BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
By: Tim Falls
Sometimes falling short of a goal is the best motivation to achieve it.
The Hopewell Valley Central High School boys varsity cross country team came within two points of winning the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Sectional race last season.
With that still fresh in their memories, the Bulldogs had all the motivation they needed to take the Central Jersey Group III Sectional at Holmdel Park, last Saturday.
Hopewell advanced to the Group III Championship race at Holmdel this Saturday and will look to finish highly enough to reach the Meet of Champions the following Saturday.
Hopewell captured first place in the sectional with 43 points, an impressive performance driven by claiming second last season to Ocean Township by two points. Ocean Township won last year with 106 points, while the Bulldogs finished runner-up with 108 points.
"This is something the seniors have wanted since they were freshman," said Hopewell coach John Zalot. "As sophomores they were within six points and last year were two points away. This year they were really hungry for it."
Senior Matt Hilderbrandt led the Bulldogs this season with a second-place finish in 16 minutes, 32 seconds on the 3.1 mile course. Hilderbrandt finished 8th last year in the same race in 17:19.
"Matt had a great race," said Zalot. "He’s continuously run fabulously for us."
Senior Nick Jourjine, who led Hopewell in the race last year with a sixth-place finish in 17:15, edged junior teammate Christian Baumbach for fith-place this year in 16:43. Baumbach placed sixth in 16:44.
"Nick really came on at the end of the race," said Zalot. "He just passed Christian at the end."
Senior Patrick Jablonski helped Hopewell knock 65 points off its score from last season by finishing 12th in 17:10. Senior Dave Siuta followed in 18th in 17:18.
"Dave has been really strong has our fifth man," said Zalot. "He realizes that a lot of what happened with the team score depends on how he runs."
With all five scorers finishing in the top 20, Hopewell easily improved on its score from last year and stayed ahead of the competition.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North came closest to denying the Bulldogs a sectional win with its 69-point second-place finish behind senior Sean McNulty’s first-place run.
"Our strategy was the same one we used to win the (Mercer) County championship," said Zalot. "We knew North would be our main competition and we tried to place our runners around where they were."
Junior Jared Nespoli took 25th in 17:32 and junior Evan Kita claimed 37th in 17:58 as Hopewell’s sixth and seventh runners.
The top three teams from each sectional race, North I, North II, Central and South, will compete in the Group Championships this Saturday to advance to the Meet of Champions.
"We should finish in the top three," said Zalot. "As long as we continue to perform like we have all year, we should be in the top three."

