Hillsborough girls ran against tough foes

Nelson led pack again

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   Don’t be fooled by the lack of championships or absence of huge headlines. The Hillsborough High girls’ cross country team very quietly had a pretty solid season.
   For one thing, the HHS girls were overshadowed by the incredible success of their male schoolmates, who wound up taking fourth at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions. On days when the HHS boys won county and conference titles, the Raider girls performed well against arguably tougher fields that included many top-notch teams. They didn’t win a championship but showed considerable improvement from top to bottom while getting many different athletes involved.
   Head coach Rich Refi often pointed out that this year’s HHS girls would have finished much higher in the big meets of past seasons. This year, the county and conference just happened to be loaded. Girls’ cross country has seen incredible growth in recent years and part of Hillsborough’s future mission will be to catch up with the elite competition.
   "They improved a lot from where we started the season," Refi said. "This wasn’t a bad team. They did very well."
   Senior Kelda Nelson led the HHS girls for the second straight year. Nelson finished higher in the Somerset County and Skyland Conference races but remained in the same 11th position at the Central Jersey Group 4 Championships. She improved her times over last season and even flirted with the school record for Holmdel Park with a 19:42 at the Shore Coaches Invitational in October.
   Nelson finished fifth against that elite competition and also placed near the front at the county and conference events later in the month. She was third (19:23) at the county meet and fourth (18:43) in the conference.
   The Raiders posted a 3-2 record in dual meets, finished fifth in the county, sixth in the conference and sixth in CJ 4, just one spot away from qualifying for the State Group 4 Championships.
   More impressively, the HHS girls came close to breaking the 20-minute mark for five-runner average. At one point in the season, Refi had hoped his team would hit 21:15. A few weeks later, the Raiders soared to a 20:17 average for the first five finishers.
   "They thought I was crazy, they didn’t think there was any way they could average that," Refi said. "They wound up running a lot faster."
   Seniors Allison Marcsisin and Cassandra Steel also ran well, especially late in the season when the team was seeking to peak. Marcsisin ran a solid race in the Skyland meet, finishing 14th in 19:43. She was 31st in 20:58 at the CJ 4 meet. Steel took 22nd in 20:14 at the Skyland and 33rd in 21:05 in CJ 4.
   Fellow seniors Megan Davin, Nicole Filipowicz and Melanie Gingras also contributed for the Raiders. Filipowicz was the team’s fourth finisher at both the county and conference events. Seniors Grace Kao and Sylwia Tyksinski also earned varsity letters.
   Junior Ashley MacKinney was the leading underclassman on this senior-dominated squad. MacKinney didn’t start the season training with the fast group but worked her way into the top seven. She competed in all the big meets at the end of the year and ran a 21:37 at the Skyland meet.
   Others letter winners eligible to return for next year include juniors Melissa Bitten, Ebony Jones and Meghan Morley, sophomores Nicole Rocha and Beth Davin and freshmen Robyn Paterno and Meredith Mayes. The Raiders will continue to rebuild with youth and hard work.
   "We’ll be all right," Refi said. "We’ll find some more kids."