BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY staff RBC’s Joe Berardi holds off CBA’s Chris Horel for fourth place at Saturday’s Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park. HOLMDEL — Everyone dreams of running the perfect race.
In the case of Red Bank Catholic’s Joe Berardi, it wasn’t a dream. The senior achieved it at Saturday’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
Berardi lowered his personal best at Holmdel Park by a whopping 37 seconds to 16:07 in finishing an unexpected fourth at the state championship meet.
“It’s still a shock to me,” said Berardi. “Everything just fell into place. I hadn’t dreamed of finishing in the top five. It’s surreal”
CHRIS KELLY staff Red Bank Regional’s Christina Nelson tries to hold off a pair of runners as they near the finish line at Saturday’s MOC. Berardi said he followed the game plan that coach Rob DeFillippis had drawn up.
“I had a worked out with [Raritan’s] Matt Dahl at Holmdel Park and we worked on the first 1,200 meters,” he pointed out. “Coach DeFillippis told me to be calm for the first 1,200 meters. I should be in the top 40, he said, and from there push the pace and start picking people off. Everything he told me worked.”
At the mile, Berardi had moved up to 22nd. Leaving the famed bowl section of the course, the Casey put down the hammer.
“Out of the bowl I surged to the tennis courts, moving up to 13th,” he said “When you starting picking off kids, you know you are running well. I knew then it could be a special day. I felt really strong”
Berardi was in a zone now, and just kept reeling in one runner after another. Near the finish line, he picked off Christian Brothers Academy’s Chris Horel in the race to the finish line. Both were given 16:07 with Berardi getting fourth place to his Shore rival’s fifth. Horel’s Colts, though, won the team championship with 69 points.
The Casey harrier finished second among Shore distance runners, trailing only Colts Neck’s Craig Forys, who was second in 15:53. Gill Saint Bernard’s Bob Papazian, the pre-race favorite, lived up to his top-billing by cranking out the fastest time of the year, 15:39. The senior moved to eighth place all-time at Holmdel Park.
Berardi not only ran a personal best at Holmdel, but shattered the old school record set last year by Conrad Laskowski of 16:24. He raised the bar for future Caseys.
By relaxing a the start of the race and just concentrating on the runners in front of him, Berardi was able to avoid problems he’s had in the past at Holmdel.
“My problem in the past was I thought too much,” noted Berardi. “I thought about dying in the race, of running out of energy.”
Instead of running out of energy Saturday, he gained strength and confidence with every runner he passed, coming up with the race of a lifetime in the biggest race of the year.
“This is a race I’ll always remember,” he said.
Ocean Township’s Greg Kremier came up with a fine effort himself, finishing 19th (16:23).
On the girls side, Red Bank Regional’s Christina Nelson also made dramatic improvement. The 2004 Monmouth County champion lowered her Holmdel Park personal best to 19:13 in finishing 17th. Nelson actually led the field over the first big hill at the quarter-mile mark. The junior ran 19 seconds quicker than she did in winning the county title.
Nelson was the top area finisher.
Shore Regional’s Group II state champions finished 14th (339). Martine McGrath led the Blue Devils with her 59th (20:19).
Red Bank Catholic was right behind Shore in 14th (355). The Casey’s first runner, Kat Shareshian, finished 60th, one second in back of McGrath (20:20).
Rumson-Fair Haven’s Central Jersey Group II champions were 16th (370). The Bulldogs’ top runner was Sara Robinson in 78th place (20:39).
Defending champion Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City was the individual champion for the girls, posting an 18:12, a time that moved her up to fifth all-time at Holmdel Park.
The girls team champion was Roxbury with a low score of 73.
Most of New Jersey’s top runners, including Berardi, will be in Van Cortlandt Park, the Bronx, N.Y., tomorrow for the Foot Locker Northeast Regional. The top eight finishers in the boys and girls races will qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships in San Diego, Calif., on Dec. 11.