HHS boys, Smolinka advance to Group 4 meet

Raiders head to Holmdel Park

By: Rudy Brandl
   A balanced attack of boys and one outstanding girl made headlines for the Hillsborough High cross country program in Saturday’s Central Jersey Group 4 Championships at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.
   Three Raider boys finished in the top 20 to lead the team to a fourth-place finish in the section and a spot in Saturday’s State Group 4 Championships at Holmdel Park.
   Meanwhile, HHS freshman Ashley Smolinka stamped her ticket to Holmdel with a sixth-place finish in the girls’ race.
   Hillsborough took its young teams into Thompson Park for the first time in competition against some of the finest squads in the state. Considering the Raiders had never run a real race at Thompson Park, they performed very well.
   "We’ve never been there before so we didn’t know what to expect," HHS head coach Rich Refi said. "We did fine. We were hoping for the boys to average under 17 (minutes), so we were a little bit off."
   The HHS boys averaged 17:04.55 for the top five. Sophomores Jordan Magath (16th, 16:44) and Jason Walton (18th, 16:50) and senior Joe Bernardo (20th, 16:54) didn’t push the race leaders but provided a nice 1-2-3 punch. Justin Risso (36th, 17:22) and Alex Brown (41st, 17:31) rounded out the top five, while Michael Rath (53rd, 17:46) and Mark Fineza (54th, 17:47) also competed.
   Jackson placed five runners in the top 10 and cruised to the team title in front of Old Bridge. Colts Neck edged Hillsborough by three points for third place.
   The HHS girls weren’t a factor in the CJ 4 team standings, but Smolinka continued her fabulous freshman campaign. For the second time in three weeks, Smolinka was the top freshman finisher in a championship event. This time, she outdueled Montgomery freshman Jillian Prentice by fractions of a second and held on for sixth place in 18:46.
   "This was a really big meet," Smolinka said. "I practiced there last week so I knew what it was. I tried to stay with the top girls and I kept my place."
   Refi knew Smolinka would have to run a big race to qualify in the tough CJ 4 field. He did some research and comparisons and found that Smolinka had the 12th-best Holmdel time among CJ 4 entries.
   "We were just looking for top 10, but she went out hard and got herself in good position," Refi said.
   Smolinka also set the school record at Thompson Park. Now, she’s going after the same distinction in Holmdel, where she had a tough race in the Shore Coaches Invitational back in October. Smolinka started fast in that race but came down with a cramp in the third mile and slowed considerably.
   "I’m not going to eat too much before the race," Smolinka said. "I got a cramp in the last mile last time. I want to beat my time from last time (20:11) and try to break the school record (19:40)."
   Smolinka has been getting faster every week during the championship meet season, so Refi expects her to continue that trend and qualify for the M of C. The rest of the HHS girls’ team completed their season in the CJ 4 race.
   There was a huge drop from Smolinka to the rest of the team. Nicole Rocha ran more than two minutes slower and finished 53rd (21:05). The rest of the HHS girls’ team included Meredith Mayes (58th, 21:11), Robyn Paterno (62nd, 21:16), Alison Buerkle (80th, 21:51), Alyssa Cicotelli (93rd, 22:07) and Rebecca Deteresa (96th, 22:14).
   The HHS girls finished 10th in the team standings, considerably behind champion Colts Neck.
   If the HHS boys want to return to the NJSIAA Meet of Champions as a team, they’ll need to step up their game to yet another level next weekend. Jackson and Old Bridge will battle for Group 4 honors, leaving Hillsborough to hope for a wild card berth.
   "We have to beat teams we haven’t beaten before – that’s the bottom line," Refi said. "We’re going to have to make another move."