LIVE UPDATES from the NJSIAA Group Championships!

What to look for: CBA will once again go for the team title and despite a hiccup at Manhattan we don't see why they won't win a fifth straight and their 27th all time. Well maybe one reason, Don Bosco will have something to say about it having a great season and as we've seen plenty of times this year, any given Saturday. Individually this race is prime picking for Blaise Ferro with a solid group to push the pace with in Patrick Sullivan of Don Bosco and Shawn Hutchison of Bishop Eustace

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: Red Bank Catholic has been showing all season why they were ranked #1 in the state, that is especially true when filtering down to the Group level. The RBC girls will be aiming for their second straight title and their 18th championship overall. The closest team to RBC would be a talented Union Catholic squad. Individually MaryKate McNamara of RBC leads the group in the Holmdel rankings with a 19:13 from Monmouth County Champs, and looks like a great candidate for the title.  

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: Montclair Kimberly Academy is on pace to win their first state title led by senior Drew Crichlow. Pingry will want to keep their streak going however as 2x defending champs. Patrik Andersen, who will be attending Princeton University next fall, has a good chance to win his first cross country state title.

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: Crystal Ortiz, remember the name, a freshmen from Hudson Catholic is lined up to continue a fantastic freshmen season by potentially winning a state title. Villa Walsh has a solid hold on the group for the team title, if they win they would earn their second title all time. Their last championsh'ip came in 2009. 

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: Craig Corti of Wallkill Valley has already won two Group 1 Cross titles with a 16:07 in 2012 and 16:01 in 2013. Can he grab a third straight title? I think he can, but his main competition with be Jordan Price of New Providence and Luke Petela of Haddon Twp. Speaking of Luke Petela, the talented Haddon Twp senior is in position to lead his team to their fourth straight title and 10th all time. 

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: Kelly Shaffer of South Hunterdon won the 2013 title with a time of 19:24, well to defend her title she may have to run even faster!  Rachel Suss of Metuchen who won her Section be battling for that one card and state title and has been looking really strong all season. On the team side New Providence, Mountain Lakes, North Warren, and Shore Regional will all be in the hunt for this one.     

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: A great race is in store both individually and on the team front. Aaron Barlev of Holmdel and Chris Thompson of Voorhees have the fastest Holmdel times for Group 2 recorded so far this season at 16:10. Others will all be in the mix as well such as Joe Dragon, Sean Macpherson, and Colin and Will Daly. The team battle will be a close one between Voorhees and Haddonfield. 

Groups Holmdel Rankings;

What to look for: What a showdown we have here! The returning state champion Briana Gess of Haddonfield, who won as a freshmen, and Marin Warner of Holmdel who has been red hot all season. We don't have a Holmdel time for Gess from this season but she won with an 18:16 last year and is always ready for a race. Marin Warner leads the group with an 18:30 ran in October during Monmouth County Championships and you've got to believe she's going to be even faster now.  There's a great race on the team front as well with top teams such as Haddonfield, Rumson-Fair Haven, and Voorhees all giving it their all for a state title. RF Haven and Voorhees both have 2 titles in the last 4 years.

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: Wow, let's just list off some names here Leland Jones of Summit, Paul Ehmann of Mendham, Dominick Munson of Timber Creek, Connor Murphy of Allentown, Mike Marano of Middletown North, Joshua Clark of Highlands and more. All of these names represent a huge chunk of the top New Jersey runners in the state and the team side looks even better. Summit and Indian Hills will be atop the the leaders with Chatham and Highlands on their shoe laces.  

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: One of the potential contenders for this year's Meet of Champs title, Catherine Pagano of Northern Highlands leads the group's Holmdel times with an 18:27 from back in early October and will likely win the race. That's not to say there isn't a ton of talent here, her biggest competition will be Julia Guerra of Indian Hills who ran with Pagano for a huge personal best at Sectionals at 18:23, Epiphany Grisbaum of Ocean City, Sierra Castaneda of West Morris Central, and Lauren Sapone of Red Bank Regional. On the team side Mendham looks like the favorites with Northern Highlands right behind.   

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: This is a powerhouse group here. So many top teams in the state going head to head for a handful of advancement places. Cherry Hill East seems to be the strongest out of the group while others such as Kingsway, South Brunswick, Ridgewood, Old Bridge, and more will be fighting for their state meet lives in terms of advancement.  Expect some heated kicks down the final stretch especially during the 3 to 5 runners. Big names such as Nikhil Pulimood of West Windsor South, Aaron Groff of Cherry Hill East, Noah Culbreath of Kingsway, Matt Grossman of Millburn and more will be atop the individual results. 

Groups Holmdel Rankings

What to look for: Well individually I can tell you a clear favorite is North Hunterdon's Eve Glasergreen, the senior has been tearing it up for years and is only fine tuning her trade during her senior campaign. When it comes to the team battle things will be decided when the dust settles between very talented squads. West Windsor Plainsboro South had a smoking sectional performance and look great heading in, the Ridgewood girls have a great chance to grab the title. Ridge, Hillsborough, Shawnee, Randolph and North Hunterdon are all in the mix for making the top three and the wild cards for MOCs. Lets let the results speak for themselves. Can't wait for this one. 

Groups Holmdel Rankings