BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
By: Tim Falls
It took three years for Nick Jourjine to return to the NJSIAA Cross Country Meet of Champions.
The Hopewell Valley senior finished 79th in the state championship meet at Holmdel Park last Saturday.
As a freshman in 2003, Jourjine placed 113th in 17 minutes and 40 seconds on the 3.1 mile course and finished second among Hopewell runners.
This year, the senior led the Bulldogs with his 17:07 finish.
"This was definitely a good last race," said Jourjine. "I’m happy it turned out like that."
Jourjine, and many other Hopewell runners would have been disappointed had their season ended last week in the Group III Championship race at Holmdel.
The Bulldogs finished second in Group III after winning the Central Jersey Group III Sectional championship the week before, but Hopewell had aimed for first in Group III and many runners were not satisfied by their times.
"I was disappointed about last week," said Jourjine. "I decided to just run this race and not care about my place. I just tried to enjoy it as much as possible."
Without having to deal with the pressure of worrying about the team score, Jourjine was able to compete against an impressive field consisting of the top runners in the state. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they are used to running in big races.
"The Meet of Champions was not as intense as the Brown Invitational," said Jourjine, "but it was definitely the hardest Holmdel race I’ve had to run. I couldn’t believe how hard it went out. I was lucky I could hold on until the end, it was pretty exhausting."
Jourjine did not match his personal best time of the season in the Meet of Champions, but he did improve on his Group III championship time. Jourjine finished fifth as Hopewell’s second runner in 16:43 at the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Sectional race, but placed 32nd as the Bulldogs’ third runner in 17:34 at the Group III Championship.
"It felt much better than last week," said Jourjine. "I definitely felt better after the race. This week after the race I was able to move around."
Too warm weather for the Group III Championship may have slowed the field down, but conditions were closer to ideal for the Meet of Champions.
"They ran a lot better," said Hopewell coach John Zalot, comparing the two races. "I was pleased."
Hopewell finished 12th in the team scoring at the Meet of Champions, but the Bulldogs were running more for themselves than the team.
Hopewell junior Christian Baumbach finished 83rd in 17:11, senior Matt Hilderbrandt took 90th in 17:16, senior David Siuta finished 108th in 17:36, junior Jared Nespoli took 137th in 17:58, senior Pat Jablonski took 158th in 18:19 and junior Evan Kita finished 175th in 18:53.
After the Group III Championship, Zalot said the team fell short and the Meet of Champions was a chance for the Bulldogs to redeem themselves.
"I was happy we could end the season on a good note," said Jourjine.
Hopewell had wanted the Group III Championship to add to its other achievements this season.
The Bulldogs placed five runners in the top 20, three in the top six, as Hopewell won the Central Jersey Group III Sectional behind a second-place finish by Hilderbrandt.
Hilderbrandt also led the team as the Bulldogs won the Mercer County Championship.
"We’re proud of what we’ve done," said Jourjine. "A lot of kids wish they could do what we’ve done."
Jourjine admits there was a bit of luck involved.
Hopewell has had plenty of talented runners, but usually only one or two at a time. To have an entire team run as well as Hopewell did is rather special.
"We were lucky we were all able to run together," said Jourjine. "This year we had a whole bunch of good runners."
"It was a big season," said Zalot. "They wanted it more than any other team I’ve coached."
Zalot pointed back to the team’s early training in the summer under Hilderbrandt. Several Bulldogs, like Jourjine, went the extra miles this summer by attending a running camp.
The results were self-evident and could be seen throughout Hopewell’s season in each of its runners.

