ROBBINSVILLE: MOC experience benefits runners

Ravens, Allentown’s Murphy eye return

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   The Robbinsville High School girls cross country team, the Ravens boys team’s Richie Kasper and the Allentown High School boys team’s Conor Murphy all had the opportunity to run at the Meet of Champions on Saturday.
   The experience was a boost to them all and their results helped to cap their New Jersey racing season, but their coaches were most excited about their runners’ feelings after the race.
   ”They were talking about coming back next year,” said Robbinsville head coach Mike Walker after his girls placed 16th overall. “That was something I don’t normally hear. It’s such a long season, sometimes they want it to be over. If they’re talking that way, there’s very little I have to worry about. They’re very self-motivated. We’re ahead of schedule.”
   Julia Borowski led the Ravens as she has all season. The senior finished 96th overall in 20:22, and Robbinsville saw some fine performances just behind her. Erin Holzbauer ran a personal-best 20:25 for 99th place and Lauren Kroepfl broke the school’s freshman record for the course when she ran 20:26 for 102nd. Fellow freshman Enlin Carow placed 139th in 21:26 and junior Gabby Manto finished 161st in 22:24 in her first season running cross country.
   ”I thought it was a great way for us to end the season,” Walker said. “We had a couple of them run their PRs on the course, and that’s not an easy thing to do in that course. Julie was very consistent all season. She had a good race. She was hoping for a little more, but realized it was a good race and with how everything went this season, the realization she had her last race in her uniform for the team, I think she was happy with it. She ran almost the same time as last week.
   ”Erin Holzbauer dropped 20 seconds off her best. Lauren Koepfl, she’s a freshman with only a few races, she broke our freshman record on that course. We’ve had some pretty serious runners through the years, and she didn’t just beat it by a little. They all ran pretty strong races. That was pretty much what we expected. Team place-wise, we didn’t finish that high up, but it’s a nice way to end the season.”
   In the boys race, Kasper, a sophomore in his first MOC, placed 82nd in 16:55. He was 13th among all sophomores in the state.
   ”The main goal was to see him run under 17 minutes again,” Walker said. “I thought if he was on his game and had a great race, I thought he could get under 16:40. Running in that crowd and atmosphere, to still break 17, it was pretty impressive, especially considering the group of sophomores we have, he did a good job representing us. Hopefully he can use the learning experience for next year and the year after. I’m pleased with the results.”
   Murphy was making his first appearance for Allentown in the MOC. The junior, who is in his second year of cross country, finished 54th overall in 16:34.
   ”It was a great experience for him,” said Allentown head coach Brian Harshman. “He had hoped to run a bit faster, place a bit higher, but a couple things he had. He was a little under the weather during the week. The other thing is I think he learned a lot about running in a race of that caliber. He was saying that he got out a little slower than he wanted to. He ended up pretty well boxed in.
   ”All in all, he only ran 14 seconds slower than he did last week. He ran a real solid race. I think being that it was his first time at Meet of Champs I think he did very well. He’s already talking about next year.”
   Murphy will be motivated to run an even better race next year. He is hoping to continue his progress as a cross country runner.
   ”It shows a lot of maturity that he’s focused on sort of the big picture and getting better,” Harshman said. “This year for him was just unbelievable. He was improving and improving and improving. He’s going to go up and run the Footlocker race (Saturday). He wanted to see what Van Cortlandt is all about.
   ”This is all new for him,” he added. “I couldn’t be more proud of what he accomplished this season. He definitely exceeded our expectations and now we’ll see where he goes from here. It’s a lot of fun.”
   Murphy was the first male runners in Redbirds history to advance to the Meet of Champions. Allentown is hoping he will have company on the course next year.
   ”We had 18 of his teammates came out to root him on,” Harshman said. “For the whole program, it was a very big step.”
   Robbinsville, too, had plenty of support from the rest of its program at the MOC. Walker was encouraged by the showing.
   ”We had a bunch of girls and a bunch of guys,” he said. “All the guys came up. That was something else that we’ve been missing the last couple years. At the group meets, we had a bunch of guys come up to cheer them on.
   ”I think that helps with your program. It helps with the motivation. The younger kids see that and want to be a part of it. They’re not intimidated by the race then. They were there to cheer Richie on and have the all the face paint thing going. It was nice to have people racing on the guys and girls side.”
   The Ravens are hopeful that they can get the entire boys team into next year’s MOC, and they are positive about the chance for the girls team to return with all but Borowski back from this year’s squad that ran Saturday. There is plenty of potential to fill in for her and add to Robbinsville’s varsity numbers.
   ”I always look at our JV and freshman results,” Walker said. “The past couple results, our JV teams have been pretty strong. That’s carried through for our main varsity girls. This year is the first year we had a freshman team in a while. They had a really good season even without Lauren in some of the races.
   ”We had a talented group of young girls that came along — Gabby in her first year and some young girls. And Annalise (Celano) is coming off her injury and she’s getting ready for track already. We have a good group.”
   Celano ran step for step with Borowski at last year’s Group II state meet, and the Ravens expect her to be fully recovered from surgery and ready to be a team leader next fall.
   ”She comes back, and I think she’ll come back a stronger runner, and the team with her,” Walker said. “She’s a top individual and she’s a vocal leader and they will use this experience to motivate them. Usually I feel like I have to say something to get them to realize it. They already have their goals. They know what they want to do next year. It makes my job very easy when they talk like that.”
   Borowski as an individual and the Robbinsville boys team will compete in the Nike Northeast Regional on Saturday at Bowdoin Park in New York, while Murphy caps his breakout year for Allentown at the Footlocker Northeast Regional at Van Cortland Park on Saturday.