McNulty doesn’t disappoint

Knight senior leads CJ III boys’ meet

By: Justin Feil
   JAMESBURG – On his wrists, Sean McNulty wrote "Dad" and "Mom" and on one forearm, he prominently wrote "Dad" one more time before lining up for the Central Jersey Group III meet at Thompson Park on Saturday.
   The senior made his parents proud when he became the first sectional winner from West Windsor-Plainsboro North in 16 minutes, 20 seconds to help the Knights finish second to Hopewell Valley and move on to Saturday’s Group III meet at Holmdel Park. Princeton, which finished fifth in CJ III, also advanced. In CJ IV, Brian Leung of West Windsor-Plainsboro South will advance as an individual as the Pirates were 10th, while Montgomery was 15th.
   McNulty had barely caught his breath when his mom handed him a phone to talk to his dad, who remains in the hospital with hydrocephalus, an abnormal buildup of fluid in the brain. His mom and sister were on hand to celebrate his win Saturday.
   "You’ve got to keep them in your mind," McNulty said. "My dad thought I was going to win. And you don’t want to let your parents down. He’s done so much more than me. He’s done 10 marathons. He’s had to fight this disease that could have disabled him. Now he’s thinking about trying to run a marathon and raise money for the Hydrocephalus Foundation.
   "He’s doing OK," he added. "He’s had a lot of complications. I was hoping to have him out here. I hope to get him for groups, the Meet of Champions and regionals."
   After missing the Group III state meet last year, the Knights have focused on peaking later this season. McNulty, who was second at the Mercer County Championships the week before, found the sectional results much more encouraging than last year’s miss.
   "For all the guys who return, it left such a bad taste in our mouth," McNulty said. "Having to end your season a week earlier or two weeks earlier, it gives you motivation to work even harder.
   "When you’re behind, you can either push through it or give up. We’re pushing for it this year. I think that’s the mentality we have now. That’s a difference from last year. We’re fighting for every position. Every position counts."
   John LiPuma finished ninth for the Knights, who placed their top four in the Top 20 overall. A.J. Reichert was 17th and Steve Au-Yeung was 20th. Colin Chudzik was 22nd. It was their first time competing at Thompson Park.
   "We trained a lot since the beginning of the year and we’re still getting better," McNulty said. "It’s nice to know our best is still out there.
   "We weren’t planning on peaking here. We wanted to peak at groups and Meet of Champs. It would have been nice to get some momentum here, but we didn’t want to have our fastest times here."
   The Knights will look for their fastest times of the year to date this Saturday in the state Group III meet.
   "I think we’re in a good position," said Knights head coach Brian Gould. "These guys love these tougher courses. Holmdel is another tough course where their drive and determination will help them out. It’s going to be Hopewell, Princeton, Ridge and Morris Hills in there so some good teams.
   "We’ve never finished higher than fourth here. Finishing second is a big move up. I think we have a good chance to go on to the Meet of Champions. It’s been our goal all year."
   It has also been a goal for PHS, and they too are not satisfied with just making the Group III state meet. The Little Tigers’ Jeff Wray was 13th, Dan Cavallaro was 15th, and Dan Gallagher was 26th and Henry Feder 28th. Matt Grosshans was 45th.
   "Today was the bottom of the basement," said Gallagher. "We’re going to have to make it up. We have to get better.
   "I felt bad during the race. I knew right in the beginning. I didn’t feel fast."
   Gallagher is a senior whose development this season has helped make the Little Tigers a better team. He does not want to finish his career with a race like the sectionals effort.
   "I’m angry," he said. "I’m going to focus really hard on that Holmdel course. I prefer Holmdel. I’m going to try to use my anger a fuel. I’m disappointed with how I ran today. I think everyone is. I want to move on and not make the same mistakes I did today.
   "I felt good last week at counties. I’ve been fairly happy with how I’ve done until today. I ran better at the Old Bridge Invitational. This doesn’t make me upset with the rest of the season. I’m going to look for improvement at Holmdel and hopefully the Meet of Champions."
   Those meets are also the focal point for Leung, the Mercer County winner, who was a strong fourth in the CJ IV meet in 16:08. The Pirates’ next two finishers were a freshman Sam Macaluso and first-year runner Jeff McKee.
   "We’re just a year away," said Pirates head coach Kurt Wayton. "We have a lot of young guys. The real story will be how we do next year. South put the bar pretty high last year and everyone else has followed that model. Hopefully we’ll do that now.
   "Brian’s goal was to be in the top five. He got fourth. And he said after he was done that he has a lot left. The three guys who beat him have a chance to be in the top five at the Meet of Champions. And after where he’s been. . . The last couple weeks have been a nightmare. Most guys would have quit. His goal is to finish in the top five and maybe pick off one of the guys who finished in front of him."
   Montgomery’s season ended with Saturday’s race. It was the Cougars’ first time at the Central Jersey Group IV level.
   "I felt good about the race," said MHS senior Trevor Thomas, who finished 45th Saturday. "I’ve run here once before and I did better this time.
   "Everyone actually PR’d. We thought we’d come in dead last. We got 15th. So we did better than we thought we would."
   For McNulty, he did just what was expected. He had been predicted to win the race, and came through with an easy victory.
   "I felt good. I executed my race plan," McNulty said. "It was a good time. I probably could have brought it home a little more. I felt good and I made my move where I wanted to, a little less than the mile and a half. I just made the move and I kept pressing. I tried to work the downhill at the two-mile.
   "We came out on Thursday. I love the course. The whole last mile, it’s so nice. It’s a real strength course."
   Added Gould: "I definitely told him I believed in him. He’s put in a lot of work. He’s won plenty of races in dual meets. But winning in a big meet takes a little extra. He put the work in. He was not going to be denied."
   Not particularly with his team pulling for him, and also some of his closest fans.
   "You keep it in your mind," McNulty said. "It’s not about you. That’s another thing that’s so different this year. We’re willing to sacrifice so much for each other."