Kellner second, Leung third in B Division
By: Justin Feil
The Shores Coaches Invitational is a first chance for many teams to see how they will stack up against the state at famed Holmdel Park.
Packet-area teams are encouraged by the results they saw Saturday. In addition to the West Windsor-Plainsboro North boys’ team winning the varsity C Division, there were plenty of promising finishes for area individuals and teams.
The highest finishing individual from the area was Katie Kellner. The West Windsor-Plainsboro South sophomore was second in the girls’ B Division race. She covered the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes, 52 seconds, behind only Lauren Penney of Roxbury, who recorded the fastest time of any girl Saturday, 18:39.
The WW-P South boys also had a top finisher. Brian Leung was third in the varsity B race in 16:20. The Pirate boys finished ninth overall.
The Pirate girls finished seventh overall, just behind Montgomery High School, which finished fifth in the B Division. The Cougars had an average time of 21:02 while the Pirates finished in an average of 21:07. MHS was led by freshman Jillian Prentice, who was 11th overall in the B race, in 19:46.
"Our girls did pretty well," said MHS head coach Jim Goodfriend, whose boys finished 27th Saturday. "Fifth in that division is pretty good."
The only teams ahead of MHS were state powers Roxbury, Ridge, Morris Knolls and Randolph. The Cougars will race against Bridgewater on Wednesday and with a win would capture the Skyland Conference Delaware East.Princeton High School has plenty to build on after finishing third behind Voorhees and Moorestown in the girls’ C Division race. The Little Tigers were led by Molly Lynch, who was 13th in her first race at Holmdel. Susanne Hansen was 26th.
"We had a game plan," said PHS head coach Jim Smirk. "We’ve been talking a lot about executing our game plan on race days, talking about developing athletes physically, but adding that flair of competitive training. Part of that is going to big meets and racing good teams. Within dual meets, a lot comes down to doing things against individuals. When you get to the championship part, it’s not only knowing individuals, but knowing the team.
"I thought we did well. To a girl, we talked about what their race strategy was and they did it. We had a good day."
The Little Tigers are set up for quite a showdown in a week with the unbeaten Hopewell Valley girls. Hopewell averaged 20:26 per runner while the Little Tigers averaged 21:35 for their top five runners.
"Everyone knows we’ve come to the realization there are only two unbeaten teams in the CVC," Smirk said. "If either team is going to win, they’re going to successfully complete their race strategy without making mistakes. We’re finally to the point where we can come up with a race strategy and come up with the ability to execute it.
"With the pack we have, if we all race together, we’re going to be a tough team. If we don’t, it’s a different look. It’s big for us. We have Molly Lynch and Susanne Hansen, who are strong runners. We don’t have that girl in the 19:30s. Our runners, all the way down to seven, have to do what they’re designed to do."
Led by the 20th-place finish of Jeff Wray, the PHS boys were 10th in the C Division. The Little Tigers averaged under 18 minutes per runner in their top five, and raced without two of their regulars.
Led by the 28th-place finish of Julia Xu, the West Windsor-Plainsboro North girls were 20th. Gaining the experience should help when the Knights return for the Central Jersey Group III Championships. The sectionals will be the next time all the teams will be back to race at Holmdel, and Saturday gave them some encouragement as they look ahead.

