CHRIS TROYANO Old Bridge High School’s Dan Harding (l) battles with St. Joseph’s Jim Flannery for first place at the Greater Middlesex Conference Cross Country Championships at Thompson Park in Jamesburg on Oct. 20.
Last week at Holmdel Park, the Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, cross country team failed to win a Monmouth County Championship for the first time in 20 years.
An up-and-coming boys team from Red Bank Regional High School shocked the Colts, and everyone else for that matter, by cruising past the perennial county champs by a 19-point margin, 74-93, while simultaneously sending notice that the Colts are no longer a "sure thing" during the Shore’s championship season.
In other words, Oct. 16’s shocking development signified the end to one of the state’s most impressive runs in recent history. And for cross country fans in the area, it meant the birth of a new rivalry, and the end of an era.
Meanwhile, in the Greater Middlesex Conference, a CBA-like powerhouse is just beginning to show how far ahead of the pack it is, and is serving notice that you’d better get used to running for second place once the championship season begins in the GMC.
The Old Bridge High School boys cross country team is every bit as good as many of the championship squads CBA put together during its 20-year run at the top of its respective conference. And the scary thing is, they’re only going to get better.
Much has been written about the Knights’ dominance so far this year, and with a slew of talented underclassmen (and middle school students) already turning heads throughout the GMC, people are beginning to use the word "dynasty" when describing the state of coach Rich Gebauer’s budding program.
The Knights, who have been battling with perennial power Haddonfield throughout the year for the elusive No. 1 ranking in the state, have done everything you could ask for from a top-ranked team, winning invitationals in dominant fashion, and blowing out opponent after opponent, while waiting for the ultimate test to arrive, the Meet of Champions. That Nov. 17 meet may be the only time Old Bridge will truly be tested this year, but that doesn’t mean they’re taking it easy along the way.
Last weekend’s GMC Cross Country Championships provided the team with yet another chance to flex their muscles, and they didn’t disappoint. The Knights ran away with the overall team title, placing five runners among the top seven, en route to their third straight conference title.
Defending champion Dan Harding was the first Knight to cross the line in 16:05.25, finishing behind only St. Joseph’s Jim Flannery (16:05.21) in what was basically a dead heat for the last 15 meters.
From there, Old Bridge’s Tim Paule (16:15), Ryan Bennett (16:16), Rich LaFergola (16:23) and Eddie Jimenez (16:33) crossed the line, giving the Knights the 2-3-4-6-7 finish it needed to win. But when Paul Burke crossed in 10th (16:51), and Justin Marquez crossed in 15th (17:03), the Knights finished with 22 points, believed to be a record. That total was more than enough to allow the Knights to distance themselves from the field, and add another chapter to what is becoming a pretty impressive story that may only be in its introductory phase.
Meanwhile, while the Knights were cruising to their victory, a number of other local teams found themselves in a competitive battle for second through fifth place.
East Brunswick got an impressive performance from Alex Shatskov, who crossed the line in eighth (16:33). And when Cliff Berber came in in 14th (17:01), followed by Gary Klegman in 18th (17:15), the Bears squeaked out a second-place finish with 95 points, just five points less than third-place finisher South Brunswick.
The Vikings got a fifth-place finish from Matt Randal (16:20), an 11th-place finish from Scott Yeager (16:53), a 17th-place finish from Dan McDonald, and 19th-place finish from Ankush Patel (17:17)
Spotswood came in 10th with 294 points, while North Brunswick came in 12th with 363 points. The Sayreville Bombers were 17th (466), while Monroe took 22nd (552), and South River finished in 24th (730).
On the girls side of competition, it was once again a dominant Old Bridge team running away from the field, as the Lady Knights displayed their dominance en route to a conference title.
The Lady Knights’ performance was very impressive, and served as a reminder that the school has two outstanding cross country squads capable of running among the state’s elite teams.
The East Brunswick girls managed to post a fifth-place overall finish with 159 points, after getting a 21st-place finish from Vicki Helktzenroder. South Brunswick finished in seventh with 168 points.