HHS harriers win third straight division title

Team uses many runners to finish unbeaten

By: Rudy Brandl
   Talk about a team effort.
   The Hillsborough High boys wrapped up their third straight Delaware East Division cross country crown last week with a plethora of athletes contributing. Most cross country teams win a championship with five solid runners.
   Sometimes, the sixth and seventh finishers make contributions.
   Hillsborough went much deeper down the roster to win this championship. With head coach Rich Refi focusing on keeping everyone fresh for the bigger meets in the second half of the season, the Raiders rotated many boys into the varsity lineup for the four regular season meets, one of which was a tri-meet sweep.
   The Raiders finished 5-0 with four different runners leading the way. Each week, it was a different HHS boy finishing first for the team. Last week’s winner, Justin Risso, joins former race leaders Joe Bernardo, Brian Keohane and Michael Rath. Twelve different HHS runners placed and scored points for the team during the regular season championship run.
   "We won our first championship," Refi said. "We ran a lot of jayvee kids in these races, but we won a title. That’s one championship in the bank for Hillsborough."
   While the girls’ tennis and gymnastics teams captured Somerset County titles later in the week for HHS, the boys’ cross country squad won the first championship of the 2006-07 school year.
   Hillsborough clinched the crown with a 25-36 triumph over Franklin at Buccleuch Park in Somerset. Risso led a pack of seven Raiders that finished from third to ninth in succession with only 18 seconds separating them.
   Risso and Jordan Magath ran 18:27, Jason Walton and Bernardo closed in 18:28, and Mark Fineza (18:33), Rath (18:42) and Alex Brown (18:45) weren’t far behind.
   "They followed the plan," Refi said. "If anything, they ran a little faster."
   The HHS girls clinched a winning season (3-2) with a 21-40 triumph over Franklin. Freshman Ashley Smolinka won her first varsity race, rolling to an easy victory in 21:18.
   Smolinka had plenty of company from her teammates in the top 10. Meredith Mayes (22:25) and Nicole Rocha (22:26) finished third and fourth, respectively. Others in the top 10 included Alyssa Ciccotelli (6th, 22:42), Alison Buerkle (7th, 22:50), Rebecca Deteresa (8th, 22:51) and Michelle Dennis (9th, 22:56).
   Hillsborough embarked on its first big test of the campaign in Saturday’s Shore Coaches Invitational, a meet that kicks off the serious part of the season for most teams and individual runners. Bernardo and Smolinka finished 11th in their respective races to lead the Raiders.
   Bernardo (16:49) propelled the HHS boys to a fourth place finish in the team standings. The Raiders placed behind state powers Jackson, Old Bridge and Christian Brothers Academy.
   Other HHS boys competing in Saturday’s big race at Holmdel Park included Magath (19th, 17:10), Walton (29th, 17:22), Keohane (49th, 17:51), Brown (51st, 17:53), Risso (83rd, 18:11) and Fineza (107th, 18:34). The team finished with a five-man average of 17:25.
   Smolinka checked in with a time of 20:11 in her first Holmdel race. Teammates Mayes (65th, 21:55), Robyn Paterno (82nd, 22:29), Buerkle (84th, 22:23), Rocha (92nd, 22:42), Ciccotelli (93rd, 22:46) and Deteresa (95th, 22:51) rounded out the team. The HHS girls finished 13th and posted a five-runner average of 21:58.