Team competes on new terrains
By: Rudy Brandl
Tougher competition and more challenging terrains provided a good learning experience for the Manville High cross country team last week.
The Mustangs weren’t jogging around the friendly confines of their school grounds. They had to race at two completely different courses in what seemed like opposite ends of the world.
Losing 15-50 at Sussex Vo-Tech and Union Catholic wasn’t completely unexpected for this young group of unseasoned runners. MHS head coach Jim O’Connor wasn’t concerned with the outcomes. He feels his young charges are making progress.
"There were some good things this week," O’Connor said. "The kids ran fairly well."
The most annoying part of the week for the Mustangs was their two-hour bus ride home from Sussex County. A combination of rush hour traffic and a lost bus driver led to a commute that seemed much longer than any race for a young runner.
Manville hopes to continue cutting down on its race times and bus ride commutes as the season hits its peak in the next few weeks. The Mustangs still have two dual meets on the schedule this Friday’s home finale vs. South Hunterdon and an Oct. 25 date at Middlesex.
Then there are the three big championship meets, starting with this week’s Mountain Valley Conference event at Pleasant Valley Park. The Mustangs will return to Pleasant Valley Oct. 19 for the Somerset County Championships. If they think last week’s courses or Pleasant Valley are tough, wait until November when the team heads to Holmdel Park for the Central Jersey Group 1 Championships.
MHS began its week with a dual meet at Sussex Tech, running a short but very hilly course in the Northwest part of the state. O’Connor was impressed by the growth of the Sussex team, which had just one runner two years ago but now boasts a roster of 12 boys. He’s hoping for similar growth in the Manville program.
With one boy missing in each meet, the Mustangs competed as a co-ed unit in both of last week’s events. Freshmen Kate Harodetsky and Casey Shields continued to impress for the MHS girls. Harodetsky has been running close to the boys.
"She was the only runner who ran faster in the second meet last week," O’Connor said. "She was closing in on our third and fourth boys."
Harodetsky was the second female finisher at Vo-Tech, completing the course in 25:05. Later in the week at Warinaco Park in Elizabeth vs. Union Catholic, she finished a longer course in 24:52. Shields was the fourth female finisher at Vo-Tech, where she ran 28:22. Shields checked in at 29:06 against Union Catholic.
Sasa Todorovic led the MHS boys in both meets, finishing ninth in 20:23 at Sussex Tech and 10th in 21:45 at UC. Adam Wolcott rounded out the top 10 in Sussex with a time of 21:21 but did not run at Warinaco Park.
Erik Lubas posted times within 21 seconds of each other in the races, running 22:56 and 23:17, respectively. David Le finished the Vo-Tech course in 23:07 but ran 24:28 in Elizabeth. Harodetsky nearly caught Le and Ron Skirkanish (24:36) in the Union Catholic meet.
"We didn’t really know the course, but it was pretty flat," O’Connor said. "Most of them were about a minute slower."
The Mustangs (0-7) expect to get everyone back this week and hope to add Nick Pillsbury as a sixth man this week to boost their total roster to 10 runners.