Boys team impressive as runner-up

By: Redd E. Patrick
   South Brunswick High School boys cross country coach Wilfredo Rivera knew going into the Greater Middlesex Conference Championship race last Saturday that Old Bridge was in a class by itself, but he made no bones about it to his team that anything less than second place would be unacceptable.
   Mission accomplished.
   While Old Bridge is a contender to win the entire state this season, the race for second place was a battle between the likes of South Brunswick, Edison, Piscataway, St. Joseph, Bishop Ahr and others.
   The Vikings wound up second with 95 points, finishing well ahead of Edison (157), Piscataway (175), Bishop Ahr (176) and East Brunswick (194). Powerful Old Bridge won with 31 points in a meet held in Jamesburg’s muddy Thompson Park.
   "I was very satisfied," Rivera said. "I’m very competitive and I don’t like to lose, but with Old Bridge this year, we had to be realistic. So getting second was an accomplishment."
   Steve Sample led the Vikings by placing seventh in a time of 17:19. Sample, a contender for No. 1 or 2 honors, according to Rivera, didn’t have his best race, but Dave Christafalo had his best race and took 8th in 17:26. Matt Ciambriello of Old Bridge was the winner in 16:30.
   "Steve tried to go, but he didn’t have much," Rivera said. "We had kept him out of the dual meet prior to this, but it just wasn’t a good day.
   "Dave ran a great race. He had finished third in a dual meet with St. Joseph and North Brunswick, so to come back and finish 8th in the counties really showed me something."
   Cole Crosby was third for the Vikings and 17th overall in 17:45.
   Sophomore Matt Boley (18:03) was 28th in the race, senior Rishi Mathur (18:15) was 35th, followed by sophomores Daniel Boye (43rd, 18:26) and Jon Bellizio (51st, 18:40).
   "One of our main objectives was to get our sophomores experience," Rivera said. "The course conditions were horrible with the rain and all and the times weren’t that special, but it was very important for our young kids to get this kind of experience."
   Next up will be the Central Jersey Group IV State Sectionals, which will be held at Thompson Park on Saturday. The top 10 runners and top five teams will move on to the State Group IV Championship.
   "We will have to run our best team race of the season to move on, but it’s possible," Rivera said. "Old Bridge, Jackson and Colts Neck are all in our section and they are three of the better teams in the state, .After that, I would say the last two spots are between us, Hillsborough, Hunterdon Central and West Windsor Plainsboro South."