Flynn runs off with Shore Invitational victory

By: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
    If Robbinsville High girls’ cross country standout Megan Flynn had her own action figure, it probably wouldn’t need batteries. You’d just have to set it on the ground and it would run non-stop.
    Consequently, with her boundless energy, the real life-size version of Flynn had no trouble blowing away the rest of the competition to win the Shore Coaches Cross Country Invitational Girls’ Varsity “F” Race this past Saturday at Holmdel.
    Already a Group I state track and field champ in the mile and two-mile races, Flynn added to her ever-growing treasure chest of gold medals with her first gold in a cross country invitational meet. She was, however, injured most of last year’s cross country season and actually competed in just one invitational in 2007.
    “What you’re seeing right now is Flynn totally healthy for just under a year now. She also had the second fastest time (19:15) of any girl in Mercer County behind Katie Kellner (18:35),” said Robbinsville head varsity cross country coach Mike Walker, whose junior star had the 12th best time out of any girl competing on Saturday.
    “She was excited (winning). The good thing with Flynn is she knows she belong in that (elite) group of New Jersey cross country runners. She sees that with all of her hard work it’s all starting to pay off.”
    As always Flynn and Walker entered the race with a master plan. This time that plan worked to perfection as she let some of the other top runners take the lead and set the pace for the race. The plan was for Flynn not to take over the lead until she left “the bowl” and that’s exactly what she did.
    “Everything we planned worked,” added Walker, who was pleased to see Flynn post a better time than last year’s defending Group I champ Metuchen’s Elise Brevet, who finished her race in 20 minutes flat.
    While a few of the best runners missed the race because SAT’s were scheduled the same day, most of New Jersey’s finest runners raced on Saturday on the girls’ side. So it was a great test for Flynn.
    Racing in her first major race of the season, Robbinsville’s sophomore star Meagan Lesniak placed 20th in the Varsity “F” race with a solid 21:23 time, which is not bad for a young lady coming back from some serious injuries.
    “21:23 . . . that’s not too far off of what she ran at states last year (Lesniak placed eighth in Group I at states in 2007),” said Walker. “I think she should be excited at where she is already.”
    The Ravens’ Amber Rylak actually took a spill in the race. But Rylak’s old soccer teammates at Robbinsville nicknamed her “RamBo” for a reason. The Robbinsville senior simply bounced right back up off the ground and chased down a few girls in the Varsity “F” race to take home a 33rd place medal. Robbinsville’s Alicia Norato placed 54th out of 119 runners with a 23:46 time.
    In the freshmen race, Robbinsville took fourth place overall as a team with the Ravens’ Jackie Lazzaro placing fourth overall in the race . Lisa Leszcynski (17th overall) and Julie Swift (18th overall) also medalled in the freshmen race.
    Led by an excellent performance by junior Nick Lachman, Robbinsville placed fifth as a team in Boys’ Varsity “E” cross country race. Lachman posted a stellar 16:45 time to place third overall.
    “Nick Lachman he did a good job because it was his first race of the year,” said Walker whose boys’ team moved up a level this season. “But he knows there are certain things he can work on to get even better.”
    While Lachman was the only Raven to medal, Robbinsville had six other runners who all set personal 5 K run records by over two minutes and each placed from 44th to 65th out of 176 runners. Ryan Bottin ran an 18:28 time to take 44th place while Dan Orlak (18:47 for 56th place), Tyler Muir (18:51 for 57th place), Brian O’Toole (18:55 for 59th place), Tim Brazelton (18:56 for 61st place) and Ryan Lee (65th place with a 19 minute time) also ran well for Robbinsville.
    “Our second to fifth place guys in our lineup all ran within 30 seconds of each other,” said Walker, who loves when his runners run in a pack as they did on Saturday at Holmdel. “It was more of an impressive run for the team. They beat Group I powerhouses Metuchen, Shore Regional and Providence. But on the guys’ side some of those teams were missing some of their top runners because of SAT’s.”
    Robbinsville also placed second behind Haddonfield in Boys’ Junior Varsity “D” race.
    “Haddonfield is a Group II powerhouse,” Walker added. “Mike Giesler (a Robbinsville sophomore) placed seventh overall and his classmate Jack Virgie was right behind him in eighth place.”
    Robbinsville junior Mike Mahoney and sophomore Andrew Kurzeja also placed in the Top 30 in the same race. In the freshmen boys race, Robbinsville placed fourth overall as Billy Lovering, Roberto Guiducci and David Holzbaur each placed in the Top 30.
    “We have a really strong group of freshmen who stepped up,” said Walker, who is happy to see his current freshmen running better times than most of his current juniors did when they were freshmen competing at Holmdel. “There were a lot of good things to take out of this meet. There were a lot of positives.”
    Both Robbinsville varsity cross country teams were scheduled to have competed in a batch race this past Tuesday at Mercer County Park. Robbinsville was scheduled to score against Lawrence.