Hopewell Valley cross country
By: Jim Green
The Hopewell Valley Central High School cross country team kept its fine season going Saturday with a strong performance at the Brown University Invitational in Providence, R.I.
The HoVal boys placed first in the Varsity II division on the strength of top-10 finishes by Nick Jourjine and Pat Jablonski, while the girls came in second in the team standings, with Emily Sherrard and Megan Fitzpatrick finishing 2-3 individually. Hopewell showed its determination, coming through with the fine effort despite pouring rain making the course what HoVal girls head coach Aaron Oldfield called "a disaster."
"The kids were great overall," Oldfield said. "The performances were excellent. They didn’t complain at all."
The boys, who tallied 128 points, were led by Jourjine, who placed sixth at 17:32, and Jablonski, who took eighth at 17:36. Other strong finishes were had by Matt Hilderbrandt (17:51), Evan Kita (18:41), Dave Siuta (18:41), Jared Nespoli (19:19) and Rich Yu (19:23).
The girls squad, meanwhile, totaled 91 points. Sherrard was second at 19:37, Fitzpatrick was third at 19:41, and Marissa Greco was sixth at 20:04. Other fine times were posted by Kelsey Smith (21:45), Anna Weingart (2:00), Liz Hotchkiss (23:07) and Megan Ryan (23:25).
While the performances were undoubtedly strong, Oldfield did not consider the meet a big tune-up for the upcoming county and state championship races.
"The course is a relatively flat course it’s nothing like Holmdel (where the state championships are held)," he said. "It’s almost like a reward. It’s just a change of scenery. They’ve been going against the same teams all year on the same courses. It’s new to them, and it’s a great team-bonding experience."
On Tuesday, the Hopewell girls swept a meet with Princeton (24-31) and Allentown (17-38) at Mercer County Park. Fitzpatrick was first at 18:35, while Sherrard came in second (18:41), Greco was third (18:58), and Smith was ninth (20:08). The boys split, beating Allentown 15-50 and falling to Princeton 26-29. Jablonski was second at 15:54, Jourjine was third at 15:59, Hilderbrandt was sixth at 16:16, and Kita was eighth at 16:26.
"Any loss is disappointing," Oldfield said. "We never want to come out losing. But everything we’ve been getting ready for is hills. Mercer County is flat. It’s not our kind of course. Hopefully, we’ll be ready in November when states come along."
NOTES: HoVal will finish the regular season at 3:45 p.m. Friday against Trenton before heading into the county meet at Veterans Park on Oct. 28.

