By: Sean Moylan
The Northern Burlington County Regional High School cross country team’s appearance in this past Saturday’s Old Bridge Cross Country Classic was special for three reasons:
Mike Bowden ran yet another fantastic race for the Greyhounds, placing sixth in the Varsity A Boys’ Race with a 16:55 time. Several Greyhound runners ran together and finished the race together. And after a long absence due to an injury, Greyhound star Matt Melillo finally returned to action.
Bowden is exciting and dangerous because no one knows how good he can be. And finishing in the Top 6 in such a big race didn’t hurt his reputation any, especially since he broke the 17 minute mark again. After Bowden, Zach Traino has clearly been the Greyhounds’ best distance runner as of late. Traino placed 51st in the Varsity A Race at Old Bridge with an 18:29 time. Matt Mayo (18:54 for 61st place) and Dylan Kurowsky (19:13 for 68th place) also had solid times.
However, NBC’s next three finishers (Ian King, Abhi Chandel and Dan Lucy) all ran together and took 73rd, 74th, and 75th place respectively.
Strangely enough NBC head coach Steve Alustiza may have been the most pleased by a 19:52, 60th-place time in the junior varsity race. That’s because that time belonged to none other than Matt Melillo.
"It was his (Melillo) first race coming back so we raced him in the junior varsity race. He finished with no problem," said Alustiza, who didn’t want to push his star. "He raced with his trainers on."
Since emerging as a standout runner about a month ago, NBC’s Christin Hutchison has only added to her legacy with one solid race after another. On Saturday, she was Northern’s top finisher in the Girls Varsity A Race with a 21:50 time, which earned her 32nd place. Brandy Price ran a 22:40 time to place 49th while NBC’s Suzanne Bumbera (22:51 for 55th place), Kelly Stiles (22:53 for 56th place) and Michelle Reed (22:57 for 57th place) were all bunched together too. Melinda Meehan (23:41 for 67th place) and Brianna D’Amato (24:38 for 71st place) were the Greyhounds’ other finishers in the Varsity A race.
Northern’s Kayla Wharton and Emma Rosenwiekel each posted a 23:34 time to place in the top 15 of the junior varsity race.
"The kids did okay," added Alustiza, whose varsity cross country squads will compete in Friday’s County Open at Millcreek. Bowden has his running partner (Melillo) back, so the sky is the limit for NBC at Sectionals in a couple of weeks.

