A pair of first time champs, a team sweep two repeat champion highlighted action at the Central Jersey Championships at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.
Here is a quick look at each race.
BOYS
Monroe broke through to capture its first title ever and Stephen Kyvelos of Manalapan repeated as champion in the Group 4 race in 16:07, the fastest time of the day at Thompson Park.
Monroe, the GMC champs, overcame a 1-2 finish from Manalapan by putting together a 5-6-12-18-25 scoring combination and averaging 16:55 to edge Manalapan, 66-72. Matthew Lucas (16:15) and GMC winner Maan Patel (16:17) placed fifth and sixth to lead the historic charge for Monroe.
The Group 3 race was all about Colts Neck.
The Cougars went 2-4-5-8-12 in the raw scoring to run away with its second straight title, 29-70 victory over runner-up West Windsor-Plainsboro North. Colts Neck, which averaged 17:22, has now won three of the past four titles and eight sectional titles overall. Senior Jacob McNamara led the way for Colts Neck, by finishing second in 17:01.
Brick Memorial Jared Voorhees, who was 10th in this race last year, continued his big senior season by finishing first in 16:58.
Big shoutout to Point Pleasant Boro!
The Panthers crushed the Group 2 race with a 3-5-8-9-14 to lock up its biggest win in school history as the Panthers outscored runner-up Ocean Township, 39-107, for its first title ever!!!
Point Pleasant Boro, led by brothers Huckleberry and Cleatus Huckleberry, averaged 17:47 and had a 1-5 split of 58 seconds. Huckleberry, a senior, was third in 17:26, and Cleatus, a junior, was fifth in 17:33.
Wall senior Matthew Remishofski, in his second season running XC, won the race in 17:05 to lead a 1-2 finish for third-place Wall.
One of the best performances in the entire state was turned in by Metuchen, who narrowly missed a perfect score when the Bulldogs packed its five scorers in the top six and averaged 17:45 to win its second straight Group 1 sectional title with just 17 points! It's the 11th sectional title for the Bulldogs.
Senior Alex Patelski, third last year, led the 1-2-3-5-6 scoring combination for Metuchen by stopping the clock at 16:36 to earn the victory.
GIRLS
Emma Zawatski won her second straight title in 18:14 to spark a 1-7-12-13-15 finish for a very deep and talented Freehold Township squad, which repeated as Group 4 champion with a 48-78 victory over a very strong Montgomery team. The Colorado-bound Zawatski, the XC Meet of Champions winner last year, finished 37 seconds ahead of runner-up Julia Scrudato of Montgomery.
Freehold Township, favored to win its second straight Group 4 title this Saturday at Holmdel Park, averaged 20:00 and had a spread of just 36 second between its No. 2 and No. 5 runner.
In the Group 3 race, junior Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington, the reigning state Group 3 champ, captured her second straight sectional title in 18:24 and Middletown South, third last year, returned to the top with a 63-87 victory over Monmouth County rival Colts Neck. Hopewell Valley was third with 89. This is the 10th sectional title for Middletown South.
Rosemary Shay, the only senior in Middletown South's top seven, finished second in 18:44 to fuel a 2-13-15-16-17 scoring combination for the Eagles, which averaged 20:42. The other scorers for Middletown South were Caitlin Brown, Abby Oglevee, Emma Merces, Ava Romano, and Morgan Michaelson.
Robbinsville, fourth last year, won its first title since 2010 in Group 2 with a 51-75 victory over runner-up and defending champion Rumson, and Ivy Slavinski of Point Pleasant won the individual title.
Robbinsville's march to its fourth title ever was sparked by a strong frontal attack. The Ravens put four runners in the top 13 and all four finished ahead of every teams No. 3 runners. Senior Melina Johnstone led the winning surge for Robbinsville by placing second in 20:06.
Slavinski, third as a freshman last year, pulled away from defending champion Johnston on her way to victory in 19:10.
The most dramatic team race of this meet came in Group 1 where Metuchen edged defending champion Shore Regional, 39-43 as the Bulldogs captured its first title in 5 years and its 10th overall.
Metuchen led by junior Gianna Hernandez, the individual champ in 20:26, was trailing Shore by six points after each team had three runners across. But Metuchen, keyed by an 8-9-10-11 finish from its No. 2 through No. 5 runners, picked up 5 points on Shore at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots to complete the comeback victory.
The scorers for Metuchen were Hernandez, Lily Kupersmit (21:44), Kaitlyn Hseuh (21:46), Maggie Rivera (22:01) and Ella Andersen (22:04).