By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
Sometimes you just have to credit the opposition.
This year would be one of those times for the Allentown High School boys’ cross country team, which had to contend with both a tough schedule in the Colonial Valley Conference and a talented field in the Central Jersey Group II race this past Saturday at Thompson Park.
The Allentown boys placed 12th as a team with 322 points. Zach Wishbow placed 16th overall in a time of 17:30.11. The top five teams and top 10 individual runners advance to the overall Group II championships this weekend.
“We ran pretty well,” noted Allentown Coach Doug Hunt. “The kids never gave up. They were getting their times down at the end of the season.”
There’s just no way to slow down the opposition, especially the incredible field Allentown faced in the CVC. West Windsor North, West Windsor South and Robbinsville all won Sectional championships.
“Running against those teams does push you,” Hunt noted. Then again, it can also be a bit overwhelming. West Windsor, for example, placed six runners in the top eight spots during its sectional triumph. So when you run against that team, you pretty much only see them before and after the race.
Adam Duffy (19:05.48), Justin Duffy (19:21.53), Nick Palladino (19:30.99), Nishit Patel (19:44.55), and Pace Nalbone (20:39.58) were the other Allentown runners in the race.
The Allentown girls also placed 12th in the Central Jersey Group II field.
Mary Sancilio (23:06.83), Brittani Ferriola (24:11.02), Meghan Valnoski (25:33.01), Amanda Bader (25:33.48) and Casey Finn competed for Allentown.
NEHS
The New Egypt High boys’ cross country team placed eighth in South Jersey Group I with 239 points.
Nikolai Hlaidick (19:03), Billy Mitchell (19:09), Pat Hampton (19:17), Andrew LoPresta (19:38), Kyle Wilcox (21:10) and Mark Russo (21:20) ran in the race for New Egypt.
Jackie Koye placed 13th in a time of 23:23 in the girls race. New Egypt did not enter as a team in the girls’ race.

