2011 Bergen County Group Championships
Depth Does it For Ramsey, Don Bosco Makes Huge Statement
For all of the outstanding performances and gutsy efforts at the Bergen County Group Championships on Saturday, it was two teams from the same town that produced their biggest wins of the season- in quite contrasting fashions. The Don Bosco Prep and Ramsey boys teams were winners of the Varsity A and Varsity B races respectively at Darlington Park, each team putting on their best efforts to date to set up what promises to be a fantastic Bergen Meet of Champs next weekend. Don Bosco was electric while Ramsey was clutch. The Ironmen ran as a team and dominated the front of the A race, with Christian Costello and Ryan Tucker crossing together for the title and a huge herd of runners following close behind to complete the statement victory over a strong Ridgewood team. Ramsey had to scratch and claw for its win, completing a 3-for-3 sweep over budding rival Indian Hills in the dual, divisional and county group races.
For the third straight week, Ramsey found itself having to produce a full-throttle effort in order to top Indian Hills, having moved from easier Group C to Group B. With several teams on the border between the group classifications, the Rams and Braves were put together in another head-to-head matchup with little outside competition. The Rams knew they would have to be sharp again to hold off the Braves’ strong pack.
“We’re always shooting for them, we always know they are a very good team so they are always in our sights,” said Ramsey senior Chris Eltringham, who finished 3rd.
Eltringham and fellow senior Erik Buser went out with race winner Ben Malone of Pascack Valley, but fell off the sizzling pace set by the talented junior. Buser held on to finish a strong 2nd with Eltringham following him in about 10 seconds later. There was a gap before the Indian Hills quartet of Scott Savage, Hee Tae An, Adam Frank and Bobby Corcoran came flying in together. The only problem for the Braves was that the Rams had a bit of a surprise of their own.
The race had looked very tight scoring wise at the midpoint, with Ramsey 3-4-5 runners Danny Dugan, Nik Haas and Patrick Watters sitting behind the Indian Hills pack. When the runners rounded the final turn to the home stretch, Haas and Watters had clearly closed the gap and were fighting for places with Frank and Corcoran. Haas finished 7th and Watters 8th with identical times of 16:54, and Buser felt it was the terrific effort of the two first-year cross-country runners that was the key to the Rams victory.
“I think what contributed to that was that we have depth,” Buser noted. “We had some guys step up today. Patrick Watters and Nik Haas broke 17, and they really stepped up and helped us today.”
Meanwhile, Don Bosco was busy in the first race of the day announcing themselves as by far the best team in North Jersey and likely the second best in the state behind National number 1 CBA. The Ironmen thoroughly defeated the 2nd and 3rd ranked North Jersey teams in Ridgewood and Hackensack, who happen to also be ranked in the top 10 in the state. You wouldn’t have known that Don Bosco’s number 1 runner is Christian Costello- until the final step of the race. The Ironmen came through the 1.5 mile mark with a pack of 6 runners at the very front of the field along with Ridgewoods’ Levi Jennings and Hackensack’s John Pujols. Leading the way was actually number 5 man Nick Mendolia, with Costello and Tucker, the technical 2nd place finisher right at his side. When the runners emerged at the finish, two white uniforms were side by side, and with nearing pushing each other to finish it was evident Don Bosco was going to win. Costello took one look back, saw his teammates in a pack and started celebrating the victory. The duo crossed the line in 15:45, a time that was equaled by Malone in B for the best of the day. Bosco sophomore stud Kyle Levermore was next, finishing as the 6th runner under 16 in the race with a time of 15:58. The athlete who made the difference and transcends Bosco into the clear state number 2 spot was sophomore Michael Higgins, who was running in his first race of the season since transferring from Montville. Higgins was 7th, Mendolia and fellow senior Nick Lapinski 9th as the Ironmen completed a stunningly good race.
Ridgewood’s performance seemed to be underwhelming but was actually noteworthy, considering that front man Levi Jennings had a huge bounce back race, finishing 3rd in 15:49, after dealing with ankle issues recently. Ridgewood can be very good on the state level if it keeps its front pack together. Nick Salamone has had a huge season and finished 10th, while Travis Spicer was right behind him in 11th. If Will Ades, 14th, can join the trio, the Maroons will be a strong force in group 4. John Pujols hung tough for Hackensack, finishing 4th in 15:52, but his previous races this season indicate that he will be a threat to Malone, Costello, Tucker, Jennings, as well as Wallington’s Domenic D’Agostino for the individual BMOC title next Saturday. Hackensack ran respectably as a team, and the three group A squads figure to headline the team battle with Ramsey and Indian Hills challenging the Comets for 3rd.
While these powerhouse teams produced some remarkable results, what makes the Bergen Group meet special is really the chance it gives some of the smaller, less heralded schools to make their own mark. One such team that took advantage of that was Ridgefield Park. The Scarlets are enjoying one of their finest seasons as a program, and continued that Saturday with a dominant 45-96 win over Lyndhurst in the Boys C race, the largest margin of victory of the day. Brendan Conway led the way, winning a wide open individual race over Tim Ryan of Leonia. Senior Matthew Orozco had a huge race, breaking 17 and finishing 4th, and Cheick Haidora, Aaron Antonio and Warren O’Neill finished in the top 15 in a 7 second pack to secure the trophy. The Scarlets were ecstatic when they were announced as winners, and rightfully so. Palisades Park took home the Boys D title, putting all 5 scorers in the top 20 behind runner up Jorge Maldonado. Domenic D’Agostino looked smooth in running away with the individual title, finishing in a comfortable 15:54