Lesniak pplaces seventh at cross country tourney

By Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
individual at the Mercer County Cross Country Championships at a rainy Veteran’s Park on Friday.
   ”She looked great. That (seventh place) was the highest we ever had someone place in the Counties. She (Lesniak) really wanted to break 20 minutes. She ran a 19:38 (a 19:37.54 officially). That’s phenomenal for a freshman,” said Mike Walker, the head coach of the Robbinsville High varsity cross country teams.
   Lesniak’s combined with senior Gina Norato, who placed 12th with a time of 19:50, to spark the Ravens to a sixth-place finish (with 140 points) as a team. As expected, Hopewell Valley won the girls’ title with 46 points.
   From the start, Lesniak and G. Norato ran wonderful races. While the first five finishers in the race distanced themselves from the other runners, the battle for fifth to 15th place was a heated one with most of those runners running in a pack for the first two miles of the race.
   ”Gina (Norato) seemed happy but it was business as usual. One of her big goals was to break 20 minutes. I was glad she did,” said Walker. “Lesniak looked great. Most of the time, she ran ahead of the pack or off to the side of it.”
   Robbinsville sophomore star Megan Flynn longed to be in that pack or ahead of it. But since she was coming off a knee injury and it was raining, Walker decided to hold Flynn back for her own good.
   ”We tried to get her in the race to make sure she was ready for Sectionals. We had no idea how she would run. But her knee wasn’t bothering her and she looked good physically and mentally. I told her to run in the 22 minute to 23 minute range,” said Walker.
   Flynn, however, has trouble going that slow under any circumstances and she ended up clocking in at 20:53 and taking 28th place. When Flynn finished the race the first thing she wanted to know was where Lesniak and Norato had placed. It’s a real team thing at Robbinsville.
   ”The girls are getting close to each other,” added Walker, whose Ravens all wore identical mis-matched red and black socks.
   Alicia Norato (21:22), Erin Hayes (21:54), Angelika Janiga (22:13) and Amber Scott (23:19) all ran well for Robbinsville, which was getting over a lot of injuries on the girls’ side.
   In the junior varsity race, Robbinsville’s Holly Lovering posted a personal best 23:28 time.
   Meanwhile, with a time of 16:25.91, Robbinsville sophomore Nick Lachman set a personal record and placed 11th overall in the Mercer County boys’ championships. But Lachman came so very close to finishing in a better position.
   ”Up until the last 200 meters he was going for eighth, ninth or 10th place but he got outkicked at the end,” said Walker of Lachman. “He had a really good race. He had good position right from the start. I think he was trying to gear himself up for a sub 16 minute time.”
   Lachman may have ran under 16 minutes had the boys ran earlier in the day. Unfortunately, the boys’ varsity race was the last race of the day and by that time the course was pretty slippery due to heavy rains.
   As a team Robbinsville placed seventh with 189 points. Walker was somewhat disappointed in that finish because Princeton, Notre Dame and Steinert placed ahead of his squad. And on its best days, Robbinsville matches up well against those teams. Still Robbinsville did better than last year’s 10th place finish. And individually the times were pretty good given the conditions. Robbinsville’s Jon Harmon ran a 17:05 time to take 28th while Brian Flynn placed 37th with a mark of 17:28.
   ”Brian Flynn cramped up a little toward the end of the race and he still ran great,” Walker noted.
   Zach Matuzsan (18:06), Tyler Muir (18:19), Mike Landolfi (18:39) and Mike Zapicchi (18:52) were Robbinsville’s other top runners in the varsity race.
   Mike Schindewolf ran in the junior varsity race and posted a stellar 18:01 time for 21st place. Had Schindewolf ran in the varsity race, the Ravens could have possibly moved up a spot as a team. But Walker was just happy to see Schindewolf running well again.
   ”That was great. He needed something to bring him back mentally,” said Walker, who was very proud of Schindewolf, a senior.
   Sophomores Tim Brazelton (18:36) and Ryan Bottin (18:38) both ran well for the Ravens in the junior varsity race.
   On the girls’ side, Robbinsville’s big three (Lesniak, G. Norato and Flynn) should all be ready for this Saturday’s big Central Jersey Group I Sectional meet at Thompson Park (a course Robbinsville competed on a few weeks ago in the Old Bridge Classic). But, A. Norato and the rest of the Ravens have all improved so much over the course of the season.
   ”Alicia Norato has developed into a top-notched cross country runner,” added Walker, who can see his girls advancing out of Central Jeresy as a team.
   With Lachman, Harmon, Flynn, Schindewolf, Matuzsan, Muir, Landolfi, Zapicchi and others, Robbinsville has excellent depth on the boys’ side and could also advance.
   ”At this point the guys and the girls definitely want to finish in the Top three and see if we can win it on both sides,” said Walker, whose teams have spent the entire season getting ready for Saturday’s big race.