Here we go!! The greatest day of the season is finally here!
Get ur NJ XC State Group Championships on!!!
It just doesn't get any better than this. Anyone who disagrees should have their vital signs checked! Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas as much as anyone, but this is the best time of the year!!!!
Group Championships Info & Coverage Hub
The NJSIAA Meet of Champions (Nov. 16 at Holmdel) is obviously a great event, but it comes and goes way too fast.
Nothing compares to the State Group Championship because of the never ending drama that plays out all day over 12 races at New Jersey's cross country Cathedral - Holmdel Park, the Holy Grail of NJ XC courses!! The Group Championship meet on Saturday is quite simply NJ XC's Mardi Gras!!!
There's nothing better than seeing fans running all over the course screaming, blowing horns, banging drums, and coaches trying to get from the top of the start hill to the mile/2-mile mark or from from the tennis courts to the finish line.
The sights, sounds, and the electricity!!!! Nothing in any other sport can match it!!
We know you can't get enough of this stuff, and we aim to please. So NJ MileSplit has put together a list below of some of the awesome storylines to follow on Super Saturday.
NJ MileSplit will have full results, updates, race videos, interviews, photos, and more from NJSIAA Group Championships.
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BAKER'S DOZEN
Only 12 girls in NJ history have captured three or more state titles. Liliah Gordon of Northern Burlington has a chance to become the 13th.
In order to complete the trifecta, the Penn State-bound Gordon will have to reverse the outcome of the Central Jersey, Group 3 race when she finished second to junior Allison Lee of West Windsor-Plainsboro North. Lee ran a Thompson Park course record of 17:47 to defeat Gordon, who was second in 18:14.
While Lee proved she's the real deal, don't let the 27 second gap fool you. Gordon will approach this race much differently, which could make this the best race of the day! There's a good chance that both Gordon, a Foot Locker National finalist last year, and Lee will both run sub 18!
In case you're wondering, here are the 12 girls to win three or more State Group Championships.
4-TIME CHAMPS
Janet Smith, J.P. Stevens (1980-1983)
Erin Donohue, Haddonfield (1997-2000)
Vanessa Wright, Haddonfield (2002-2005)
3-TIME CHAMPS
HiIlary Noden, Hopewell Valley (1972-1974)
Meg Waldron, Bernards (1980-1982)
Monal Chokshi, Bridgewater-Raritan West (1989-1991)
Lindsay Van Alstine, Hawthorne Christian (1999-2001)
Abby Hinds, Mountain Lakes (2003, 2005-2006)
Melanie Thompson, Voorhees (2006-2008)
Briana Gess, Haddonfield (2013, 2015-2016)
Alyssa Aldridge, Mainland (2015-2017)
Nicole Vanasse, Pingry (2017-2019)
NO. 1 TEAMS WON'T EMPTY TANK
For everyone hoping to see NJ's No. 1 teams let it rip and possibly cook up course record averages, that looks like it will have to wait a week.
Christian Brothers Academy, No. 1 in NJ and No. 2 in the U.S, and the Union Catholic girls, No. 1 in NJ and No. 7 in the US, have no reason to stay on the gas in their Non-Public A races.
With the Meet of Champions, the Nike Northeast Regionals and Nike Nationals on the horizon, it wouldn't make sense for CBA and UC to hammer this week. So for now, the CR averages of 15:51.8 (CBA in the Non-Public A last year) and 18:37 (UC at the Meet of Champions last year) appear safe. Although, I wouldn't be shocked if CBA, despite cruising for a big part of this race, still made a run at 15:50! They are that good.
CBA, with defending Meet of Champions winner Joe Barrett at the front of the pack, is a lock to win its third straight title and extend its state record to 33 titles.
As for the UC girls, no matter who toes the line for the Vikings, it will most likely drop the lowest winning score of the day and win its fourth straight title in a blowout. Defending champion Paige Sheppard and Cayleigh Kaiser, who form the state's most potent duo, should go 1-2 for the Vikings.
CBA and UC are so loaded that I'd be shocked if both CR's don't go down at the Meet of Champions next week.
GUESS WHO'S BACK
HOW LOW WLL THEY GO
How many guys will break 16?
With great competition, probably the driest/fastest course possible and temps in the 40 and 50's for most of the day, I think there's a strong possibility 10 or more runners can break 16!!
There are six runners, five in the Group 4 race, who will toe the line with Holmdel's PR's under 16. They are Joe Barrett of CBA (15:21), Luke Pash of Ridgewood (15:41), Brendan McMahon of Ridge (15:41), Clay Stevens of Manalapan (15:50), Lucas Disko of Bridgewater-Raritan (15:54) and Jack Tindall of Cherokee (a freshman course record 15:55).
A note here about the University of North Carolina-bound Barrett. While he won't be running all out in this race, Barrett is a rare talent who has all the tools to make a run at becoming just the third runner to ever go under 15 at Holmdel when he lets loose at the Meet of Champions next week. Keep in mind that the Holmdel course record is 14:53 by the legendary Edward Cheserek of St. Benedict's Prep in 2010. Barrett could make a run at that!!
There are four runners who have run between 16:04 and 16:07 at Holmdel, Tommy O'Brien of St. Peter's Prep (16:04), Jay Adimala of Colts Neck (16:04), Alex Mastroly of CBA (16:06) and Ryan Schmitt of CBA (16:07). There will be several more runners in action who have run between 16:10 and 16:20 at Holmdel, and some other guys are capable of making huge drops.
A runner that hasn't really been on the radar outside of Union County because he's only raced three times is senior Max Bonilla of Elizabeth. But make no mistake about it, Bonilla has the tools and drive to drop a huge bomb in the Group 4 race. He showed great closing speed when he took down McMahon and Disko, a pair of sub 16 runners at Holmdel, at the NJ. Sec. 2 meet. Pash, a 4:04 1,600 runner, is the pick to win, but watch out for Bonilla!!!
CHASING A LEGEND
All season long, Brody Watt of Bernards has not only targeted winning a second straight Group 2 title, but he's also talked a lot of his goal of taking down his school record at Holmdel of 15:53, set by John Carlotti when he won the 1982 Meet of Champions.
Watt ran his Holmdel PR at Holmdel when he won the Group 2 title last year in 16:19. But his victories at the Somerset County Championships (15:41 at Pleasant Valley Park) and in NJ. Sec. 2 at Greystone (15:30) suggest that he has shot at Carlotti's time.
GROUP 4 BROOMS
The last time both Group 4 individual champs came from the same school was in 1993 when Bob Keino and Jenna Rodgers of Ridgewood pulled off the daily double. A week later, Keino and Rodgers became the only pair from the same school to sweep the Meet of Champions titles.
There is a chance that Sadie Honig and Clay Stevens could join the Ridgewood duo.
Honig, a senior, and Stevens, a junior, both won the Monmouth County and Central Jersey, Group 4 titles and Honig captured the Shore Conference crown. Stevens has a Holmdel PR of 15:50 from last year, and Honig has run 18:26 at Holmdel this season, the fastest among Group 4 girls and the third fastest overall in the state.
RED HOT ROOKIES
There are several great first-year high school runners who have a shot at winning a state title, especially in the girls Group 2 race.
Freshman Leah Starkey of Ocean Township, sophomore Dominique Cameron of Leonia and senior Alice Rappazzo of Westwood should all be in the led pack in the Group 2 race with a shot to win. Sharkey owns the fastest Holmdel time this season of anyone in this race with the 18:40 she dropped to place third at the Monmouth County Championships. Cameron, a soccer player last year, finished first at the Bergen County Meet of Champions and the North Jersey, Sec. 1 meet. Rappazzo, who gave up field hockey, was second to Cameron at the Bergen M of C and the sectional.
But while the rookies deserve a lot of attention, don't sleep on Voorhees junior Daphne Roskowski. Roskowski, who has made a great comeback after iron issues prevented her reaching he full potential last year, is undefeated and has run 18:58 at Holmdel this season. At the Shore Coaches Invitational, Roskowski finished 14 seconds ahead of Starkey.
WILD CARDS
This may be the most wide open team scramble for the 8 boys wild cards into the Meet of Champions. While most of the wild cards usually go to the bigger Group 4 teams, there is a strong possibility that Group 2, Group 3 and multiple Non-Public A teams could earn a wild card.
STREAKING
The Haddonfield boys, ranked No. 2 in the state, are expected to extend their streak to seven straight titles in Group 2, the longest current streak in the state. With a victory, the Dawgs would raise their total to 22 state championships overall. Only CBA (32) and Bernards (23) have won more boys state titles than Haddonfield.
ANOTHER WAR IN GROUP 4
Here we go again!!!
One things you can always count on at this meet is that the boys Group 4 race will be like a steel cage match as several of the state's top packs clash for the top spot!
This time, five teams in the top 10 will collide!!! They are - defending champion and No. 4 Westfield, No. 5 Cherokee, No. 6 Cherry Hill East, No. 9 Ridgewood and No. 10 Manalapan.
Westfield, despite losing six of its top seven runners to graduation, is the favorite based on its 49-65-68 win over runner-up Cherokee and Cherry Hill East at the Shore Coaches Invit.
PREDICTIONS
BOYS
GROUP 4
TEAM: Westfield
INDIVIDUAL: Luke Pash, Ridgewood
GROUP 3
TEAM: Colts Neck
INDIVIDUAL: Alex Pelov, Montville
GROUP 2
Team: Haddonfield
INDIVIDUAL: Brody Watt
GROUP 1
TEAM: Metuchen
INDIVIDUAL: Aidan Morrow, Hasbrouck Heights
NON-PUBLIC A
TEAM: CBA
INDIVIDUAL: Joe Barrett, CBA
NON-PUBLIC B
TEAM: Princeton Day
INDIVIDUAL: Nicholas Troiano, Morristown-Beard
GIRLS
GROUP 4
TEAM: Princeton
INDIVIDUAL: Sadie Honig, Manalapan
GROUP 3
TEAM: Ocean City
INDIVIDUAL: Liliah Gordon, Northern Burlington
GROUP 2
Team: Rumson
INDIVIDUAL: Daphne Roskowski, Voorhees
GROUP 1
TEAM: Metuchen
INDIVIDUAL: Delana Einreinhofer, Wallkill Valley
NON-PUBLIC A
TEAM: Union Catholic
INDIVIDUAL: Paige Sheppard, Union Catholic
NON-PUBLIC B
TEAM: Villa Walsh
INDIVIDUAL: Blythe Dudley