Over the last few years, the Monroe cross-country teams have laid the foundation for what they hoped could one day be built into a Middlesex County powerhouse. But in order to put themselves on the map as a premier program, the Falcons needed to have a big breakthrough moment when all the pieces came together.
That moment came on Saturday when Monroe broke out the brooms and pulled off a historic team sweep as the Falcons took over Thompson Park and ruled the day with a dazzling daily double at the Greater Middlesex Conference Championships in Jamesburg.
LUCAS RETURN SPARKS MONROE BOYS
The Monroe boys, ranked No. 19 in the state, got the greatest day in school XC history started with a very impressive 59-83 victory over defending champion and No. 18 ranked South Brunswick. Monroe, second last year, went 2-7-12-14-24, averaged 16:53, and put four runners ahead of South Brunswick's third to secure the victory.
Monroe's victory avenged the 69-72 loss it suffered to South Brunswick last week at the GMC Red Division Championships at Thompson Park. In that race, Monroe junior Matt Lucas didn't race due to a leg injury.
With Lucas back on the line Saturday, it was a whole different story.
"I played it safe and didn't run last week just to make sure I was ready for today,'' said Lucas, who finished seventh in 16:41. "This is the race we've been talking about all season, and I knew that all I had to really do was finish the race and we would win.''
The scorers for Monroe, who have just one senior in its top five, were junior Maan Patel, second in 16:10, Lucas, (7th in 16:41), sophomore Stephen Barbera, 12th with a massive course PR of 16:57 (he ran 17:42 last week at Thompson), senior Jaden Enis, 14th in 17:05, and junior Arhan Shukul, 24th in 17:28.
"We've been waiting for this since the juniors on our team were freshman,'' said Lucas. "Now our goal is to win the sectional title next week, and if we run the way we are capable of, I think we have a good shot at it.''
Monroe coach Nick Puleio said his guys have been hungry for this title for quite some time.
"All the guys on this team have work so hard for this,'' said Puleio. "This has been a big goal since day one, and they worked together to make it happen. We saw the potential for this to happen coming into this season, and I'm really proud of all the runners on this team for going out and racing hard and bringing home the first title in school history. For the boys and girls teams from our school to both win county titles for the first time makes this a very special day, the best day ever for Monroe cross-country.''
After Amelia Artz finished third at the GMC Championships in her rookie XC season last year, she vowed to come back and win this year.
"During the awards last year they asked the underclassmen who was going to win next year,'' said Artz. "I raised my hand.''
Artz, a senior who played soccer as a freshman and sophomore, got exactly what she had been chasing all season on Saturday when she crossed the line in 19:30 to lead Monroe to its first title ever. Artz is just the second girl from Monroe to win a GMC XC title. Elizabeth Segarra became Monroe's first winner in 2005.
Artz took control of the race with a 6:06 opening mile, and a 6:19 second mile gave her about a 20-yard cushion.
"I was just running to win today to help my team as much as possible,'' said Artz, who ran 19:19 last week to win the Red Division title at Thompson. "It was a big goal of mine since last year to win this race, and it feels great to accomplish that, but it's even better to win as a team and share this championship with all my teammates, who have all worked so hard and ran amazing today.''
Artz said giving up soccer was tough, but running XC instead has turned out to be great decision.
"When I decided to run cross-country for the first time last year, I wasn't sure if giving up soccer was a good decision or not,'' said Artz. "But I'm sure glad I decided to run cross-country. This is the best day ever for Monroe cross-county with both teams winning, so to be part of this is such a great feeling.''
Several runners stepped up for coach Mary Howroyd's Monroe squad, who reversed its five-point loss to Metuchen in the Red Division Championship race last week with an 88-97 victory over Metuchen. J.P. Stevens was third with 98.
Monroe finished 1-11-34-35 and averaged 21:12, 17 seconds faster than it averaged in the Red Division race.
After Artz finished, the rest of Monroe's top five consisted of freshman Ananya Raja, seventh in 20:40, senior Kristin Giordano, 11th in 21:02, junior Simone Mehta, 36th in 22:25, and junior Allyson Loscalzo, 37th in 22:26. The times for Raja, who ran just the second 5K of her career, Mehta, and Loscalzo were all course PR's!
Monroe, which finished ninth at this meet a year ago, received a huge boost from Giordano, who gave up field hockey to run this season, and Raja, who has made an immediate impact as a freshman.
"Kristin deciding to run cross-county was such a big addition for us, and Ananya coming in and running so well has really helped our whole team so much,'' said Artz. "And all the girls like Allyson, Simone, Hannah, and Maya have all worked so hard. The whole team really came together, and it's great to see all the hard work pay off.''
VADUL'S BECOMES EDISON'S FIRST CHAMP IN 47 YEARS
Akshay Vadul knows all about the history of Edison cross-country and track and field. On Saturday, he become part of it.
Vadul continued his torrid breakout senior season when he dropped a 4:57 second mile to open a huge gap on the chase pack on his way to a runaway victory in the boys race in 15:45, a new Edison school record for the course.
Vadul, who won by 25 seconds, became the first GMC XC champ since the great Ed Taylor captured the title in 1975, and just the third overall. Charlie Zipprich won Edison's first GMC XC title in 1968.
"I know all about Ed Taylor,'' said Vadul, whose previous PR at Thompson was the 15:52 to win the Red Division race "He has all the school records on our track and field board, so I am always looking at them and trying to break them. It's been a long time since Taylor won this, so it feels good to get this win for myself and my school.''
Vadul has certainly come a long way since he ran 17:18 and finished 16th in this race last year. After a great spring season that saw him hit PR's of 4:13.91 for the mile and 9:12.40 for 3,200, he dedicated himself over the summer to getting in the best shape of his life.
"I worked a lot harder this summer, running around 50 miles a week. "I wanted to have a great cross-country season, and I am getting the results I was hoping for.''
Vadul has some big goals for the state meets.
"I really want to win sectionals here next week and try to win the Group 4 race,'' he said. "And then see what I can do at the Meet of Champions. My goal is to get under 15:30 at Holmdel, and if I can do that I should be right up there with all the top runners.''
Over the last few years, the Monroe cross-country teams have laid the foundation for what they hoped could one day be built into a Middlesex County powerhouse. But in order to put themselves on the map as a premier program, the Falcons needed to have a big breakthrough moment when all the pieces came together.