Yakobchuk, Harodetsky lead teams
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
The Manville High cross country team had a little surprise waiting at the end of last week’s opening meet at Natirar Park in Peapack-Gladstone.
Although the Mustangs and head coach Jim O’Connor had taken a glimpse of the new course the previous Saturday, they didn’t check out the final mile. The course looked very nice until that unexpected big hill came at the end.
”Our kids weren’t expecting that,” O’Connor said. “It’s a beautiful park and the kids really liked it, but they’re not used to running hills.”
The new course sits on a property that used to be the king of Morocco’s estate. The land was sold and split into two pieces, half of which is owned by Somerset County. The county has converted about 500 acres into a park, which includes a new cross country course.
While the big hill isn’t quite as intimidating as the bowl at Holmdel Park, it provided a stiff challenge for the Mustangs in their first competition of the young season. While the MHS boys and girls didn’t win against any of the three teams they faced, all 11 runners who competed managed to finish the race. It also marked the first time in O’Connor’s four years at the helm that both the MHS boys and girls competed as full teams in the season opener.
Eddie Yakobchuk was the only MHS runners of either gender to crack the top 10 against a field that included Bernards, Belvidere and Hackettstown. Yakobchuk placed sixth in a 45-man race in a time of 18:31.
”He ran great in his first race,” O’Connor said. “I told him to hold back and not try to go out with the front runners. I told him to go out comfortably and as he felt better, start picking people off.”
Yakobchuk followed his coach’s instructions. He was running 13th at the 2-mile mark but passed seven runners in the final 1.1 mile to finish sixth.
”He really did show remarkable control and restraint,” O’Connor said. “If there was another quarter-mile to go, he could’ve passed a few more kids. It was great.”
Younger brother Ernest Yakobchuk, another newcomer to the team, was the second MHS runner to finish. Ernest placed 19th in a time of 20:28 in his first race.
The rest of the pack was about three minutes behind. Charlie Burkoski (33rd, 23:22) and Dan Kirkaldy (34th, 23:24) have been running together in practice and followed the same plan in the meet. Randy Gomez finished 37th in 23:54 and Andrew Franko came in 43rd in 25:33.
Senior Kate Harodetsky led the MHS girls by finishing 12th in 25:20. Arielle Mizov made the biggest move from last year with an 18th-place run in 26:24. Mizov shaved nearly three minutes off her best time from 2007.
”She made a remarkable improvement,” O’Connor said. “She struggled with shin splints last year but she ran in the spring and summer and showed up in good shape.”
Freshman newcomer Jennifer Wangui finished 20th in 28:10 and returning runners Evanna Tchir (21st, 28:35) and Amanda Velez (23rd, 29:11) also competed for the Manville girls.
The MHS boys lost to Bernards (16-47), Hackettstown (21-40) and Belvidere (19-45). The MHS girls fell to Bernards (16-45), Hackettstown (22-33) and Belvidere (17-39).
”I told them all to go out under control and stay within the comfort zone,” O’Connor said. “That’s the way we’re going to run the first few meets.”
O’Connor hoped to have a few more boys add depth to his team in the upcoming weeks. Joe Veglatte, Matias Gualtieri, Paul Gruszka and freshman Nick Galaini should be ready to compete soon.
Manville was scheduled to compete against Bound Brook and North Plainfield at North Plainfield this week and North Warren and South Hunterdon at Belvidere Oct. 1.

