Soph gains berth at MOC by taking sixth in Group IV
By Michael Holcombe, Sports Writer
Sophia Ginez continued to scale new heights last weekend, placing sixth out of 143 runners at the NJSIAA Group IV Girls Cross Country Championship at Holmdel Park.
That Top-10 finish qualified Ginez for this Saturday’s Meet of Champions which will also be held at Holmdel. It will be her first trip to the final state meet, which includes the best runners from all of the groups.
”I think she ran a great race,” South Brunswick head coach Wil Rivera said of her effort. “Basically she put herself in a place where she could get out there and feel comfortable. She got out in 6:26 or so, about 10 seconds off the lead pack of about five girls. So it wasn’t that fast at all. It was one of those situations where the lead pack got away and she was running with the second pack and finished in front of that pack.”
It was also a situation of Ginez learning how to adapt to a course, as she took past problems at Holmdel and learned from them.
”She went into the race not necessarily holding back, but she had issues with the course getting the best of her in the past and she wanted to feel in control and make sure she qualified,” Rivera said. “I think the big concern for her was to make sure she was in the top 10 and she didn’t want to expend herself too early and not have anything at the end. She didn’t go out too quickly and didn’t get pulled out of her race.
”She finished strong. She beat two girls pretty much at the end and held them off at the home stretch. She ran a personal record and beat her old time by 31 seconds. She moved on to the Meet of Champions and now she gets a chance to compete and see what she can do against the best the state has to offer. I think next week she’ll be a little more comfortable knowing the course and knowing it didn’t get the best of her. So she can go out and see if she can challenge herself a little more.”
Ginez covered the course in a time of 19:04, 35 seconds off the pace of the first place finisher, Jillian Smith of Southern Regional. But it was clear how strong her final kick was as the seventh and eighth place finishers, Joelle Amaral of Randolph and Maria Ruiz of Williamstown, completed the race in identical times of 19:04.
The sixth-place finish was surprisingly strong considering that Ginez had finished fifth at the previous week’s sectional meet. But Rivera feels that may be an indication that Ginez can continue to compete when she squares off against the remainder of the top girls in the state this Saturday.
”She has the 15th fastest time of all the qualifiers for the meet,” Rivera points out. “And from six to 15 we’re probably only talking about a difference of 20 seconds. We’re hoping that maybe she can go out there and knock off some of the people that are just slightly ahead of her.
”I think she’s capable of finishing in the top 10 in the state. She was fifth at sectionals and sixth at the groups. You have to remember, she lost to the same four girls at groups as she did at the sectional meet. They’re legitimate girls. I think if she goes out there and finds herself in the right spot early in the race and gets pulled along she definitely could be in the top 10, which would be amazing.”
While Ginez will be moving on to this Saturday’s meet, last weekend’s action marked the conclusion of the remainder of the South Brunswick team’s season. The Vikings finished 12th as a team with 290 points, far off the pace of champion Toms River North with 108.
”We were hoping that we would finish in the top 10,” said Rivera. “But it didn’t happen. I thought if we had better races out of everyone we could have been as high as ninth. But it was a great experience. Our seniors got to run in the group meet for the first time, we got Sophia to qualify for the Meet of Champions and for our four sophomores it was great to get them some experience for the years to come.”
Ginez wasn’t the only South Brunswick runner who turned in a great race as Lyndsey Sample finished 40th overall in the meet, turning in an impressive time of 20:31.
”This is Group IV, so it’s a legitimate field,” Rivera said. “And she’s just a sophomore. She was 22nd at our sectional and here we were adding three more sections and she wound up 40th. I thought she ran a great race. She had a great time for her, especially since she hasn’t raced there that much. It was probably only the third time she had ever run there. She was our number two and she hadn’t been our number two in a while.”
While Sample was starting the race slowly only to build up to a strong finish, Jennifer Smilgis did exactly the opposite, going out strong before injuring her ankle and falling back. The sophomore wound up finishing 58th in 20:54, which was a tough finish for a runner who lived in Ginez’s shadow most of the year but had an outstanding campaign in her own right.
Jessica Engel turned out to be South Brunswick’s fourth finisher in the race as the senior closed out her career by covering the course in 21:42.
”Jess ran great,” said Rivera. “She was our fourth girl and is a senior, so it was her last go-round. She left it all out there so you can’t be too upset with that.”
Rounding out the scoring for the Vikings, Amanda Smilgis finished in 22:20, while two seniors, Megan Behrend and Stephanie Rodriguez ended their careers with times of 22:26 and 22:29, respectively.