FARRAH MAFFAI Holmdel’s Craig Segal crosses the finish line in 15:32.10 to win the Shore Conference Championship at Ocean County Park on Saturday.
Two days before the Shore Conference Cross Country Championships, Holmdel’s Craig Segal and his teammates worked out on the Ocean County Park course which was to be the site of the 2001 championships.
The Monmouth County champion used the time to check the course out strategically, to see where runners could most likely strike. With no blind turns where a runner could get away and hide from the field, and no distinguishing hills as at Holmdel Park where he could make a push, Segal decided that the signature point on the course would be the final 150 meters. It’s just after the runners have run around the creek that surrounds the park. There is a short uphill, and then the 150-meter straight-away to the finish. That is where the Hornet determined the race would be won.
On race day, however, the outcome was decided well before Segal climbed that brief uphill. As he has all fall, Segal beat his opponents using a long, sustained drive over the final mile of the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) race, a drive that takes the bite out of his challengers’ finishing kick.
"When you make a move, it has to be final," said Segal. "Right before two miles, I decided that it was time to move. It was an instinctive move."
FARRAH MAFFAI Middletown South’s Nicole Lombardy crosses the finish line at 18:45.60, good enough for third at the Shore Conference Championships at Ocean County Park on Saturday.
Segal had sensed that the time was right to make his push and his instincts were correct. Toms River North’s Pete Hess, who had been running in tandem with Segal from the front, did not respond and made the fatal mistake of letting the Hornet open up a gap that the Mariner would never be able to close.
The flat Ocean County course was very conducive to fast running and Segal cranked out the fastest 5K at Ocean County Park this year, 15:32.1. Hess followed in second at 15:38.2 and Toms River South’s Eddie Baynes, the Ocean County champion who never made a run at the lead, was third (15:53.2). Segal’s time was 22 seconds faster than Baynes’ when he beat Hess at the Ocean County meet.
Segal couldn’t have scripted the race any better than it played out for him as he became the first Hornet to win the SC cross country championship.
"I planned to hang behind Hess throughout the race," he said. "I never raced him before, but I had heard how he ran the Ocean County race from the front, and I expected that he would take it out and that Baynes would make his move late.
"I felt really good throughout the race," he added. "There were so many people around the course. It was overwhelming."
For the second time this year, Christian Brothers Academy saw a 19-year winning streak come to an end. At the Monmouth County Championships it was Red Bank Regional stunning the Colts. At the SC, it was Toms River North, Ocean County’s top team, confirming its top 10 state ranking that lifted the crown from CBA. The Mariners, led by Hess, topped both RBR (98) and CBA (99) with its 70-point total.
William Melofchik led the Colts with his sixth place (16:01.3). Patrick Ryan was 13th (16:17.1) and Jeff Peterson, 15th (16:19).
Holmdel finished fourth (108). Paul Merces (16:29.7) was second to Segal for the Hornets, finishing in 18th place. Leonard Vignone (16:32.7) and Edward Li (16:37.9) ran 20th and 22nd.
Middletown South’s Dan Ciambrone joined the conference elite by finishing seventh (16:03.3). His teammate Sean Rath (16:43.6) was 25th as the Eagles finished fifth (153).
St. John Vianney’s Victor Vientos (16:32.5) was 19th.
Middletown South’s girls (106) were first among the Monmouth County teams, beating the 2001 champion Red Bank Catholic (136), but it only got the Eagles a third place against the powerful Ocean County tandem of champion Southern Regional (87) and Toms River East (102). Southern is ranked third in the state and Toms River East, eighth.
Nicole Lombardy led the way as she has all year. The Monmouth County champion finished third overall after posting an 18:45.6. Rumson-Fair Haven’s Christy Planer, who was second to Lombardy at the county championships, turned the tables on Lombardy with a convincing win over Southern’s Kegga Schaffer, 18:30.1-18:39.5.
Tina Morrison ran a strong race for the Eagles, coming up with a top 10 finish. Her 19:21.6 was good enough for ninth place. Rickie Lee DeMaio was the Eagles’ No. 3 runner finishing 28th (20:12.6).
Holmdel’s Ashley Folchetti (19:58.2) and SJV’s Laura Carpenter (16:59) were 21st and 22nd.
Saturday it’s the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group state championships at Holmdel Park. Here, Segal will face his greatest challenge of the season, Haddonfield’s Chris Platt. Haddonfield is the top-ranked team in the state and Platt is rated one of the two or three best runners in the state. Segal can join the group at the top with a win against Platt.
CBA will be looking to hold onto its Parochial A state championship. The Colts have won six straight parochial titles.
The top 10 individuals and top three teams (plus wild cards) will advance from Saturday’s Group meets to the Meet of Champions on Nov. 17 at Holmdel Park.