The fall scholastic athletic season is heating up with pre-season scrimmages while the approaching days will signal the start of horse racing in Freehold.
Take a look at what area events highlight the upcoming calendar.
Live harness racing returns to historic Freehold Raceway on Aug. 26. Post-time is 12:30 p.m. for the fall/winter meet.
Racing will be held on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 10. There will be a special Monday program on Labor Day (Sept. 5). Post-time is 12:30 for all days.
Freehold Raceway is the nation’s oldest continually operating daytime racetrack in America. The track’s roots go back to 1853.
Freehold is open year-round for simulcasting.
If your interested in soccer, on Aug. 27, Colts Neck High School’s girls’ soccer team, last year’s NJSIAA Group III state champion, opens its pre-season schedule at Shore Regional High School. The game will start at 10 a.m.
The Cougars, who were unbeaten in 2015, are playing their rival, Wall, in Wall on Aug. 29. The teams will not meet during the regular season because Colts Neck has moved up to the Shore Conference’s Class A North Division.
Colts Neck is ranked No. 3 in the country by Top Drawer Soccer in its pre-season poll.
Last year’s NJSIAA Group IV girls’ soccer state champion, Freehold Township, is scrimmaging Jackson Memorial, a Shore Conference and state power, on Aug. 26 in Freehold Township. Game time is 10 a.m.
In boys’ soccer, Sayreville plays Old Bridge in Parlin at 10 a.m. in a pre-season contest among Greater Middlesex Conference teams.
The South River High School football team is holding Media Day on Aug. 27 from 9:30-11 a.m. As part of Media Day, the South River varsity players will have a joint workouts with the community’s mighty mites, tiney mites and junior midget youth football teams.
Allentown High School’s football team travels to Middletown North on Aug. 26 for a scrimmage. Both teams made the state sectional playoffs last year and are looking to do the same in 2016. Kick off is 6 p.m.
If you were inspired by the Olympics and want to give the triathlon a go, the 13th annual Tri the Wildwoods Triathlon is Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in Wildwood.
The race has both International and Spring triathlon starts. The International goes off at 6:30 and the sprint, at 6:50.
The course is two laps in the Ocean from 18th to 12th avenues for the International competitors. They will then bike 18 miles and run five miles.
The Sprint Triathlon is a one-lap swim, 10-mile bike ride and 5K run.
In addition, there will be a Kids’ Race at 7 and 9 a.m. and a 5K Run that starts at 8 a.m.