Christian Brothers Academy’s cross country team had little difficulty defending its Monmouth County championship on Oct. 20.
Above: St. John Vianney High School’s Chelsea Delaney races to the finish line of the Monmouth County Cross Country Championships held at Holmdel Park on Oct. 20. As their lofty national ranking (No. 5 by Marc Bloom’s The Harrier) would indicate, the Colts were the class of the field. Even resting some of their top runners (notably, Dan Bailey), CBA easily outdistanced runner-up Holmdel, 62-143.
The Colts got a big lift up front with junior Mike Mazzaccaro capturing the individual championship, completing Holmdel Park’s 5,000-meter course in 16:10.
Dan Mykityshyn was not far behind in fifth (16:39). William Villa (17:07), George Kelly (17:19) and J.D. Mitchell (17:19) finished 15- 20-21 to complete the victorious run for the defending champions, who were coming off a huge win at the Eastern States at Van Corlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., on Oct. 10.
The only thing to debate about the boys race was who would win the individual title. Would it be Mazzaccaro, last year’s runner-up, or Colts Neck High School’s Mike O’Dowd, who has emerged this year as one of the state’s top distance runners.
Right: Keyport’s Brian Brady heads toward the finish line. For two-thirds of the race, it was anyone’s to win. At twomiles, O’Dowd had had enough and switched gears. As he surged, the contenders fell back — all, that is, but one: Mazzaccaro.
Mazzaccaro never let the Cougar get away from him. He steadily pulled back the lost ground, and by the time the two reached the back woods, they were together.
The Colt made his move just before the harriers left the woods for the final sprint home. Using his track speed (runner up at the Meet of Champions at 3,200 meters last spring) Mazzaccaro was able to gain a slim lead on O’Dowd, which he held to the finish line. Behind Mazzaccaro’s 16:10, O’Dowd posted 16:13.
Holmdel High School relied on a top-10 finish from Oliver Song (16:53) to help the Hornets turn back Freehold Township (150) for second place. Behind Song, the Hornets packed their next four scorers from 30 to 40 to beat the Patriots.
The top 15 teams and top 25 individuals advance to Saturday’s Shore Conference Championships, which are going to be run at Bucks Mill Park, Colts Neck.
Middletown North (194), in seventh, Middletown South (386), 14th, and St. John Vianney (387) all qualified for the SC.
Middletown South’s Ryan Ure (16:53) was eighth. Middletown North’s Lukas Zirngibl (16:59) was 12th, and his teammate Sean Halloran (17:13) was 17th.
Among the individual qualifiers was Mater Dei High School’s Daniel Polanco (17:20).
In the girls’ championship, it was all Red Bank Catholic. The defending champion Caseys won with 45 points and had the individual champion in Molly McNamara, who ran a quick 18:43.
Holmdel (144) was third behind the Caseys and Howell (113). Shannon Nelson led the Hornets by finishing sixth (20:01). Lilia Xie was 16th (20:36).
Raritan was fourth (179) with Erin Byrne leading the way in 22nd (20:49).
Middletown South (250) at ninth, and St. John Vianney (290) in 10th moved on to the SC. SJV’s Chelsea Delaney finished sixth (20:04).
Mater Dei’s Elizabeth Shaw was 11th (20:22) and is headed to Bucks Mill Park as an individual.