Photo of Alyssa Aldridge accepting her SJ Athlete of the Year Award by RunningWorksPics
Alyssa Aldridge - Mainland Regional
Mainland Regional sophomore Alyssa Aldridge picked up right where she left off freshmen year. Another season where she just kept raising the bar every race. Aldridge amassed nine wins on the season and was undefeated against New Jersey runners up until Foot Locker Northeast Regional when she placed sixth to Briana Gess' fifth, which qualified them both for Nationals this coming weekend.
Last year she finished second at the 2014 Meet of Champions as a freshmen and came back this year to win the title with a Holmdel PR of 18:07. She won her first Sectional, Group, and MOC cross country championships while repeating her reign as Atlantic County champ. Aldridge also owns the fastest recorded 5K of the season thanks to her 17:08 at the Brown Invitational in Rhode Island.
She is your Girls Athlete of the Year.
Tim Mooney - Ridge High School
Tim Mooney is the 2015 Cross Country NJ MileSplit Girls Coach of the Year. His Ridge squad took on some of the toughest competition this state has to offer all fall. Most of the season Ridge, Hillsborough, and North Hunterdon were all swapping the top three places in the State Rankings Poll. Between Somerset County, Skyland Conference, Sectionals, Groups and the Meet of Champions these teams saw plenty of race time together. When it came time for the big show at Groups and the Meet of Champions however the Ridge girls stepped up big time winning both titles. With their perfect peak Ridge won their first ever team title at the storied Meet of Champions.
Photo by MaroonNews for MileSplit
Abbey Loveys - MileSplit Profile
Abbey Loveys is the 2015 NJ MileSplit Rookie of the Year. The Randolph freshmen had a great first season for the Rams which included Loveys as their number one runner and a deep state season run. She was third in her North 1 Section running 18:51, seventh at the Group 4 State Championships with 19:05, and ended her season with a Holmdel PR of 18:52 for 12th place at the Meet of Champions.