MHS boys still building cross country program

Todorovic led pack for second straight year

By: Rudy Brandl
   The Manville High boys’ cross country team continued making small strides in the right direction this fall.
   While the Manville boys didn’t produce any regular season victories for the second straight year, more runners participated in the program and almost everyone on the MHS roster ran his fastest time at the end of the season. The Mustangs ended the season by finishing in front of Keyport and avoiding last place in the Central Jersey Group 1 Championships at Thompson Park.
   "Our first four kids ran lifetime bests," O’Connor said. "Our average was significantly faster than we’ve run as a team since I started here. It was our best performance in the last few years."
   After the MHS boys went winless in nine regular season meets, O’Connor set a goal to beat someone in the post-season. Manville finished last at the Somerset County and Skyland Conference meets but avoided the basement at the CJ 1 meet.
   Junior Sasa Todorovic led the MHS boys for the second straight year. Todorovic got faster every week during the three post-season meets, making massive improvements in his county and conference races at Pleasant Valley Park before finishing with a great race at Thompson Park. Todorovic ran 18:52 in the finale to finish 22nd in the section.
   "It was definitely a successful season," Todorovic said. "I made a lot of improvements from last year. I set a lot of p-rs (personal records) on different courses."
   Todorovic remained the most enthusiastic runner on the team. He wants to reach an even higher level in his senior year. In order for that to happen, the training must start now.
   "Coach O’Connor is going to do a lot of work with me in the summer," Todorovic said. "I want to start early in the summer so I can have a good base going into senior year."
   "He’s a kid who’s really passionate about it," O’Connor said. "I hope he can do it. We have to gear up his summer workouts and get him ready."
   Three more juniors, two seniors and a freshman also earned varsity letters in 2006. Junior Adam Wolcott finished with a flourish, running 20:02 in the CJ 1 race after missing several meets during the season. Fellow juniors Erik Lubas (22:26 at Belvidere) and Jason Pfoutz (24:24 at Thompson Park) also enjoyed some highlights. Freshman Andrew Franko (22:56 at Belvidere) made strides in his rookie season.
   Only two seniors will graduate from this year’s team – David Le and Ron Skirkanish. Le tailed off after running his fastest time (23:11) in the opener at Belvidere, while Skirkanish joined the team late and finished with his best effort (22:14) in the CJ 1 race.
   "He was the only senior and he ran like it was his last race," O’Connor said. "He made significant improvement."
   Four MHS runners earned jayvee letters this fall. Senior Emils Stopins and junior Nick Pillsbury saw some varsity action. Senior Jose Avila and sophomore Billy Demeter rounded out the Manville roster.
   "Things are quite a bit better than they’ve been," O’Connor said. "We have to look at the positives as much as possible. We have to take small steps forward."
   Manville started its season earlier than usual and competed in more races this fall. O’Connor became concerned that the wear and tear of the season would stop his runners from peaking at the end, but most of the athletes still had something left in the tank in the post-season races. The experience of racing certainly helped.
   "Running competitively has made the kids better runners," O’Connor said. "They’re all taking it more seriously and the results were fairly impressive."
   Manville has enough boys returning to field a full, competitive team, but O’Connor wants to keep building the program. The Mustangs put two teams on the course for the first time in school history this fall, so he’s working on developing boys and girls to run long distance.
   "We’re looking for good students with good work ethic and good concentration," he said. "We’re looking for kids who are willing to endure the pain. I have a list of prospects. If I can get two girls and two boys a year, we’ll be in good shape. The journey of 10,000 miles starts with a single step. We are making progress."