PHS, South win girls sectionals
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The Princeton High School and West Windsor-Plainsboro South girls cross country teams used unmatched balance to win their respective sectional championships.
Montgomery High School and West Windsor-Plainsboro North had great efforts to extend the seasons of their seniors by placing in the top five of a competitive Central Jersey Group IV championship race.
PHS made it look easy by using a familiar strategy to cruise to the Central Jersey Group III crown. A tight pack up front gave them an insurmountable lead and a strong back end was right on their heels. PHS scored 28 points to win CJ III comfortably over Red Bank Regional, which scored 49 points.
”It’s cool to see a group of girls not just run fast, but execute the game plan,” said PHS head coach Jim Smirk. “There’s a lot of confidence that comes from training hard together all year.”
Lou Miahle was third in 19:32, Mary Sutton took fourth, Emma Eikelberner was fifth and Paige Metzheiser ran to eighth. Izzy Trenholm rounded out the Little Tigers’ scoring in 16th place. Sophia Zahn was 18th and Sarah Klebanov finished 37th.
”It’s definitely pretty big,” said Metzheiser, a senior, of the win. “We were a little bit confident when we started our season. Coming out of the Shore Coaches race and having that close 1-5 split was a confidence boost. Coming to counties and losing to South was a bit of a shake, but we were ready to take sectionals. Red Bank Regional definitely took it to us, but I think it was a good run.”
The Little Tigers have been enjoying good runs all year. Now they are geared up for the races that they will remember the most, and the sectional win gave them a good start as they head to the Group III meet and a chance to reach the Meet of Champions.
”It means the world,” Metzheiser said. “Just to have a team like we do in my senior year, and to share it with the other seniors and juniors on the team, it’s a really beautiful thing. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year. Whether we’re able to qualify on to Meet of Champs, or how we do at states, I’m happy with our year. It’s not just me that’s had a great year. It’s my team. It’s all of us, and that makes all the difference.”
WW-P South repeated as Central Jersey Group IV winners. The Pirates’ 44 points edged runner-up Hillsborough’s 55 for the team title. WW-P South averaged 19:28 per runner and their 58-second split between their first and fifth runners was the second best in the race.
”It’s a great confidence builder,” said Pirates girls coach Josh Siegel. “The girls always had the ability. It’s a true testament to their character to win it the second year in a row and to try to defend again next week.”
Christina Rancan was second in 18:54, 18 seconds behind Hillsborough’s Stephanie Mauer. Deirdre Casey took seventh in 19:19 and Alex Hesterberg was ninth in 19:27. Haley Rich was 12th and Edlyn Gulama finished 14th. Elizabeth Petrov was 35th and Alli Bacher was 75th.
”We really ran as a team, and it was amazing to see how Alex Hesterberg and Edlyn Gulma helped close their part of the race,” Siegel said. “Christina and Deirdre had a fantastic race and Haley did what she had to do, but the middle two, Alex and Edlyn, finally came through.”
Four of the Pirates’ top five are back from last year’s sectional and group championship team. Only Rich, who was swinging a tennis racket last fall, is new.
”It’s been pretty interesting,” Rich said. “Last year, I ran track only. I usually only run the 800. The most I had run at one time was five miles. Now I’m running these 5k races and 50 miles in a week. It’s been fun. I never thought of myself as a long distance runner, but I’m getting used to it.”
Rich has fit in nicely in the top five, and she has been able to contribute to the Pirates county and sectional wins. In addition to the distance jump in training and racing, she has been adjusting to the expectations for the team and herself.
”It’s a big deal and there’s a lot of pressure to it,” Rich said. “When I played tennis, pressure made me so nervous. In running, it’s no problem. It just pushes you harder.”
The Pirates are hoping that they will be pushed to another team title at the group meet at Holmdel.
”I think knowing we got that first place title gives us a little bit of confidence,” Rich said. “At the same time, Hillsborough will be there next week. Although we got first, you can’t let it get to your head. There’s going to be a ton of good teams there.”
While PHS and WW-P South were closing out team wins, Montgomery and WW-P North were battling for the final spots to qualify out of CJ IV. Montgomery scored 180 points for fourth place, two points ahead of WW-P North.
”We talked about every place counts for two or three weeks because of what happened in the county, we were one point out of third,” said MHS head coach Tom Huelbig. “One place kept us one place lower than wanted to be at conference. We had a theme that one step makes a difference. They ran well.”
Montgomery’s Julia Hans placed sixth in 19:18. She was the top freshman in the sectional. Cara Schiksnis was 24th. Emma Huff was 39th, Gianna Tedeschi was 48th and Sarah McGowan came in 69th. Julianne Hillsamer was 84th and Emily Dembinski ran to 87th. It’s the first time that Montgomery has advanced from a sectional since 2007.
”It’s awesome,” Schiksnis said. “I’m so happy with the way our team’s been performing. (Saturday) was awesome. We’ve had our eyes set on possibly getting out of the section, and to come in fourth was beyond what we were expecting.
”We were hoping to get out. We knew if we worked hard, we’d have a chance. It definitely paid off in the end.”
Schiksnis did her part by staying ahead of a pair of Hunterdon Central runners to give MHS the slightest breathing room. Still, there was 10 minutes where Montgomery was not sure if it had advanced. The fifth-place announcement enabled them to fulfill their pre-season goals and continue to grow the program.
”That helped to have that tangible goal that we could set our eyes on,” Schiksnis said. “It helped push us throughout the season and work harder than we ever have.
”It’s been clear the transition between every year,” she added. “Every year, we’ve gotten better. It’s crazy how far we’ve come.”
WW-P North has also come far. The Knights took the final bid out of CJ IV with its fifth-place finish with 182 points, one point better than Hunterdon Central.
”The girls are extremely excited,” WW-P North coach Monica Biro said. “For us, this is probably one of the best things that happened in cross country or track. We basically told them it would take five outstanding races and they did it.”
Yuzki Oey finished fifth in 19:15 to lead the Knights. Jessica Nguyen was eighth. Sahana Natarajan took 46th, Julia Grande was 65th and Anu Kandasamy was 66th. Sarah Liu was 101st and Eshita Sangal was 117th.
Few in the race had a more outstanding day than Jessica Nguyen. The senior, in her second year running cross country, dropped more than a minute over the time that she ran two weeks earlier on the same course at the county meet.
”I guess because today could have been the last meet as a senior,” Nguyen said. “Me and my other captain want to have our season the longest it could be.”
It’s the first time that WW-P North has advanced as a Group IV team. They were Group III until 2011.
”It means a lot,” Nguyen said. “Last year, when it was sectionals, I didn’t really know what was happening. I didn’t know how far we could go. Yuzki told me they just missed groups one year. I wanted to do it for her and the team. It’s my last year running, so I want it to be a good year.”