By Michael Holcombe, Sports Writer
Like every other cross country team in Middlesex County, Monroe competed in the Greater Middlesex Conference Meet at Thompson Park last Saturday. But for Monroe, how the team finished was far less important than the promise it represented for the future.
The results were respectable with the boys team finishing a mid-pack 14th place while the girls squad was 11th. The boys 391 points was well off champion Old Bridge’s 28. The girls had 320, also well off champion South Brunswick’s total of 42.
The finish was no surprise for boys coach Frank Bonich but with a lineup that includes only two seniors and a pair of juniors and a large and talented freshman class, he knows that his team will be making its presence felt over the next few years.
”It’s pretty much where we expected to finish,” Bonich said . “I thought we might be anywhere from 12 to 15. There were no big individual performances . But three of our top seven are freshmen. Having three runners in the varsity race bodes well for us in the future.
”We finished 6-2 on the year. It was a good year overall and we only had the two seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and 10 freshmen. We had a good group of freshmen this year not only in terms of numbers but in talent as well. The most encouraging thing was the freshmen stepping up and getting some experience at that level. It’s only going to help them in the future.”
Nick Mazurek, Francis San Andres and Will Pentangelo were the three freshmen who competed in the event for Monroe. But two other members of their class excelled in the GMC Freshman Meet as both Raleigh Kane and Mike Bauman were able to medal in that competition thanks to a top 30 finish.
While the promise of youth was coloring the event for Monroe, it was, as usual, the team’s top two runners, seniors Ryan Brown and Nate Smith, who were the most successful. Brown was the only Monroe runner who medaled in the boys varsity meet, finishing 26th in a time of 18:09. Smith, meanwhile, finished seven places out of the money, logging a time of 18:27.
Junior Ben Wendel was Monroe’s third finisher in a time of 19:41, while Mazurek finished fourth in 19:55, followed by San Andres in 20:09, Pentangelo in 20:13 and junior Dan Lemelman in 20:30.
The girls showed some youthful vigor of their own as three of their top four finishers were underclassmen.
Sophomore Katie Rusnock was the sole medallist for Monroe as she finished 13th in 21:39. She was followed by junior Erika Korsak (24:24), senior Demaris Segarra (24:47), sophomore Valine Bogue (24:51) and senior Allison Karas in 27:33.
That leaves only the state meets for both squads and it kicks off Saturday with the Central Jersey Group III sectionals at Thompson Park.
The Falcons are dark horses to be sure, as only the top 25 will advance to the groups the following week, but Bonich thinks there is some promise in his seniors Brown and Smith and the girls’ top finisher, Rusnock.
”If they ran their best races of the year it still wouldn’t be a guarantee,” Bonich said in sizing up Brown and Smith’s chances. “But it would give them a shot (at advancing.) In years past we have tried to make a good showing at sectionals but there are a lot of good schools with strong cross country programs and it’s kind of a down year for us this year. We’re still pretty young.
”This time of year it could be the last meet for our seniors so we tell them to go out there and be aggressive and set themselves up for a good race. I’d rather see them go out hard at a fast pace where they come to the mile mark with a sub 5:30 or a 5:15. I’d like to see them somewhere in that area and set them up for possibly advancing and medaling.
”But if they come in at 6:10, 6:15 or something close to that they are kind of wasting their time. When you start off that slow it’s tough to make up that ground. They are capable of it so hopefully they will go out fast and we’ll see what happens.”
