Pirate teams lead area with sixth-place finishes at Groups
By: Justin Feil
The state Group cross country meets did not produce any area team participants for the Meet of Champions, but a number of area individuals qualified for this Saturday’s penultimate meet in New Jersey.
Eleonora Spinazzi of Montgomery High and Katie Kellner from West Windsor-Plainsboro South are the lone girls from the Packet area to advance, each with a seventh-place finish in their race on Saturday. Meanwhile Brian Leung and Joe Ennis of West Windsor-Plainsboro South will represent the area’s boys after coming in eighth and 15th respectively to lead the Pirates to sixth in the Group IV race.
"I improved 10 seconds," said Spinazzi who covered the 5k Holmdel Park course in 19 minutes, 16 seconds Saturday in the girls’ Group III race. "I think I can improve even more. I wanted to go 19:10. I sprinted at the end so I had a lot of energy left. I want to go under 19:10 or whatever to get in the Top 10."
Spinazzi enters the Meet of Champions after recording the 15th fastest time out of all-group runners. It will be her second trip to the MOC, the first coming three years ago when she was a freshman at Princeton High.
"When I was at the starting line I said, this is either my last race or the start of something big," said Spinazzi, who did not make it last year after battling injuries and bronchitis. "It was a matter of saying, I can run with the big girls. I battled with Renee Tomlin of Ocean City. She’s a miler and she out-kicked me. It was a good race throughout. I was saying throughout, I have to do it and this is my big chance."
Just behind her in overall time was Kellner, the Pirates freshman who ran 19:19 in the girls’ Group IV race for the 17th fastest time overall. While Spinazzi’s Cougar team was 12th in Group III, one spot ahead of Princeton High, the Pirates were sixth in Group IV, just 15 seconds total time out of the final wild card spot for the MOC.
"The girls ran as well as I possibly could have expected them to run," said Pirate girls’ coach Melinda Neff. "They ended up where I thought they would. They were ranked ninth and they ended up sixth. They certainly beat people ranked ahead of them in the state, which was great.
"They’re a little disappointed. They would have liked to make the Meet of Champions. They ran a faster team average time by nine seconds than last year’s team that made the Meet of Champions. If they’re not the fastest, they’re one of the fastest to come out of West Windsor. I told them, it just happened to be the year when the competition is amazing."
Neff credited departing seniors Laura Wang and Gabi Feibel for their leadership and their running through the season, her first as head coach. The Pirates are also likely to lose Ashley Erickson, the sophomore who ran a personal best by 10 seconds to be the second finisher to Kellner. As for Kellner, she’s put herself in the thick of the amazing girls of New Jersey with her second straight 19:19 finish on the Holmdel course.
"I was so impressed with Katie," Neff said. "I had no idea how she would do. Last week was a breakout race and I had no idea if that was it, if her legs were done. She put in another solid performance out there.
"As a freshman she gets to run in the Meet of Champions. She’s such a great girl. It couldn’t happen to anyone nicer. We have to see what we can do with her training. We’re hoping that this is her time."
She won’t be the only Pirates runner at the MOC. On the boys’ side, Leung’s time of 16:28 was good for the 24th fastest time and Ennis’ 16:38 put him 40th out of all runners Saturday. Last year, Ennis placed higher at the Meet of Champions than he did at the Group IV meet.
"We doubled the number of guys going on to the Meet of Champions," said Chris Bond, head coach of the Pirates who were sixth in Group IV, one spot out of receiving the final wild-card spot to the MOC. "We’re taking two guys, even though it feels like a letdown (to not take the team). Up until last year, only one guy had gone to the Meet of Champions. Everything is OK, but I wanted these guys to have that taste of what it’s like to be at the top echelon. They worked so hard for it."
The Pirates made a dramatic jump from last week’s second-place finish in Central Jersey Group IV when they averaged 17:29 per runner. Saturday, the Pirates lowered that average to 17:06, which was actually a faster average than fifth-place Group IV finisher Washington Township, the last team to receive a MOC wild card. Washington finished five points ahead of the Pirate boys.
"I’m very proud of my guys," Bond said. "I’m continually encouraged that they’ve come together through thick and thin. They’re always looking to work harder. They win with dignity, they lose with dignity. They’re a great group of guys that will be returning next year. Four will be returning, three will be moving on hopefully to run in college."
The Pirates will graduate Ennis, Josh Kezele who ran a personal best despite an injured back Saturday and Mike Meers, their sixth-place finisher at groups. They helped WW-P South go undefeated in the regular season, win the Mercer County Championship for the first time since 1999 and place second at the CJ IV meet. They’ll be at the MOC to root on their teammates.
"If Joe were to run the same time he ran last year, he could be in the Top 20," Bond said. "I think Brian can run that too. There’s no holding back. I’m looking for those guys to be in the Top 20."
For the Princeton High girls, there is certainly plenty of reason for optimism. The Little Tigers will return all of their Top 7 from a team that finished 13th at the Group III meet. They were only seven points behind MHS.
"We’re only losing one senior, Erin Armington," said PHS junior Susanne Hansen, who was the Little Tigers’ top finisher in 49th. "We’re keeping everyone and hopefully getting new people. We all know each other well so our team can build on that together.
"I think everyone can definitely run faster," she added. "If we keep training and stay in shape, we can improve. As a team, we all get along. That’s good. If we continue working hard, we can definitely all get faster."
Saturday, says Hansen, was a good starting point for a young PHS team. The Cougars showed tremendous depth by putting all seven runners ahead of Montgomery’s fifth finisher.
"I think it was good," Hansen said. "We wanted to improve our time and improve in general which I think we did. I think everyone ran pretty well."
The end of the PHS boys’ season did not match its spectacular CVC results. The Little Tigers were 17th in Group III, led by Christophe Dorsey’s 40th place finish.
"It just didn’t happen for us," said PHS boys’ coach John Woodside. "This team is definitely my best team. I’m still proud of what they accomplished. When we got done for the day, we had a disappointing day, but our average time was 18:11. If you take away last week (a 17:56 sectional average), that’s the fastest Top 5 average we’ve had. So it’s disappointing and we’re still the best team. That’s something we can build on. Even though we didn’t do as well as we wanted, we still did really well."

