began competing with four.
The fifth runner which is needed to compete in an official meet was Bernadette Moke. It took a while for Moke to get the proper paperwork completed, but that day came on Tuesday.
"I saw Bernadette’s note in my mailbox at school on Tuesday,” Bonich said. "So I go out to get the team together and there she is with her sweats and headphones on, ready to go. The girls were so excited to have a team, especially Kristi. She ran up to Jessica and said, ‘We have a team. We have a team.’ "
Motyka was so excited, the sophomore went out and ran a personal best time of 23:46.
In a tri-meet with Carteret and North Brunswick (a 20-38 loss), Motyka finished fourth in a very talented field. Magid ran 26:11 to finish ninth, while Garavente finished 10th in 27:30.
Kumor, who had run 30:03 in her first meet the previous week, ran 27:30, improving by almost three minutes. Making her XC debut, Moke ran 30:34.
"Having a team is great,” said Bonich, whose girls team is now 1-3. "At least you have a chance to win.”
The boys team was beaten by Carteret, 19-40. Bonich was upset because a couple of runners did not show up.
In a very good field, Joe Garavente (19:26), Joe Schmidt (19:59) and Jay Merrick (21:36) finished 8th, 10th and 15th for the Falcons.
Monroe also competed at the Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel Park on Saturday. Bonich had the option of running his top kids in the varsity race or sub-varsity. Running in sub-varsity competition, certain runners would have a chance to medal, the but varsity competition would help them down the road.
"I decided to run them in the varsity race,” said Bonich. "We didn’t do very well, the competition was outstanding, but I think they all gained valuable experience. In the future, they will know what to do.”
Monroe did enter a team in the JV B race, a team of two sophomores, two juniors and a freshman. In a field of 215, Jay Merrick was 120th, Rob Suchan 165th, Chris Reiser 176th, Steve Modzelewski 185th and Tom Albetta 188th.
Competing in the D race, which is for Group II and III schools, Monroe ran four sophomores and a junior. In a field of 216 runners, Garavente (20:09) was 152nd, Ryan Sengebush (20:39) 168th, Joe Schmidt (20:52) 178th, Dave Arnold (22:06) 197th and John Ronan (23:21) 204th.
In the Girls D race, Magid ran 24:58 and finished 133rd out of 177.
Monroe’s teams will compete in the Raider Invitational this Saturday, and have one more warm-up before the GMC Meet when they travel to John F. Kennedy on Tuesday. The GMC’s will be next Saturday at Thompson Park.

