Future looks bright for MTHS cross country program

By: John E. Powers
   There are a lot of reasons to believe that 2007 will be a special year for the Monroe Township High School’s boys and girls cross country teams.
   Most of the harriers will be back for both clubs, including junior Ryan Brown and junior Damaris Segarra.
   The boys finished with an outstanding 7-1 dual meet record, while the girls finished at 6-1. The boys lost to Bishop Ahr, the girls lost to Sayreville.
   Brown, senior Adam Modzelwski, junior Nate Smith, senior Nick Garabaldi, sophomore Joe Rupoli and sophomores Ben Wendel and Dan Lemelman were steady scorers for the Falcon boys. Brown had the burden of establishing a leadership role after last year’s top runner Scott Roman graduated.
   Brown, 64th at last year’s Greater Middlesex Conference Championships, finished 33rd this year. He was also 43rd in the Central Jersey Group III meet. Modzelewski, 67th last year, improved to 41st this year at the county meet and placed 47th in the sectional meet. Both races were held at Thompson Park.
   The boys placed 12th in the county meet in the team standings and were 11th in the sectional meet. Next year, the Falcons figure to move up.
   "I really think we’re looking at a very good future for our program," Monroe boys coach Frank Bonich said. "We have a lot of guys back and those kids are dedicated. We should be even better next year."
   Like Brown, Segarra had to replace an outstanding runner — and she had even more pressure of filling the role since she was replacing her sister Elizabeth, the county champ from 2005.
   Damaris Segarra was 18th in the county meet, and was 21st in the sectional meet. The girls were 10th in both the county and sectional meets. They will likely improve on those finishes in 2007 as Segarra, sophomores Erica Korsak, Dina Mangarella and Illena Olivarria, junior Allyson Karas and freshman Val Bogue will all be back. Bogue was fourth in the county freshman race. Segarra, Korsak and Bogue had personal bests at the sectional race.
   The team will be losing seniors Marie Nemeth and Jackie Barclay.
   "We’ll be looking to move up as a team next year," girls head coach Jim Cox said. "The kids got some great experience this year and we also hear we’re getting some help from our middle school programs, so I think we’re going to be good. We’re really looking forward to it."