By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Brendan Crowley knew that he would be running on Saturday in the Nike Northeast Regionals no matter what happened in the state Group IV meet, but the Hillsborough High School senior was thrilled to have the chance to run in the Meet of Champions first.
The Raiders missed one of the top three spots at the Group IV state meet to automatically qualify, but their fourth-place finish on Saturday at Holmdel Park in a new school record 16:52 average per runner granted them the first wild card entry into the MOC that was scheduled for Wednesday.
”It definitely means a lot, especially after last year,” said Crowley, who was the Raiders’ fourth finisher Saturday in 54th place. “We thought we could have made it. We did realize after that how difficult it is to get through. It means a lot more after that loss last year.”
Hillsborough was just 12 points and two seconds per runner behind North Hunterdon, which claimed the final automatic spot for the MOC. Nick McFarland was the Raiders’ top finisher in 16:22 for eighth. Michael Digricoli was 14th in 16:36 and Matthew Nunn was 35th in 16:57. Crowley was 54th in 17:12 and Joseph Spaniol closed their scoring in 58th. Matthew Sateary was 67th and Jay Coleman was 101st.
”Right away, I was pretty confident,” said Raider boys coach Eric Rosenthal. “I knew 16:52 would all but ensure us we would get there.
”They all had really good races,” he added. “I think a lot of them improved their time from Shore Coaches. That’s what you look for from a team — for them to progress from a month earlier in the season on the same course. We’re moving in the right direction as opposed to last year.”
It’s the Raider boys first trip to the MOC since 2005, when they finished third in the state.
”We have a lot of talent, and we wanted to make sure that we make the most of our opportunity,” Crowley said. “Definitely being my last season, it meant a lot to work with these guys and have them get me to the Meet of Champions.”
Crowley has had a solid senior year. He had wanted to be faster, and he’s looking to close out his final scholastic season with his best races.
”Personally, I haven’t been too happy with my results, but the team has been packed together and they carried me through,” he said. “I’m happy how the year has gone as team, even if it hasn’t gone the way I planned.
”I kind of expected myself to be faster at this point. Things haven’t all worked out. I still have a couple races. I have to keep going and do the best I can.”
Crowley is part of the depth that has pushed Hillsborough to impressive results all season. Their depth was again a factor in reaching the MOC. Their fifth finisher was 10 spots better than North Hunterdon’s.
”The team has been doing great,” Crowley said. “These guys work hard. They put in a great summer. Matt Sateary didn’t break 19 minutes last year, and now he’s at 16:30. Matt Nunn has run 16:10. Digricoli and Joe Spaniol have been good, and Nick is a stud. I’m proud of those guys. I’m proud to be a part of their team.”
Crowley is the lone senior in the top seven for the Raiders, though he hasn’t made much of that fact. He’s been happy to see that Hillsborough has shown improvement since last year when their New Jersey season ended at the group meet.
”Last year, we were starting to get worn down a little bit by now,” Crowley said. “We hadn’t been that successful before that long, and at the end, we were kind of worn out. This year, we went through the county championship and conference championships and we were ready for that. We were ready to keep going.”
The Raiders have been getting in an extra workout after each meet, and they did the same after the Group IV meet in preparation for the MOC. It is a quick turnaround after super storm Sandy disrupted the original schedule, but Rosenthal didn’t expect it to hurt his team.
”This has really been what the boys’ whole focus has been all season, to make it back to where they feel they belong,” Rosenthal said. “There’s so much pressure to get here. To be able to run just because you can, I think they’ll do amazingly well.”
Crowley went into Wednesday’s race looking for a satisfying finish to his last race at Holmdel with the Raiders.
”We definitely have a couple teams picked out we want to beat, especially the teams from Group IV that we’ve been close to, but not quite able to reach,” Crowley said. “We’ve had guys that not everything worked out that well. Matt Sateary lost his shoe on Saturday. If everything comes together, we can beat teams like Westfield and North Hunterdon and definitely be satisfied with that.”
Rosenthal can tell how much the team’s success has meant to Crowley this year. He’s seen Crowley develop into an influential veteran.
”Brendan’s always been more of a quiet guy,” Rosenthal said. “This year, he’s really come out of his shell. It’s good to see. He’s been a lot more vocal. It’s been great to see. He’s the only senior in that role.”
Brendan Crowley is happy to share in Hillsborough’s first trip to the MOC in seven years, and he is hoping it is a memorable experience to close his career.
”There’s a lot less pressure than group championships,” Crowley said. “You don’t have to worry about being top 5 in Group IV. You just have to go out and run your race and beat as many people as you can. We don’t have to worry about if we don’t beat these people, we don’t get to run again. We’re more relaxed going in.”
