Storylines To Watch For At The Shore Coaches Invitational

Jim Lambert


Holmdel Park 5K Course Tour

Here we go! Get ur NJ XC on!! The biggest and baddest XC invitational in New Jersey, the Shore Coaches Invitational, has arrived as most of the top teams and runners in the state will be leveling up at Holmdel Park on Saturday!

This is when the season really gets cooking as we separate the contenders from the pretenders on the state championship course. The state rankings will sure look a lot different when the dust settles.

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The Shore Coaches Invitational, celebrating its 49th year, is probably the greatest day of the season until the state meets roll around next month.

It's a seven-plus hour marathon that starts at 9 a.m. and concludes just after 4 p.m. In between there will be 26 races, including 13 varsity races. If you're a distance-running fan, there aren't very many meets better than this!

By now you have all probably seen the race assignments, so let's dig a little deeper. How about we start off with some info that many of you may not know?


WHAT WILL CBA DO?

You are probably wondering what Christian Brothers Academy's plan is for this meet.

I can tell you with certainty that anyone hoping to see CBA, arguably the best team in the country, take a shot at the course record average (15:51.8 set by CBA at the Group Championships last year), you will have to wait another month.

After its ground-shaking 16:00 course record average at Bowdoin Park last week and with the Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational looming next weekend, CBA coach Sean McCaffrey is holding his top runners out so they're fresh for a run at the hallowed course record average at Van Cortlandt Park next week. You just can't rip three weeks in a row.

CBA, ranked N.J. No. 1 / U.S. No. 3, will still be putting a strong team on the line in the A race, but the absence of their top runners makes the A race a real toss-up between several state powerhouses.


WHO IS NO. 2? 

With no disrespect to the other teams in the state, one of the biggest storylines is which boys' team will emerge as the second-best team in New Jersey behind CBA.

That answer may come out of the Varsity A race where CBA, No. 4 Cherokee, No. 6 Westfield, No. 8 Cherry Hill East,  No. 11 South Brunswick, No. 15 Columbia, and No. 17 West Windsor-Plainsboro South will clash.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Saturday is a big SAT day, so there will be some runners missing, possibly some key ones. I can tell you that Cherokee, Westfield, and No. 3 Ridgewood expect to have all their top guys on the line.

The boys' Varsity B race is also loaded with state powers as No. 3 Ridgewood, No. 12 North Hunterdon, No. 14 St. Peter's Prep, and No. 20 Shawnee will square off.

In the boys' Varsity C race, No. 10 Chatham, No. 13 Ocean City, and No. 16 West Windsor-Plainsboro North are the top teams on paper.

The remaining ranked boys teams in action are No. 2 Haddonfield and No. 19 Bernards in the Varsity E race, and No. 7 Union Catholic in the Varsity F Division.


WHO WILL THROW DOWN TOP TIME? 

Without CBA's Joe Barrett racing (he established himself as the early season favorite to win his second straight Meet of Champions with his 15:25 win at Bowdoin last week), which boy will run the fastest time?

My money says the answer comes out of the B race where Luke Pash of Ridgewood and Brenden McMahon of Ridge will collide.

Pash, who ran 4:04.49 to win the 1600m at the Meet of Champions last spring, finished a step ahead of McMahon at the State Group 4 meet last year when both were timed in 15:41. Pash was third and McMahon was fourth.

Look for these two studs to push each other close to 15:30!


HOW LOW WILL SHE GO?

There is little doubt that Union Catholic super sophomore Paige Sheppard will drop the fastest girls' time of the day. So the big question is just how low she will go.

Sheppard, who ran 17:54 to place second at the Meet of Champions last year, ran 18:11 to win her race at the Bowdoin Park Classic last week. Conversions over the years show that Holmdel runs about 20-25 seconds faster than Bowdoin. So while there's obviously much more to racing than a math formula, Sheppard has shown that she's super fit and ready for a big Holmdel PR!

One of the big targets for Sheppard, who is racing in the E Division race, to aim for is the sophomore course record of 17:47, which Camryn Wennersten of Ridgewood set at the 2019 Shore Coaches Invitational.

Will she get it? I'd never bet against Sheppard!


 BEST GIRLS' TEAM RACES

The most stacked girls' race as expected is the A Division where N.J. No. 7 Freehold Township, No. 10 Cherry Hill East,  No. 17 Westfield, and No. 19 Cherokee will clash.

But the tightest team battle might be in the B race as No. 2 Ridgewood, No. 5 Princeton, and No. 14 Moorestown will lock horns.

Union Catholic, N.J. No. 1 and U.S. No. 7 are huge favorites to win the C race where they will face N.J. No. 9 Haddonfield and No. 13 Wilberforce.

N.J. No. 4 Ocean City and No. 8 Middletown South will square off in the C race. No. 16 Rumson-Fair Haven and No. 18 Voorhees are set to tangle in the D race, and No. 3 Pingry will take on No. 20 Villa Walsh in the F race.


STARS SQUARE OFF

The best individual race on paper is the girls' C race where three of the top nine finishers at the Meet of Champions last year, 2-time state XC champ Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington, Maeve Smith of Ocean City, and Sofia Day of Mainland, will run shoulder to shoulder.

Gordon was fifth, Smith seventh, and Day ninth at the Meet of Champions a year ago. Gordon, a Foot Locker National finalist last year, has a Holmdel PR of 18:14. Smith has run 18:33 at Holmdel, and Day's Holmdel best is 18:34.