2011 NJ High School XC Poll - Week 1

September 13, 2011 9:03 PM

Week 1 of the 2011 season is history and with no thanks to Mother Nature. The Randolph Invitational, traditionally the "Friday Night Lights"  opener for New Jersey harriers was postponed until Saturday evening. The Roxbury Invitational faced cancellation and ended up being run over a twice altered course. The Cherokee Challenge, The St. Dominic Academy Invitational, the Newark Academy Invite did all go off as scheduled and a few Jersers went up to Kutztown U. to run in the mud at the PTXC 3 meet.

Lets see how the Panel looked at the first week of XC 2011

 

BOYS: Week 1        
        Pre Last 
RANK TEAM VOTES 1ST PLACE Season Week
1 CBA 100 10 1

Rests Varsity and wins the Soph race

@ Roxbury
2 WW-P So 86   2 No Race
3 Westfield 79   3

Impressive debut with victory in Jr/Sr race

@ Roxbury
4 Don Bosco 74   4 Wins Big North dual vs Paramus Cath
5 Ridgewood 54   5 Wins Big North dual vs Paramus HS
6 Freehold Twp 48   6 No Race
7 Morris Hills 22   NR Wins Blue race at PTXC 3 (Kutztown Pa)
8 Hillsborough 18   9 13th in "Merge" @ Roxbury w/o big guns
9 Ridge 15   7

3rd in "A" race at Randolph Inv.

(#2 NJ team)
10 Haddonfield 12   8 5th in "Merge" at Cherokee Cchallenge
           
Also Receiving Votes:         
No. Hunterdon (10) Lacey, WW-P No. (7) Colts Neck,  
Lenape (4) Pope John XXIII (3) Holmdel, Roselle Cath,  
Cherokee (2) Mendham 1        

 

As one would expect, there were no huge changes in the Top Ten after just one weekend of action. The first six positions remained the same, with a couple of the top dogs skipping the kick off weekend. Morris Hills, who garnered some votes in the pre-season, went up to the mud of Kutztown U and came away with a win in the "B" race at the PTXC 3 Invitational. The win, behind a 4/6 finish by Travis Ellis and Nick Patterson moves the Knights into the #7 slot this  week. The balance of the list shuffles slightly.
 

Sleeper Alert - Pope John XXIII with a very strong 1-4 performance, took the "C" race at Randolph. These guys will make some noise along the way.

 

 

GIRLS: Week 1        
        Pre LAST
RANK TEAM VOTES 1ST PLACE Season Week
1 Voorheees 97 7 1 Dominated "B" race at Randolph Invite.
2 Hillsborough 91 3 2 No Race for varsity
3 Ridge 67   4 Takes Randolph "A" race over good Randolph squad
4 RBC 51   5 No Race  
5 Cherokee 34   3 4th in "Merge" @ Cherokee Challenge
6 Hunterdon Cent. 31   8 No Race
7 Mt. St. Dominic 27   6 2nd in "C" race at Randolph
8 Ridgewood 26   NR Wins Big North dual vs Paramus HS
9 Randolph 24   NR 2nd in "A" race at their Invitational
10 Moorestown 21   NR 2nd behind power house Tatnall in Cherokee "Merge"
           
Also Receiving Votes:         
Mendham (19) No. Hunterdon (12) Morris Knolls (10) Pingry,   
Mtn. Lakes (6)  Robbinsville (5) Eastern Christian, Lenape (4)  
Howell, Bishop Eustace, No. Highlands (3) Bernards, WW-P So. (2)  
Summit, Bridgewater-Raritan (1)      

 

Even though it was only the first meet of the season, Voorhees made a loud statement as they took the B race at the Randolph Invitational with a score of 21 points and a team average of 19:40. Their average was the fastest of the NJ schools at the meet. Hillsborough did not race their varsity this week. They will not unveil the 2011 model until Shore Coaches, The 3 through 7 spots shift  slightly on Cherokee dropping to #5 (they have lost potential #2 Megen Charbeneau to relocation) and Mendham's drop from the Top Ten. In a bit of an early season surprise, 3 new teams appear in the 8 thru 10 slots.

 

Sleeper Alert -   During the summer a coach whispered that Bridgewater-Raritan was a team to watch this year. He may have been right, as these young ladies ran well as a pack, led by jr Marissa Ruskan's 2nd place as they took bronze in the "A" race at Randolph. Watch these girls