By: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
The Robbinsville High girls’ varsity cross country team has always been the big fish in the little pond — dominating most of its fellow Group I squads.
But after the Ravens’ magnificent performance in the Mercer County Championship race at Washington Crossing on Friday, they proved they could hold their own against the best of the best.
“We finished third as a team and I can’t get over that. To finish third in this county is on equal footing (difficulty-wise) with winning the state championship (in track and field last year),” said Robbinsville head varsity cross country coach Mike Walker, who, still, wouldn’t trade that state title for anything.
Only the girls from West Windsor-Plainsboro South (46 points) and Hopewell Valley (47 points), put up better numbers than Robbinsville, which finished with 78 points.
Looking at those numbers the first thing one might expect is that the Ravens’ junior superstar Megan Flynn ran wild and dominated the race. Yet, while no one was catching WW-P South’s Katie Kellner, who won the race with a 17:50 time, a slight tactical error probably cost Flynn a place in the top three. Nonetheless, she placed fifth overall with an 18:36 time, placing just four seconds behind the third place finisher Caroline Kellner.
“Flynn didn’t get off to a good start for whatever reason. She was trying to find them (the leaders) in the open field (and couldn’t),” said Walker, who noted that Flynn has previously beaten the girls who placed ahead of her on Friday.
Robbinsville’s Meagan Lesniak finally had the breakout race she had been looking for as she ran a 19:54 time to take 12th place overall. She can now go into Sectionals with a tremendous amount of confidence that she can do very well like last year.
While Flynn and Lesniak were expected to be as a great as they were, it was the performance of Robbinsville’s other runners which made the race so special. Rachel Balint (21:06 for 19th place), Amber Rylak (21:07 for 20th place), Julie Swift (21:19 for 22nd place), Jaclyn Lazzaro (21:22 for 23rd place) and Lisa Leszcynski (21:35 for 26th place) all ran great team races.
“Our (three) through seven girls were all running as a pack,” said Walker. “The Top 25 get medals so we just missed getting all seven of our girls medals. It was an awesome sight.”
In the junior varsity race, Alicia Norato took 14th place and team leader Holly Lovering took 21st place. Walker can not possibly overstate Lovering’s value to the team as she is coach on field.
“She got them mentally into it. She got all the new kids into it,” said Walker. “Holly Lovering has had a great season, but moreso as a captain. The girls really jelled this year with her help.”
In the freshmen race Robbinsville’s Amanda Korbar placed fifth while Sarah Woidill captured 12th place.
On the boys’ side, Robbinsville placed seventh overall in Mercer County on the strength of Nick Lachman’s stellar sixth place finish with a 16:05 time.
It was another great race for Lachman, who actually missed placing fifth by a split second.
“They ran a solid race. We finished seventh last year so we finished the same this year,” said Walker. “But last year we had a lot of seniors. We had four or five strong seniors that we’re replacing this year. They stepped up! I’m happy we didn’t take a step backward on a state level,” said Walker, who was very impressed with sophomore Brian O’Toole’s 17:38 time, which placed him 33rd overall.
Walker believes that if O’Toole, a wrestling standout, focused more on cross country he could be an outstanding distance runner.
“To finish 33rd with his lack of experience and seriousness — it shows his athleticism,” said Walker, who noted that O’Toole posted roughly the same time as senior superstar Jon Harmon did last season. “I don’t know if he realizes what he’s doing when he goes out there and runs a 17:38.”
Ryan Bottin (18:15 for 52nd overall), Dan Orlak (18:21 for 54th place overall), Tyler Muir (18:35 for 58th place overall), Ryan Lee (18:39 for 63rd place overall) and Tim Brazelton (18:43 for 64th place overall) also put up solid times for Robbinsville.
Robbinsville’s only 12th grader on the boys’ side, Mike Landolfi, had a strong last senior race. Jack Virgie just missed medalling in the junior varsity race.
Robbinsville was the runner-up as a team in the Freshmen race. Roberto Guiducci (ninth place overall), Billy Lovering (11th place) and Dave Holzbaur (13th place) all won medals. Ryan Bauer (16th place) missed a medal by one spot. Chris Harrison also competed in the Freshmen race for Robbinsville.
Next up for the Ravens is the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I State Championship at Thompson Park in Monroe on Saturday.
“On a State level, the girls can run with anyone in Group I,” said Walker, whose girls finished the regular season with a 10-4 record.
The Robbinsville boys’ cross country team (7-6), led by Lachman, should do well as a team too. Individually, expect Flynn, Lesniak and Lachman to all run extremely well on Saturday.

