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IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!
THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR!!!!
IT'S THE STATE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!
IT JUST DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!!!!
An XC marathon of state championship races start on with the Girls Group 2 race at 10 a.m. here at Holmdel Park!!
It sure does feel good to type that again!!!
The Meet of Champions (next Saturday at Holmdel) is a great event, but nothing compares to the state Group Championship because of the never ending drama that plays out over the greatest XC course there is for six straight hours of racing.
The Group Championship meet is NJ XC's Mardi Gras!!!! Nothing better than seeing fans running all over the course screaming, blowing horns, and many students/fans decked out in war paint as they show their school spirit!!!
When the day is done at NJ's Cathedral of XC -24 state champions will be crowned (12 teams/12 runners per gender).
It was like the night before Christmas when I was kid last night-no sleep!!! Way too amped up to keep my eyes closed!
QUICK REMINDER- THE BIGGER THE MEET AND MORE EXCITED I GET, THE MORE I TYPE IN ALL CAPS!!!
TODAY IS ONE OF THOSE DAYS!!!
GET UR ALL CAPS ON!
GET UR NJ XC ON!!!!
GET UR HOMDEL ON!!
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE COMPETING TODAY!!!!
Live updates WILL BE DOWN BELOW!!
Results, photos, recaps, and videos will be all be coming later, so please go to nj.milesplit.com for the latest info.
ATTENTION XC FANS - If you are coming to Holmdel Park for the meet, remember the parking rules-Parking for the Group Meet for both athletes and spectators will be at the Vonage facility, located on the corner of Route 4 (Holmdel Road) and County Road 520 (Newman Springs Road). Note-There's limited handicapped parking at Holmdel Park.
Use lots A and D at Vonage. Shuttle busses will pick you up inside the lots on the road that circles the lots. This is the same procedure used last year.
Spectators will be asked to pay a $1.00 bus fee to help defray the cost of the shuttle buses. This fee will be collected at the Vonage parking lot only.
LIVE UPDTAES
8:45 a.m. Every year I have the same thought driving down here- I think the Parkway should replaced the exit sign at 114 to just read "XC.'' Just for this week and for the Meet of Champions. Who do I have to talk to make that happen???
9:15 a.m. It's chilly as expected, but not as bad as predicted. No wind and its around 30 degrees. Awful typing weather, but great running weather. GET UR PR'S ON!!!
9:30 a.m. 30 minutes until the first race-Girls Group 2. Haddonfield is the defending champ, but NJ #5 Voorhees is favored to win its 11 state title.
9:54 a.m. Almost game time here at Holmdel. Group 2 girls are getting ready to take the line.
10 a.m. IT'S SHOWTIME. HERE WE GO!!! THE GUN JUST WENT OFF!
10:18 a.m. Here comes Rachel Kenny of Matawan!! She wins in around 18:50. First state champ from Matawan!!
Cassavell of Voorhees 2nd, Coppolino 3rd and Wagner from Voorhees 4th. Looks like Voorhees is going to win this. Waiting for official scores.
10:29 a.m. Girls Group 3 race is next. This could be epic as Aldridge, Westley and Hebner square off. Sub 18 could happen here!!!
10:40 a.m. Voorhees wins the girls group 2 title with 75 points. Voorhees went 2-4-9-12-48 and averaged 20:58.That's 11 state title for Voorhees, No. 3 in state history.
Haddonfield got 2nd with 119 and Holmdel third with 127. River Dell was 4th with 130.
10:48 a.m. ALYSSSA ALDRIDGE wins her third Group 3 title in a row in 18:18!!!! Monica Hebner is 2nd in 18:20. Hebner came out of the woods first, but Aldridge surged past her for the win about 60 yards from the finish. Brand was third in 18:41 and Westley 4th in 18:43.
Aldridge is now favored to win her third straight M of C title. Only three girls in state history have won 3 straight M of C titles and only 4 girls have won it three times.
10:59 a.m. COLTS NECK REPEATS AS GROUP 3 GIRLS CHAMPS, 89-100 OVER MIDDLETOWN SOUTH. Indian Hills gets 3rd with 120 and Northern Highlands 4th with 146.
Colts Neck went 9-16-17-18-29. Middletown South went 3-8-27-28-34
11:00 a.m. Boys Group 2 is off. Devin Hart vs. Chris Romero!!!
11:15 a.m. YOWZAA!!!! GET UR RED HOT TIMES ON!!!
DEVIN HART FOR THE WIN IN 15:34. ROMERO 15:41!!! Hart is now No. 20 on Holmdel's All-Time list!
11:16 a.m. Haddonfield and Voorhees hooked up in a great battle. Haddonfield got a huge race from back of its pack. Waiting for official results.
11:17 a.m. Haddonfield wins its 16th title, 53-69 over Voorhees. Robbinsville gets third with 116.
11:31 a.m. Boys Group 3 is on the course.
11:46 a.m. Jack Stanley of Mendham for the win in 16:01. Going to be close for the team title between Mendham and Hopewell.
11:50 a.m. Mendham wins!!! 78-90 over Hopewell Valley. Morris Hills third with 131. WW North 4th with 136. Mendham went 1-2-8-26-41 and averaged 16:31. Hopewell went 4-9-15-29-33 and averaged 16:39. Mo GET UR MO HILLS COMPRESSION ON!!! 20 second 1-5 split and 34 second 1-7 split for Morris Hills. I love when a team floods the line like that!!!!
FYI-With its 16:57 avg, WW North has a good shot at one of the 3 wild card spots.Stay tuned.
12:10 p.m. Girls Non-Public B on the course .
12:20 p.m. Kate McAndrew of Morris Catholic is the upset winner in the girls B race in 19:41. GET UR HUGE PR ON. McAndrew dropped 1:21 off her Holmdel PR!!!! McAndrew is the 2nd girl from Morris Catholic to ever win a state XC title.
12:35 p.m- Villa Walsh wins the Non-Public B title for the 4th straight year with 39 points.! Trinity Hall 2nd with 62 and St. Dominic third with 84.
12:49 p.m. Nicole Vanasse of Pingry wins the girls A race in a big Holmdel PR of 18:45!!! Union Catholic and Red Bank Catholic are separated by just a couple points. Not sure who won yet???
12:50 p.m. UC WINS A THRILLER, 63-65 OVER RBC AND PINGRY IS THIRD WITH 69!!! WHAT A RACE!!!
UC went 2-9-15-16-21 and RBC 5-8-11-19-22. Pingry went 1-6-14-17-31.
1:10 p.m. Boys B race is on the course.
1:16 p.m. GET UR JOHNNY SPINELLI ON!!!! 16:28 FOR THE WIN!!!
1:17 p.m. The boys B team race is going to be close!!!!!
1:28 p.m. Mater Dei wins the state B title with 75. First title in 10 years. MKA is 2nd with 85 and Newark Academy 3rd with 88.
1:29 p.m. NJ #1 CBA is up next in the A race.
1:46 p.m. Brian Hill of CBA wins the boys A race in 16:05. CBA rolls to its 28th state title, which extends its state record. Think about that number for a minute-28!!!!! Simply amazing!!!!!
Which teams went 2-3??? You will know as soon as I do.
1:59 p.m. CBA wins boys A race with 37 points as they go 1-3-8-11-14 and averaged 16:31.4. CBA held out some of its top guns.
GET UR ST. PETER'S PREP ON!!!
St. Peter's Prep gets 2nd with 137 TO QUALIFY FOR THE MEET OF CHAMPS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!
Freshman Edwin Klanke of St. Peter's was 4th in 16:24!!!!!! That's one of the fastest freshman times ever run at Holmdel!!!
GET UR CAPTAIN CORCORAN ON as Pope John gets third with 150!!!
2:10 p.m. Girls Group 1 is on the course.
2:19 p.m. Samantha Green of Park Ridge win Group 1 in 19:30. First champ ever from her school!!
Mountain Lakes goes 2-3. Waiting on team scores!
2:25 p.m. GET UR BULLDOGS ON!!! Metuchen wins girls Group 1 75-85 over Mountain Lakes. Kinnelon 3rd with 93.
2:30 p.m. GET UR CLASH OF TITANS ON!!! NJ #1 North Hunterdon, #2 Kingsway and #3 Ridge girls are squaring off right now.
2:36 p.m. Abby Loveys of Randolph leads at the mile at 6:11.
2:49 p.m. IT'S ALL LOVEYS!!! She does wire to wire in 18:41 for the win!! A 10 second Holmdel PR for Loveys.
2:55 p.m. GET UR NJ SEC. 2 ON!!!! The top 3 teams in the girls Group 4 race all came from NJ Sec. 2!
NORTH HUNTERDON WINS ITS FIRST TITLE SINCE 2000 with 82 points and 19:32 avg. Shout out to North Hunterdon coach Sean Walsh. He has knocked on the door the last couple years and finally crashed through for the win. Congrats, Sean!!!!
Ridge is 2nd with 104 and Westfield gets third with 139.
What a race by WESTFIELD!! No one saw them getting third,, except of course Westfield!! GET UR COACH JEN BUCCINO ON!!! Westfield qualifes for M of C for 1st time since 2000 and its 19:56 avg. is a school record!!!
Shawnee gets 4th with 139 and Kingsway 5th with 156.
Soph. Chloe Gonzalez had a huge race to lead the way for North Hunt by placing 2nd in 18:49. North Hunterdon went 2-4-8-29-39. Gonzalez is an amazing story. She wasn't even in North Hunt's top 7 last year and she didn't break 21 at Holmdel last year. And now she's doing this!!!! That's what makes XC so awesome!!! GET UR GONZALEZ ON!!!!
3:16 p.m. HERE COMES FAHD!!!
Fahd Nasser becomes McNair's first state champ, crossing first in 16:15.
3:30 p.m. The boys Group 4 race is off. Right now WW North has the first wild card. Will Group 4 snatch all 3 wild cards or will Coach Brian Gould's WWN crew hang on to one of them? Stay tuned.
3:40 p.m. No Ray Sellaro. He had to scratch. What a shame.
3:42 p.m. GET UR LAKERS ON!!!!
Mountain Lakes win Group 1, 109-112 over Metuchen. Haddon Heights gets third with 140.
3:56 P.M. GET UR DRAGONS ON!!! GET UR WILL HARE ON!!!
Kingsway and Hare just crushed the boys Group 4 race.
Hare, a sr. at Princeton, wins in 16:01.
KINGSWAY BLEW THIS RACE APART-5 UNDER 16:30 AND AN 11 SECOND 1-5 COMPRESSION!!!!!! Are you kidding me!!! GET UR CHRISTIAN LYNCH ON!!!!
CBA vs. Kingsway next week has the potential to be a great one!!
Kingsway wins Group 4 with a Group 4 meet record 16:23 avg. and 52 points.
Princeton 2nd with 91 and 16:30 avg.
Westfield third with 127. 16:42 avg
WW South 4th in 162 16:48 avg
Freehold Twp 5th 170 16:49 avg
North Hunterdon 6th - 172 16:51 avg
Unofficial BOYS WILD CARD TEAMS- WW South, Freehold Twp and North Hunterdon!!!
Unofficial GIRLS WILD CARD TEAMS - Shawnee, Kingsway and Northern Highlands!!
I have to give a shout out to the North Hunterdon boys, the third and final wild card. How many Group 4 teams lose their hammer and still advance to the M of C? This is a great example of why having more wild card teams is such a great idea.
WHAT AN AWESOME DAY!!!
CONGRATS TO ALL 24 STATE CHAMPS!!!
CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO RAN TODAY!!!! YOU GUYS MAKE XC THE BEST SPORT IN THE WORLD!!!
GET UR NJ XC ON!!!
GET UR MEET OF CHAMPS NEXT SATURDAY ON!!