When the NJSIAA recently released the sites and dates for the Sectional, Groups, and XC Meet of Champions, there was one change that jumped off the page.
The North 2 Sectional Championships, which had been held at the very spectator friendly and fast course at Oak Ridge Park in Clark since 2020, is returning to the Greystone course at Central Park in Morris Plains on Oct. 28.
Greystone was the site of the North 2 meet from 2012-2019. Prior to 2012, Warinanco Park's 3.25-mile layout in Elizabeth served as the North 2 course.
Greystone, which was completely redesigned in 2017, is a very fast course.
How fast?
The boys course record of 15:04 was set last year by Delbarton's Collin Boler and the girls course record of 17:08 was set in 2018 by Abby Loveys of Randoloh.
All the other sectional championship sites remain the same: North 1 Sectionals at Garret Mountain, Central Sectionals at Thompson Park, and South Sectionals at Dream Park.
The Group Championships (Nov. 4) and the Meet of Champions (Nov. 11) remain at Holmdel Park.
Why the move back to Greystone?
"I went back to Greystone on the recommendation from the Meet Director, Bob Byrnes,'' said Al Stumpf, the NJSIAA XC Tournament Director. "He said it's a very good course, a beautiful course, and the other thing too is that it's a little more centrally located for a lot of the teams in that section. No issues with Oak Ridge, it's also a very nice course, but I went by the recommendation from Bob Byrnes.''
Stumpf added that the NJSIAA Tournament Regulations will be published no later than August 24.
On the topic of meets returning to Greystone, the course will also regain the NJCTC Championships, which have been held at Oak Ridge the last three years, following the North 2 meet.
Key NJSIAA Cross Country Dates
| First Practice | 08/21/2023 |
| First Scrimmage | 08/28/2023 |
| Opening Day | 09/07/2023 |
| MileSplit Registration Opens | 10/01/2023 |
| MileSplit Registration Closes | 10/20/2023 |
| Regular Season Competition Ends | 11/12/2023 |
| Post-Season Meeting | TBA |
State Tournament Dates
| Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| North 1 Sectionals | 10/28/2023 | Garret Mountain |
| North 2 Sectionals | 10/28/2023 | Central Park Morris County |
| Central Sectionals | 10/28/2023 | Thompson Park |
| South Sectionals | 10/28/2023 | Dream Park |
| Group State Championships | 11/04/2023 | Holmdel Park |
| Meet of Champions | 11/11/2023 | Holmdel Park |
