Andrew Garcia earned his first Sectional win leading his team to the North 1 Group 1 title in the process.
North 1 Sectional Highlights
Group 1
Garcia Earns Win, Kinnelon Leads North 1 to Group 1 Champs
Senior Andrew Garcia earned his first individual Sectional title on Saturday running 17:05. His race leading performance wasn't wasted in the team battle as Kinnelon decidedly outscored the competition 43 to 75 ahead of Glen Rock.
This is Kinnelon's third title in a row and sixth overall.
Backing up Garcia's win was Kyle Bjornson in fifth at 17:30, Jayden Hur 10th 18:11, Matt Mazurkiewicz 15th 18:28, and Lucas LaRusso 19th 18:48. Their displacers were Ryan Bjornson and Will Portman in 23rd and 29th.
Along with Kinnelon and Glen Rock the boys squads of Mountain Lakes, Park Ridge Emerson Co-op, and New Milford all advanced to Group 1 State Champs at Holmdel.
Outside of the Kinnelon boys also in the top five individually was Max Kahn of Mountain Lakes second, Ben Raser of Glen Rock third, and Joseph Capuzzo of Waldwick fourth.
Glen Rock Wins First Since 2003, Cresskill Star Tilp Leads Individuals
Danielle Tilp of Cresskillled Group 1 with a time of 21:27 and in doing so brought Cresskill their first individual winner at Sectionals since 1988 when Jen Carlin took home the title.
Behind Tilp was Sophie Walder of Park Ridge / Emerson clocked at 21:51, Lily McNair of Glen Rock 22:08, Iris Wikander of Kittatinny 22:12, and Krista Purnell of Mountain Lakes 22:15.
McNair's third place run helped lead Glen Rock to their first win since 2003 and fourth overall title. The Glen Rock girls outscored Kittatinny 49 to 66. Kinnelon third with 85, Mountain Lakes fourth at 120, and Saddle Brook the final advancing team to Groups with a total of 125.
Behind McNair was Abigail Manley in ningth at 22:49, Cailin Horton 12th 23:09, Emma Leishear 13th 23:11, and their final scorer Mikaila Terry 18th at 23:40. Their displacers Amber Wang and Abigail Mazin 19th and 27th.
Group 2
Pascack Valley Fends Off Lakeland, Horevay Remains Course Leader
Pascack Valley won the North 1 Group 2 just two points ahead of Lakeland Regional after a hard fought race and Indian Hills a close third with 98.
It started with the individual champion Owen Horevay who defended his 2021 title with the second fastest time at Garret Mountain this year clocking 16:20. The senior already ranked No. 1 there this season with his 16:12 to win Passaic County.
Teammate Nathan Caldwell brought in second place securing a great position for Lakeland to potentially win the team scoring. However the tight one through four pack by Pascack Valley, including Michael Pizzella in eighth at 17:26, Jay Ramirez 11th 17:31, Patrick Kurtz 15th 17:57, and Aaron Ng 16th 17:57, quickly turned the tables when they all finished their race ahead of Lakelands No. 3 runner.
At that point it was all down to when runner No. 5 for PV would close out scoring and Christopher Martino did so with 2 scoring places to spare in 38th. Marco Monti and Connor Oates finishing as displacers on the winning PV squad in 46th and 58th.
This is PV's first North 1 Group 1 title specifically since 1972, however they did win Sectional Championships in North 1 Group 3 during the 1973, 1974, and 1992 seasons as well.
Also advancing with Pascack Valley, Lakeland, and Indian Hills is NV Demarest and Morris County Tech.
Old Tappan Ends Lakeland Hold On North 1 G2, Uhlhorn Earns Title
With her time of 19:04 Morgan Uhlhorn of Lakeland Regional crossed the Group 2 finish in first by 11 seconds making it four years in a row with a Lakeland runner out front. Angelina Perez had won from 2019 to 2021.
That was also the fastest time of the day at Garrett during Sectionals and the second fastest time of the season for the course only behind Remy Dubac's 18:57 from Passaic County Champs.
While that individual streak continued for Lakeland the NV - Old Tappan girls had something to say about the team championship. Old Tappan averaged a 20:59 to outscore Lakeland 68 to 77.
Indian Hills, NV Demarest, and River Dell also advanced to Group 2 Champs from this Section.
Old Tappan was led by seniors Kate Meeks and Kristen Johnson in third and sixth with times of 19:35 and 20:04 respectively. Closing out the scoring for Old Tappan was Rowan Leddy in 11th, Ariana DeNicola in 20th, and Odelia Drillich in 29th. Claire Bailey and Alexa Puccio were the displacers in 32nd and 49th.
Group 3
Wayne Valley Goes 1-2, Northern Highlands Strong Team Victory
Matthew Califf and Sean Matthews of Wayne Valley started off the North 1 Group 1 race strong with times of 16:33 and 16:36 to earn first and second respectively. Califf is just a junior and will return in 2023 to have a shot at defending his title.
While Wayne Valley kicked off the scoring it was Northern Highlands who eventually took convincing control of the Section finishing with 93 points to Teaneck's 121 in second and Wayne Valley's 132 in third.
Mount Olive and Morris Hills also advanced to State Champs after some tight scoring at the cutoff.
Leading Northern Highlands was Jackson Vogel in fifth running 16:55, Frederik Liljegren 17th, Gabriel Johnson 18th, Carter Monaco 22nd, and Sebastian Anderson 31st. Timothy Cobb and Tyler Chen were the team's displacers in 36th and 63rd.
This is Northern Highland's second in a row and their seventh overall sectional title on the boys side.
Northern Highlands Girls Show Strength in Deep Sectionals Race
It was a sweep of Sectional wins for Northern Highlands as the girls had the leading team performance on the day at Garret Mountain with their 45 second split and 20:13 team average.
With formidable foes in Ramapo and Morris Hills the Northern Highlands girls kept their point total to just 35 points and closed out their top five scorers by 10th position!
Autumn Ritter led the winning team effort running second to Ramapo's Amelia Keogh by just three seconds. Keogh posted a 19:40 and Ritter a 19:43, the fifth and sixth fastest times on the course this fall. These two are juniors so we'll have a chance at a rematch in 2023.
This was a major breakout season for Keogh winning a Bergen County Group title, 15th and Bergen MOCs, and now a Sectional title on her belt.
She also makes it three years in a row for Ramapo individual winners, her teammate Briana Braver, a senior this year, won the past two North 1 Group 3 titles.
After Ritter Northern Highlands saw Rebecca Maclaren in sixth, Allison Courtney in eighth, Sadie Meloro ninth, and Farrah Dello Russo closing out scoring in 10th. Margaret Bainbridge and Abigail Gamerello were the displacers in 37th and 60th.
For Northern Highlands this is their sixth title the past seven years and their 16th overall. Talk about a strong program.
Group 4
Decambre Remains Undefeated vs NJ, Montclair Wakes Up Group 4
Dylan DeCambre of Bergen County Tech has put together an impressive fall season so far in 2022. Bergen County Group champ, NJTAC champ, Bergen MOCs winner, and now a North 1 Group 4 Sectional title.
The senior ran a course PR of 16:25 to become Bergen Tech's second boys winner all-time and first since Mike Mitchell did so in 2007. This was the second fastest time on the course in 2022 only behind Owen Horevay's 16:12 from Passaic County.
Decambre held off Hisham Ettayebi of Clifton who has had a strong season of their own, Ettayebi finished second running 16:39. Luke Pash of Ridgewood third at 16:42, DJ Murphy fourth 16:56, and Trevor Kane fifth 17:06.
On the team front the Montclair boys made sure no one was sleeping on their ability moving forward, including our own top 20 rankings.
Despite the strong start by Ridgewood collecting third though fifth early, the Montclair boys took the Group 4 race by storm defeating a ranked Ridgewood squad 50 to 57 with a close knit pack and earning their first boys Sectional win in school history.
Clifton was third with 82 points, Bergen County Tech fourth at 93, and Hackensack the final advancing team with 116 in fifth.
Montclair had the leading performance at the North 1 meet by far, averaging 17:22 and keeping their top five split down to just 43 seconds.
The strong pack performance was led by sophomore Troy Dibble in sixth running 17:10. He was followed by Markus Corredor in eighth at 17:13, Sean Overton ninth 17:14, Nicholas Maurizi 11th 17:23, and George Maguire closing scoring in 17th with 17:53. Their displacers were Tristan L'Horset in 19th, 17:56, and Holden Adams 103rd, 21:02.
Ridgewood Looks Ahead to Group 4, Dubac Defends Title
Traditional powerhouse Ridgewood earned their seventh title in the past eight seasons and increased their total Sectional wins to 27.
The victory came off a 37 point performance defeating Morristown with 48, Montclair with 85, Clifton 104, and Bergen County Tech 134. Those top five teams all advancing to the Group 4 State Championships next weekend.
Cellina Rabolli led Ridgewood in third running 20:05, Avery Sheridan fifth at 20:22, Eilat Kissil eighth 20:39, Lola Jacqueline ninth 21:03, and Ciara Taylor 12th 21:24. Their displacer Olivia Favieri finished 17th running 21:53.
Remy Dubac brought home the win with a 19:45 and defended her individual title by nine seconds over Morristown's Grace DelGiorno, 19:54.
Dubac has the fastest time at Garret Mountain this season from an earlier performance when she won Passaic County Champs on October 20th with a time of 18:57.
Also in the top five was Montclair's Avery McAdams who ran fourth with a time of 20:13.