BY RICHARD JEROME
Staff Writer
Heading into this weekend’s Central Jersey Group II sectional meet, the Spotswood High School boys’ cross-country team has a 6-0 dual meet record and a great deal of balance.
“We have about one minute separating our runners,” said coach Roland D’Orvilliers.
“This is pretty much what I expected of this team, and we’re hoping to get some people into the Meet of Champions.”
The No. 1 harrier is senior captain Chad Vidal, who has run a 16:55 for the 3.1 miles, while right behind him is junior Brad Schepise.
“They’re very comparable,” D’Orvilliers says of the duo, who finished 11th and 12th, respectively, in the Greater Middlesex Conference meet.
“Junior Garrett Andren has been making his move in the past two weeks,” adds the coach. “He’s running 17:20 or so and has worked very hard since the summer — as has the rest of the team.”
Senior Steve Farparan is a consistent third or fourth runner, typically clocking in the 17:20s, while junior Chris O’Dwyer has run 17:25 as a personal best. Senior captain Jimmy DeMarco is a steady, dependable performer who clocks in the 17:40s. Rounding out the seven starters, sophomore Kevin Vanderveer has gone “above and beyond any expectations,” according to D’Orvilliers.
The girls, meanwhile, are 2-3 after a fast start, mainly because the Chargers have been decimated by a variety of injuries. There are only three healthy harriers left: senior Theresa Lietchman, who has a best of 21:46, sophomore Laura Cancio and senior Diana Malyshko.
Old Bridge dominates GMC Championships
Both the Old Bridge boys and girls cross country teams were the prohibitive favorites heading into last Saturday’s GMC Championships at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.
They did not disappoint.
The Knight squads walked away with the team and individual championships in both races, as Umar Saeed took home the boys title, and Sarah Root, the girls.
Saeed ran alongside prerace favorite Greg Bull of East Brunswick for the entire race, then used a strong kick with 100 meters to go to pull away from Bull. Saeed crossed the line in 12:56, just two seconds ahead of Bull.
This marked the second time that Saeed and Bull have met head-to-head in a big spot, with Bull winning the first match-up by one second at the Shore Coaches Invitational earlier this season.
Round three will be this Saturday at the Central Jersey Group IV meet at Holmdel Park.
Saeed’s win spear-headed a strong Knight effort (30 points), as Chris Bezeg took third (16:05), and Glen Li (16:24), Frank Vulpis (16:32) and Pat Bennett (16:57) finished 6-7-13 to round out the team scoring. In addition, Matt Ciambriello (16:58) and Josh Chatterjee (17:10) placed 14th and 18th respectively out of 170 runners.
East Brunswick finished in second with 63 points, led by Bull’s finish, as well as by the strong showings of Daniel Gilbert (fourth, 16:09), Yannick Wood (sixth, 16:42) and Eric Sorkin (17th, 17:11).
Spotswood was third in team scoring with 97 points, led by 11-12 finish of Vidal (16:56) and Schepsie (16:56). In addition, Andren finished 20th (17:13) and Farparan 23rd (17:20).
Sayreville’s boys were fifth (186), led by Greg Kuczynski’s 15th-place finish (16:59) and Arron Ampaabeng’s 19th (17:11).
While the boys race came down to the wire, Root was clearly the dominant runner in the girls race, crossing the line in 19:34, well ahead of second-place Sophia Chick of Edison (19:45).
Root, a sophomore running cross country for the first time, led the Knights to their fourth straight GMC title and led a strong team effort as well. Behind her, Stephanie Lafergola took third (19:57), Cristine Marquez took 10th (20:36), Mara McInerney took 15th (21:07) and freshman Stephanie Paturzo placed 16th in 21:16.
Defending champion Kaitlyn Regan, who has been battling injuries and illness throughout the season, took 22nd in 21:58.
With 44 points, the Knights finished well ahead of second-place South Brunswick (72), and third-place East Brunswick (119).
The Bears were led by Sara Smith’s fifth-place finish in 19:58), and also good strong finishes from Victoria Krupnik (13th, 20:48) and Michelle Turek (20th, 21:49).
The Monroe Falcons finished in fifth place with 142 points, led by the seventh-place finish of Elizabeth Segarra (20:33). Damaris Segarra also ran well, placing 16th (21:20).
Cross-country runners will turn their attention to the NJSIAA championships on Saturday with the Central Jersey State Sectional meet at Holmdel Park. The top 10 runners and top five teams from the sectional meet will advance to the Nov. 13 state Group championships, also at Holmdel Park.
— Doug McKenzie contributed to this story