Dennis, Raiders finish great year in style

X-C team sets another record at M of C

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   HOLMDEL — Brian Dennis put a fitting final stamp on his fine scholastic cross country career in Saturday’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park. The best Hillsborough High team in school history did the same.
   Dennis, third in last year’s M of C, finished seventh this time but ran faster, breaking his own school record with a time of 16:00.09. The HHS senior was coming off a poor performance which he felt cost his team the State Group 4 title the previous weekend, but he bounced back with his best race of the season.
   "I was definitely running for time today," said Dennis, who missed his sub-16 minute goal by nine-hundredths of a second. "I wanted to stay with the leaders but they put in a really nice surge right at the two-mile mark. I was definitely racing for time. That’s what I wanted to do."
   Dennis was smart and disciplined when race leaders Craig Forys of Colts Neck, Ben Massam of Chatham and Jeff Perrella of Westfield took off. Instead of trying to stay on their heels and take the risk of running out of energy, Dennis stuck to his plan and pace. He finished strong, charging out of the woods and toward the finish line with a new personal record.
   "It’s very tough because I hadn’t run my best races beforehand," Dennis said. "I wasn’t as confident as last year, but overall it worked out real well. I tried to forget my last races and act like it was last year."
   The Raiders accomplished their season-long goal of reaching the medal stand as a team, placing fourth in the state with 164 points. Nobody was going to catch nationally-ranked Christian Brothers Academy (48) or Morris Hills (100), but Hillsborough was shooting for a third-place finish. Skyland Conference rival Phillipsburg (156) nipped the Raiders for the second straight weekend in the battle for third place despite the fact that Hillsborough boasted a faster five-man average with another new school record (16:49.2).
   "We were hoping for third but we didn’t get out very well," HHS head coach Rich Refi said. "We got out slow but we ran the second part of the race very well."
   Nobody got out slower than HHS senior Fredy Irizzary, who spent the entire race picking off runners after losing his shoe during the start. Irizzary found himself 50 meters behind the field when he finally got his footwear in order.
   "I was in dead last," said Irizzary, who made a remarkable recovery to finish 37th in 16:35.21, just nine seconds off his personal record. "I had to stop and I think I went out in like six minutes (for the first mile). It was a two-mile race. I hate that. I couldn’t make my move until the bowl."
   Refi estimated that the bad break cost Irizzary a finish in the top 20, which could have propelled the HHS boys into third place. Irizzary certainly would have run close to 16:20, which would have dropped the team’s five-man average another three seconds.
   "We probably would have gotten third if Fredy didn’t lose his shoe, but there’s nothing you can do about it," Refi said. "It happens to somebody every year. You can’t change it."
   Irizzary didn’t quit. He knew his team was counting on him to get back in the race.
   "I was excited for today’s race and I really wanted to get a p-r (personal record)," Irizzary said. "When that happened at the start, I was mad for the rest of the race."
   Dennis and Irizzary finished before any Phillipsburg runners, but the Stateliners had four guys place between 41 and 58 before another Raider crossed the wire. The Raiders brought home the next three with junior Joe Bernardo (66th, 16:54.43), senior Eric Rind (88th, 17:16.12) and senior Paul Bernardo (89th, 17:16.37). Tom Visicaro (17:29.42) and Adam Walzer (18:10.20) also competed for the Raiders.
   With Dennis leading the way and Irizzary making up ground, the Raiders surged to their best finish in school history. Dennis also made a little more personal history, becoming the first HHS athlete to finish in the top 10 twice at the Meet of Champs.
   "I didn’t want to mess up this race," Dennis said. "I wanted to get my best time. I just kept thinking it was my last race and I didn’t want to go into college with a bad race."
   Dennis and the Raiders certainly saved their best for last, which was the plan since the start of the season. They have the state medals to prove it.