Original Photo by Meg Kellert for MileSplit
On Saturday morning another classic class meet unfolded at Thompson Park. Below you will find interviews with each race winner and a quick recap of the results and team winners. If you would like merged results click here!
When I refer to team scoring in the recaps below note that scoring in each class race was based on the top three in that division.
Senior Boys - Full Results
Paul Ehmann continues his fantastic start to the season with a meet leading senior race winning time of 16:15. His first time racing the Thompson Park course, he set out at a pace for a good time and held it despite running alone for much of the race. If you follow Mendham you'll remember Paul's fantastic start back in week 1 at the Randolph Invitational where he ran a huge course best of 15:57.
Team scoring wise the boys from Notre Dame kept their total to only 15 points scoring 3-4-8 with an average time of 17:02. They were led by Michael Elliot who took 3rd with a time of 16:56, Matt Kamph in 4th with 16:57, and Michael Gormley 8th clocking 17:14.
| M 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Ehmann, Paul | 12 | Mendham HS | 16:15.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Brackman, Kyle | 12 | Gov. Livingston HS | 16:53.00 | -- | |
| 3 | Elliot, Mike | 12 | Notre Dame HS | 16:56.00 | 2 | |
| 4 | Kamph, Matt | 12 | Notre Dame HS | 16:57.00 | 3 | |
| 5 | Ramesh, Rahul | 12 | Montgomery HS | 16:58.00 | 4 | |
Senior Girls - Full Results
In the senior girls race Voorhees dominated thanks to the 1-2 finish by Meaghan Driscoll and Erin McLaughlin as well as the finishing touch by Eleanor Brakewood who finished 18th with a time of 22:07. Driscoll took first with a time of 19:31 and Erin McLaughlin second with 19:48. The team averaged 20:28 and scored 17 points in the victory. Driscoll's time was the third best of the meet.
| F 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Driscoll, Meaghan | 12 | Voorhees HS | 19:31.00 | -- | |
| 2 | McLaughlin, Erin | 12 | Voorhees HS | 19:48.00 | -- | |
| 3 | Kramer, Alyssa | 12 | Old Bridge HS | 20:26.00 | -- | |
| 4 | Hoagland, Samantha | 12 | Colts Neck HS | 20:39.00 | 1 | |
| 5 | Albano, Marissa | 12 | Red Bank Reg. HS | 20:40.00 | 2 | |
Junior Boys - Full Results
Dylan Peters of Pt. Pleasant Boro took first in the junior race with a time of 16:39. That stood second overall only to the senior race winning time of 16:15 by Paul Ehmann. Dylan looks great heading into the season with this opening time and even ran a 16:12 in a dual at Ocean County Park last weekend. His Panther squad would end up in 9th for the junior standings.
Team wise Old Bridge scored 15 points with a 2-6-7 finish and a team average of 17:08! They were led by Gerard D'Ambrosio who took 2nd with a time of 16:44. The other two scoring Old Bridge athletes were Scott Belton in 6th with a time of 17:18 and right behind him Gerard Gill in 7th with 17:22. A lot of depth at this meet for Old Bridge.
| M 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Peters, Dylan | 11 | Pt. Pleasant Boro HS | 16:39.00 | -- | |
| 2 | D'ambrosio, Gerard | 11 | Old Bridge HS | 16:44.00 | 1 | |
| 3 | Pron, Evan | 11 | Monroe Twp. HS | 17:05.00 | 2 | |
| 4 | McDaid, James | 11 | Hightstown HS | 17:07.00 | -- | |
| 5 | Csipkay, Zach | 11 | Colts Neck HS | 17:13.00 | -- | |
Junior Girls - Full Results
Onto the fastest time of the meet for the girls! Grace Dwyer throws down an early season 18:48 at Thompson Park while battling Lauren Sapone of Red Bank Regional who marked the second fastest time of the meet by far with an 18:53 in second for the juniors.
Grace Dwyer of Hamilton North said she was recovering from a touch ankle injury and this was her first big test back. She had to take off from 9 days of running due to the injury and tested it out a little while leading up to the meet. The verdict? She is totally healthy and ready to roll this season, she looked very strong today. Check the video interview above for more details.
Team scoring wise Hillsborough posted the best team performance of the day with a 20:13 average for their juniors. Scoring 2-3-5 Hillsborough only totaled 10 points. The girls would lead overall in the merged results as well scoring a hypothetical 59 points and a 20:32 team average. Back to recapping the junior race, they were led by Stephanie Mauer in 3rd with a 19:39, Paige Novak in 4th with 20:22, and Olivia Delorenzo in 7th with 20:39. Mauer's time was good for 4th best on the day at Thompson Park.
| F 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Dwyer, Grace | 11 | Hamilton North - Nottingham | 18:48.00 | -- | |
| 2 | Sapone, Lauren | 11 | Red Bank Reg. HS | 18:53.00 | -- | |
| 3 | Mauer, Stephanie | 11 | Hillsborough HS | 19:39.00 | 1 | |
| 4 | Novak, Paige | 11 | Hillsborough HS | 20:22.00 | 2 | |
| 5 | Wolf, Brigit | 11 | Gov. Livingston HS | 20:33.00 | -- | |
Sophomore Boys - Full Results
The boys sophomore race was won by Rey Rivera of Old Bridge. This was his first career cross country race other than dual meets, he was exclusively an 800m runner last year. A great way to start off your XC career winning a shirt, gold medal, and posting the 5th best time of the meet with a 16:54!!
Colts Neck would win this division in team scoring with 14 points going 2-3-9. Brad D'Antuono led the team in 3rd with a time of 17:16, Jordan Brannan right behind him in 4th with 17:26, and Kevin Berry in 10th with an 18:14.
| M 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Rivera, Rey | 10 | Old Bridge HS | 16:54.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | McGhie, Corey | 10 | Rahway HS | 17:04.00 | -- | |
| 3 | D'Antuno, Brad | 10 | Colts Neck HS | 17:16.00 | 2 | |
| 4 | Brannen, Jordan | 10 | Colts Neck HS | 17:26.00 | 3 | |
| 5 | Sarathy, Ajay | 10 | Montgomery HS | 17:39.00 | 4 | |
Sophomore Girls - Full Results
Sophomore girls were led by Pt. Pleasant Boro's Katie Bragen who won with a time of 20:01. That would end up being ranked 6th best overall for the meet! This was a course record by over a minute for her compared to last year's freshmen time of 21:16 that she posted at the XC Fall Classic.
Team wise this was another victory for Voorhees who gathered 23 points scoring 2-4-17 and had a team average of 21:30. They were led by Alexis Churley in 2nd with a 20:36, Kelly McLaughlin 4th with 20:56, and Morgan Hoffman in 20th with 22:58.
| F 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Bragen, Katie | 10 | Pt. Pleasant Boro HS | 20:01.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Churley, Alexis | 10 | Voorhees HS | 20:36.00 | -- | |
| 3 | O'Horo, Stephanie | 10 | Colts Neck HS | 20:41.00 | -- | |
| 4 | McLaughlin, Kelly | 10 | Voorhees HS | 20:56.00 | -- | |
| 5 | Hussey, Allie | 10 | Old Bridge HS | 20:57.00 | 2 | |
Freshmen Boys - Full Results
The boys freshmen race presented us with what was probably the most exciting finish of the day. Matthew Costello of St. Joseph's just out kicked Mu Mulual of Trenton Central to the line to win with a time of 13:39. Mulual would record 13:41. The freshmen races were a 2.5 mile course rather the full 5000 meters. Costello averaged 5:28 miles.
Team scoring wise Metuchen won with 91 points through five scorers and were led by Johnson Caelan in 5th with a time of 14:09, Jake Beacher 13th with 14:28, and Stephen Tang 15th 14:32.
| M 2.5 Mile Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Costello, Matthew | 9 | St. Joseph's HS (Metuchen) | 13:39.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Mu, Mulual | 9 | Trenton Central HS | 13:41.00 | -- | |
| 3 | Hoagland, Liam | 9 | Colts Neck HS | 13:47.00 | -- | |
| 4 | Fan, Austin | 9 | Montgomery HS | 13:51.00 | 2 | |
| 5 | Caelan, Johnson | 9 | Metuchen HS | 14:09.00 | 3 | |
Freshmen Girls - Full Results
On the girls side Julia Hans is proving to be a standout freshman for Montgomery. She recorded a 6:07 pace 15:56 for the 2.5 miles winning the freshmen race by 32 seconds! Check out the video interview above to hear more.
Team wise Hillsborough took their second class race victory with 40 points based on a five athlete score. They were led by Diana Voronin in 4th with a time of 15:58 and Chloe Wong in 5th with a time of 16:25.
| F 2.5 Mile Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Hans, Julia | 9 | Montgomery HS | 15:16.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Cassavell, Nicole | 9 | Voorhees HS | 15:48.00 | -- | |
| 3 | Cochrane, Charlotte | 9 | Red Bank Reg. HS | 15:51.00 | 2 | |
| 4 | Voronin, Diana | 9 | Hillsborough HS | 15:58.00 | 3 | |
| 5 | Wong, Chloe | 9 | Hillsborough HS | 16:25.00 | 4 | |