Todorovic leads MHS harriers in sectionals

All Mustangs improve in CJ 1 race

By: Rudy Brandl
   Sasa Todorovic and his Manville High cross country teammates achieved at least one of their goals in Saturday’s Central Jersey Group 1 Championships at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.
   They finally defeated another team.
   After enduring a winless dual meet campaign in the tough Skyland Conference and finishing last in both the Somerset County and Skyland Conference championship events, the MHS boys placed in front of Keyport in CJ 1. Todorovic led the charge with a personal-best time of 18:52 that was good for 22nd place.
   "Coming from a team that didn’t win all season, that was big," Todorovic said. "Everybody ran solid today. I was really happy that we beat somebody. That was a big deal."
   MHS head coach Jim O’Connor had set that goal for his team entering the county and conference meets, but it didn’t happen. Manville ran its best race of the year at Thompson Park, sporting a five-man average of 21:49.15.
   "The first four kids ran lifetime bests," O’Connor said. "Our average was significantly faster than we’ve run as a team in the last two years. It was our best team performance in the last two years."
   Todorovic continued his weekly improvement in big meets with another significant drop in time. After going 20:00 and 19:11 in his two big races at Pleasant Valley Park in Bernards, the MHS junior cut another 19 seconds in his first event at Thompson Park.
   "There were a lot of good runners," Todorovic said. "I didn’t think the course was that hard so the race went pretty fast. I wanted to get in the top 10 but that didn’t happen."
   O’Connor gave Todorovic a list of runners to watch on the course. He stayed with eventual race winner Matt Turlip of Dunellen for the first mile or so but dropped back. Todorovic took the race out hard and experienced fatigue after an uphill grade in the third mile.
   "I stayed with the Dunellen kid for about a mile and a half but I just slowed down after that," Todorovic said. "I was looking for about 18:20-18:30 so I was a little bit off."
   Several Mustangs ran well in Saturday’s meet. Junior Adam Wolcott just missed breaking the 20-minute barrier in his finest performance ever. Wolcott placed 38th in 20:02. Senior Ron Skirkanish finished 63rd in 22:14 for his best time in a big meet.
   "Adam was more than a minute faster than he’s ever run anywhere," O’Connor said. "R.J. was the only senior and he ran like it was his last race. He made significant improvement."
   Other MHS boys competing in the CJ 1 meet included Andrew Franko (70th, 23:32), Jason Pfoutz (72nd, 24:24) and Erik Lubas (75th, 30:43). Manville finished 11th in the team standings, while Keansburg edged Metuchen for the team championship.
   O’Connor knew it was a long shot for his boys to crack the top five and advance to the State Group 1 meet as a team, but he had high hopes for his girls. Unfortunately, injuries continued to plague the MHS girls’ team and only three individuals competed in the meet.
   Sophomores Casey Shields and Kate Harodetsky performed very well and freshman Alissa Teodorczy also completed the course with a personal-best effort. The MHS girls would have finished sixth with a full team but needed two more runners to post an official score.
   "I really wanted a team finish for the girls," O’Connor said. "With Kate coming back, I thought we had a chance. Those other girls were hurt. If they could have run, they would have run."
   Shields led the MHS girls with a time of 24:27 that was good for 17th place. Harodetsky ran her fastest race and placed 22nd in 24:48. Teodorczy cut two minutes off her prior standard and finished in front of five runners in 36th place (28:26).
   "That was Kate’s best race of the year and best race ever," O’Connor said. "And Alissa ran the fastest she’s run by over two minutes."
   Metuchen rolled to the CJ 1 girls’ crown with five of the top seven finishers. O’Connor knows it’s a stretch to think his girls can reach that elite level in the near future, but he remains positive that his girls and boys will continue to improve.
   The Mustangs proved that they’ve come a long way already in Saturday’s CJ 1 meet.