Monmouth County Championships Recap
By: Kaitlyn Lavender
When the runners emerged from the roller coaster hills during yesterday’s Monmouth County Championships at Holmdel Park, it looked like it could be anyone’s race for the individual title, however, by the end, the result was as expected. A tight group of CBA runners sat behind the leaders heading into the first mile, but when they exited the woods towards the finish, it was CBA’s George Kelly and Mike McClemens exchanging content glances before crossing the line less than a second apart, both clocking 16:25. They were followed by teammate, Billy Bragg, who cross third in 16:28.
CBA completely dominated the boys side of the meet, winning the varsity, junior varsity, and freshman titles. In the varsity race, they racked up a mere 22 points and a five man average of 16:30.60, beating Freehold Township, who scored 91 points. Holmdel was third with 108 points.
The race was closer on the girls side, as Rumson-Fair Haven beat out defending champion Red Bank Catholic 55-76. RFH was led by junior, Rachel Christ, who took the individual title. Christ, finished in 19:09, more than 2 minutes faster than her finish last year, when she placed 31st in 21:19. Christ’s closest competition was Tara Connelly of St. John Vianney, who finished in 19:28. Arielle Weiner of Colts neck was third, followed by Marin Warner of Holmdel and Hannah Anderson of RFH. Rumson placed two in the top five, and also took places 11, 17, and 19 to round out scoring.
Monmouth County Championships is the qualifier for Shore Conference Championships, which will be held October 29th at Ocean County Park. The top 15 schools from the boys and girls varsity races advance, as well as top individuals whose teams do not advance.
