Raiders look to improve on fourth-place sectional finish
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Michael Olivola’s remarkable improvement in cross country has brought with it a new option for next year.
The Hillsborough High School senior might try to run at the right college.
”At the end of spring track I didn’t think I could be at that level,” Olivola said. “I had a mediocre spring season. I’m glad I can have this opportunity. Running for a DI school would be amazing.
”My plans are really open. In the summer, I didn’t expect to improve this much. I’ve been considering it. We’ll see what happens as the season progresses.”
Olivola and the Raiders continue their breakout season this Saturday at the Group IV state meet at Holmdel Park. Hillsborough advanced as one of the top five finishers in North Jersey, Section 2, Group IV last Saturday at Warinanco Park.
”I felt like Hillsborough was kind of disappointed with our race,” said Olivola, who ran 17:00 over the 5,250-meter course for 14th overall Saturday. “We were expecting to get second. After the race, we realized Warinanco isn’t one of our better courses. We usually train on hills.
”I’m more of a hill runner. I’m looking very forward to Holmdel.”
So are the Raiders, who had come off wins at the Somerset County and Skyland Conference meets, but were topped at Warinanco. Westfield won with 46 points, North Hunterdon was second with 105 points, Ridge took third with 107 points and the Raiders scored 114 points for fourth.
Nick McFarland led the Raiders in ninth place in 16:39, junior Brendan Crowley was 26th in 17:20, senior A.J. Kaletski took 29th in 17:24 and junior Christopher Mullaly was 36th in 17:33. Senior David Hudak was 52nd and freshman Michael Digricoli was 65th in his first sectional.
”That course is definitely a track racers’ course,” said Hillsborough boys coach Eric Rosenthal. “It’s very flat. Our boys are not really geared for racing the flats. Westfield, that’s their home course, that’s their advantage, and they clearly have a much better squad up front than we did. The boys had a tough training week to get ready for this week, which is where we’re putting our stock.”
The Raiders have to finish in the top three in Group IV, or be one of the fastest two teams from groups not to qualify to gain an at-large bid to the Meet of Champions, which will be Nov. 19 at Holmdel Park. To do so, they will have to overtake the likes of Ridge and North Hunterdon, both of whom they beat in the Skyland meet.
”After the past two weeks, at counties and conferences, they were able to feel us out and they were able to put their guys in the right spot and able to hold on,” Rosenthal said. “There’s no equalizer there. There’s no hill. Once you have the lead, it’s tough to come from behind.”
Olivola was the Raiders’ second finisher, a position he has held for most of the season. It’s a big jump and big adjustment from a year ago.
”I wasn’t even on the varsity team until last year,” Olivola said. “I would only consider this to be my second season of cross country running. I didn’t run freshman year and sophomore year I had a lot of injuries.
”I am surprised where I am. At the same time, I’m not completely shocked. I know I trained hard in the summer. I’ve trained hard in practices. I’ve done morning runs. It’s not just relying on my athletic abilities. I realize I’ve trained really hard to get to this point.”
Olivola and the Raiders are refocusing for the group meet. They are looking at it as a chance to prove that their sectional finish was just an off day.
”We knew Westfield was a really good team, and they showed us how good they are,” Olivola said. “We’re looking to close our gap at groups. We haven’t made the Meet of Champs in several years, and we really want to get there.
”As a team, I am very happy with how the team is doing,” he added. “Nick McFarland is having a great year. Brendan Crowley is having a great year. Our freshman, Mike Digricoli is having good year. I’ve dropped 30 seconds. We’ve all dropped a lot of time. We’re peaking at the right time. Our most important races are coming up.”
Olivola continues to lower his times. His finish Saturday was 30 seconds faster than he ran at Warinanco at the Stewart Invitational, but it’s nothing compared to the drops he’s made since last season. His Skyland finish of 16:22 was 55 seconds better than he ran a year ago. His Shore Coaches’ 16:57 last month was 1:06 better than a year ago.
”He’s just a workhorse,” Rosenthal said. “He loves the speedwork. He loves training hard. (Sunday), we ran 14 miles. He came back and said he was going hard the last few miles because he felt so good. He just loves to train. He’s probably our most consistent runner.”
Olivola has adjusted to his new speed. It took him a little while to realize how far he’d come.
”I was expecting to improve this year, but to be honest, I didn’t even expect it to be this much,” Olivola said. “Going from 16:55 to a 16:25 is huge. I had really great coaching this year. This is Coach Rosie’s second season. I’ve seen noticeable improvement. He’s been really good. I attribute a lot of my success to him.”
Olivola’s development has helped to make the Raiders a stronger team in the state.
”I don’t think he had the confidence last year,” Rosenthal said. “He’s running with a tight group of boys. He’s always running with McFarland. He knows he belongs there now.
”It’s great for team morale. We always have two runners pushing the front of the pack. There was a top group (Saturday) and Michael was at the back of it. That forces Nick to run faster, and it forces the other guys to try to catch up because they can see him and know they can run with him.”
Olivola is getting an extra boost of adrenaline in his final month of cross country from being a senior. He is trying to make the most of his last appearances in the state meets before he will turn his sights on seeing what school he might run for next year.
”That is a huge motivation,” Olivola said. “Cross country is my favorite season because it puts an emphasis on the team. I’m a very big team player. In track, only the top six people score. Even though I could possibly make an impact in the future in track, I know my biggest impact will be in these last two races and I want to help Hillsborough do as well as we can possibly do.”