Novak helps Westampton Tech to Group II finals

By: Sean Moylan
   When Rob Novak’s older sister saw Westampton Tech’s Raymon Fuller emerge out of the woods, she began to get worried.
   Novak had always had a little lead over his talented teammate going down the home stretch and last Saturday’s Group II Cross Country Sectional Meet at Delsea shouldn’t have been any different.
   Yet it wasn’t until 28 seconds later that a noticeably weak Novak crossed the finish line in 13th place.
   Almost immediately, both Novak’s mother, Beryl, and his sister became very concerned for his health.
   "He fell down on the ground and hit it hard and said ‘Asthma att—a—ck!’," noted Beryl.
   After a few moments, when his breathing returned to semi-normal state, the great Bordentown native’s sick condition quickly turned to one of depression.
   "He thought he had let his teammates down," said Beryl.
   Nonetheless, Novak’s Westampton Tech teammates gathered around him to offer support and comfort. After all, he had led them to many victories and team records this season.
   Then, minutes later, one of Novak’s teammates ran up to him very excited, and said, "we got fifth place." By taking fifth, Westampton Tech qualified for the State Finals as a team.
   And Novak’s 17:19 time had been the difference. From the first mile marker on, Novak had wheezed and coughed his way to the finish line thinking of his teammates.
   Then on Monday, his doctor had reprimanded him for not stopping in the middle of the race, Novak said, "It was a matter of life and death that I finished that race."
   Although he should have stopped for health reasons, Rob "Super" Novak is too great a competitor to ever give up, regardless of the circumstances.
   He is one of the great winners of Bordentown.
   Bordentown’s great distance runner, Amanda Pone, placed 27th in Group II with a time of 22:27.