Cross-country: Highlights from the sectional championships

Since the state sectionals came to cross-country in 1965, there have been 944 separate boys sectional races in New Jersey's four sections, 236 in group 4.

Until the Ridgewood boys went 1-2-3-4-5 at yesterday's North 1 group 4 championships at Garret Mountain in Woodland Park, only two teams in state history had pulled off a similar sweep, the 1981 Bernards and 2003 Keansburg teams, both in Central, group 1.

"I thought best we could do is score 19 and get six guys in the top 10,'' said Ridgewood boys coach Patrick Ryan, after his team went 1-2-3-4-5-8-9 on the unseasonably hot day at the traditional North 1 course. "But to pitch a shutout wasn't in the cards.''

Bergen County champion Luke Pash broke away from Passaic County champ Lamarr Olive after what Ryan called a "comfortable first mile" and Olive seemed exhausted by the early effort and faded to seventh, still qualifying for next week's state group meet at Holmdel County Park. Pash was timed in 16:21,

DJ Murphy finished a solid second after taking the position over from Olive and the back five of Chris Brady, Trevor Kane, Jett Lincoln,. Benjamin Pappageorge and Tom Mevissen slowly moved up from being in the top 30 after that first mile to cover the final hill with Maroons. The final score was 15-114 over Hackensack.

The top five runners combined for the ninth fastest team time in course history and the fastest in six years despite going out slowly with Pash finishing in 16:21, about 90 meters ahead of Murphy. The gap from Ridgewood's first to seventh finisher was just 47 seconds.

"This team is confident in their abilities and races very well,'' said Ryan, whose team shoots for their first State Meet of Champions berth since 2016 and perhaps its first group 4 title since 1992. "We can't go out that slow next week but our guys know that and we'll be ready.''

The Ridgewood girls won their sixth straight crown and record 29th overall, in similar dominating fashion although the Maroons "only" put five in the top 10 and managed a 27-91 win over Morristown.

"We told the girls to go out in about six minutes for the first mile and then work the second mile and then decide for themselves whether they'd work the hill,'' said girls coach Steve Opremcak. "Cellina (Rabolli) wanted to win the title so she decided to work the hill.''

"It's my last race ever at Garret and I wanted to win it,'' said Rabolli, who finished in a course best 19:45, about 65 seconds ahead of Montclair's Avery McAdams. "I took the lead right before the beginning of the last hill and broke the hill up into thirds like I always do. I was confident I could run it hard because I've run it so many times.''

Junior Ayla Cooke had her best race of the year in fourth, with freshman Katherine Keating (sixth), senior Avery Sheridan (seventh) and junior Eilat Kissil (ninth) finishing within 68 seconds of Rabolli, a margin they'll need to maintain or better if they are to make a North Jersey record fifth straight SMOC and perhaps a first state title since 1999.

"We need all seven to have their best day together and that hasn't happened since the first race of the year,'' said Opremcak. "We've had four or five each week but we want all seven ladies to have their best race on the same day. Then if they add up the points and we don't win we have nothing to complain about.''

MORE: Highlights from other sectional cross-country meets

BOYS TEAM SCORES: RIDGEWOOD 15*, HACKENSACK 114*, Memorial 136*, BERGEN TECH 144*, Livingston 164*, Morristown 168, CLIFTON 222, FAIR LAWN 226, PASSAIC TECH 247, Kearny 256, Montclair 258, PASSAIC 294, Union City 321, West Orange 360, Bloomfield 368, East Orange Campus 404, North Star Academy 537.

NORTH JERSEY BOYS IN TOP 15: 1. Luke Pash, Ridgewood, 16:21; 2. DJ Murphy, Ridgewood, 16:38; 3. Chris Brady, Ridgewood, 16::49; 4. Trevor Kane, Ridgewood, 16:56; 5. Jett Lincoln, Ridgewood, 16:56; 7. Lamarr Olive, Clifton, 17:02*; 8. Benjamin Pappageorge, Ridgewood, 17:04; 9. Tom Mevissen, Ridgewood, 17:08; 10. Michael McGinnity, Hackensack, 17:10; 11. Dylan Guarquila, Hackensack, 17:33; 12. Aidan Soukas, Fair Lawn, 17:41; 15. Adrian Gamarra, Bergen Tech, 17:59.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: RIDGEWOOD 27*; Morristown 91*, Montclair 103*, Memorial 122*; CLIFTON 139*, Union City 172, Livingston 174, BERGEN TECH 229, PASSAIC 275, HACKENSACK 284, Bloomfield 296, NORTH BERGEN 302, Kearny 312, PASSAIC TECH 359, FAIR LAWN 369.

NORTH JERSEY GIRLS IN TOP 15: 1. Cellina Rabolli, Ridgewood, 19:45; 4. Ayla Cooke, Ridgewood, 20:14; 6. Katherine Keating, Ridgewood, 20:29; 7. Avery Sheridan, Ridgewood, 20:41; 9. Eilat Kissil, Ridgewood, 20:53; 12. Viktoria Green, Clifton, 21:46; 14. Lola Jacqueline, Ridgewood, 21:48.

'* denotes qualified for State Group 4 meet

Glen Rock sweeps North 1, group 1 for first since 2001

Anthony Judilla is still not quite certain that his Glen Rock boys team defeated state powers Kinnelon and Mountain Lakes to win its first sectional since 2001. Stacie Gallo is trying to help him come to terms with the fact that not only did the boys win but the girls went back-to-back impressively.

Judilla is officially the boys coach and Gallo the girls coach of arguably the strongest and most consistent program in the school, but the duo run both teams together with amazing success, none more so than this year.

"We work together, because it's really a small program but we need each other to get the most out of all the kids,'' Gallo said. "I was there the last time we won both, as a first year volunteer assistant (to the legendary Paul White).

"This was an incredible and well earned title for the boys,'' said Judilla, in his seventh year with the program. "I spent the last week neurotically looking at merges in our section and trying to figure out how to beat these two great teams, one of whom (Kinnelon) won states last year.''

The way Glen Rock beat Kinnelon and Mountain Lakes, 54-75-84 for the boys title was the way the Panthers handled their entire season from an undefeated dual season to a one-point win over Leonia in the NJIC Colonial division to a surprisingly close loss to group 2 powerhouse Indian Hills in the Bergen C race.

"This team has responded to challenges all season,'' said Judilla, whose team returned six of seven varsity runners from the team that finished second to Kinnelon in the section and sixth in Group 1 last year, "They came together to win the league by just one point and then got better each week.''

Senior Ben Raser improved 17 seconds and one place over his third place finish of last year, battled eventual winner Max Kahn of Mountain Lakes before finishing second, 70 meters behind. Ben Habler improved more than a minute and 10 places to third, while Ryan Wolfe also improved by a minute and 10 places to eighth in decidedly more difficult conditions than a year ago.

And the 4-5 runners, who did not run a year ago, had season's best performances with Devin Smith finishing 16th and freshman Colton Johnson clinching the win with a 25th place finish in 19:25, over a minute faster than he ran at the league championships earlier in the month.

"We knew we had four kids capable of fantastic races and our 5-6-7 kids also came through,'' said Judilla.

The girls had three new scorers on this year's team, along with senior mainstays Lily McNair (fourth) and Abigail Manley (22nd) to record a 64-91 win over Mountain Lakes.

Newcomer Jenna Yim, who ran spring track after not doing cross-country a year ago, joined the team and had an immediate impact, giving McNair a daily training partner and pulling fellow sophomores Amber Wang and Brianna Donatelli to much improved seasons.

"She's a Junior Olympics level synchronized swimmer and when she came, Amber and Brianna seemed to instant get better,'' said Gallo. "We were without Jenna and Lily at the league meet when they both got sick, but we still won the league because we took second behind Rutherford and went undefeated in duals.''

Yim was fifth, Wang 13th and Donatelli finished the scoring in 26th, 15 places and more than a minute ahead of Mountain Lakes' fifth runner.

First year cross-country runner Delana Einreinhofer of Wallkill Valley, who won three Group 1 indoor and outdoor titles indoors and outdoors a year ago, won the race by about 20 meters over Grace Mougalian of Kinnelon.

BOYS TEAM SCORES: GLEN ROCK 54*, KINNELON 75*, Mountain Lakes 81*, PARK RIDGE/EMERSON 97*, NEW MILFORD 120*; PEQUANNOCK 163, WALDWICK 230, Kittatinny 252, North Warren 252, POMPTON LAKES 272, CRESSKILL 272, SADDLE BROOK 292. Lenape Valley 328, Boonton 341, Wallkill Valley 350.

NORTH JERSEY BOYS IN TOP 15: 2. Ben Raser, Glen Rock, 17:09; 3. Ben Habler, Glen Rock, 17:16; 4. Kyle Bjornson, Kinnelon, 17:20; William O'Donovan, Park Ridge/Emerson, 17:46; 7. Marshall Carver, Waldwick, 17:53*; 8. Ryan Wolfe, Glen Rock, 17:56; 9. Sebastian Herrera Pineda, New Milford, 17:58; 12. Jayden Hur, Kinnelon, 18:08; 13. Alex Talmazan, Park Ridge/Emerson, 18:09; 15. Chase Zalfino, Pequannock, 18:29.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: GLEN ROCK 64*, Mountain Lakes 91*, Kittatinny 120*, PARK RIDGE/EMERSON 121*; KINNELON 128*; Wallkill Valley 133, SADDLE BROOK 157, POMPTON LAKES 167, WALDWICK 206, PEQUANNOCK 221, Boonton 243.

NORTH JERSEY GIRLS IN TOP 15: 2. Grace Mougalian, Kinnelon, 21:09; 4. Lily McNair, Glen Rock, 22:07; 5. Jenna Yim, Glen Rock, 22:13; 6. Sophie Walder, Park Ridge/Emerson, 22:17; 7. Pola Gospodarzec, Pompton Lakes, 22:22*; 9. Rachel Calaff, Waldwick, 22:34*; 12. Tina Xu, Kinnelon, 22:57; 13. Amber Wang, Glen Rock, 22:57.

NORTH 2 BOYS TEAM SCORES: McNair 38*, HASBROUCK HEIGHTS 72*, Verona 90*, SECAUCUS 103*, BOGOTA 112*, Whippany Park 140, Technology 181, Warren Tech 249, WEEHAWKEN 271, Glen Ridge 293, PASSAIC ARTS & SCIENCE 303, RIDGEFIELD 313, Newark Tech 400, Belvidere 410, PALISADES PARK 434.

NORTH JERSEY BOYS IN NORTH 2 TOP 15: 1. Aidan Morrow, Hasbrouck Heights, 16:33; 3. Emmanuel Marin, Bogota, 17:24; 5. Ayaan Modak, Hasbrouck Heights, 17:35; 6. Ryan Ober, Hasbrouck Heights, 17:42; 12. Zohaib Syed, Bogota, 18:40; 13. Hussain Salam, Bogota, 18:48; 14. Genci Duraku, Secaucus, 18:48.

NORTH 2 GIRLS TEAM SCORES: HASBROUCK HEIGHTS 40*, BOGOTA 71*, McNair 94*, WEEHAWKEN 113*, RIDGEFIELD 161*, Whippany Park 161, SECAUCUS 182, Belvidere 192, Cedar Grove 200, Verona 211, Warren Tech 249.

NORTH JERSEY GIRLS IN NORTH 2 TOP 15: 1. Isabel Michel, Bogota, 19:47; 2. Lexi Powers, Hasbrouck Heights, 20:00; 3. Astrid Taffarello, Weehawken, 20:41; 4. Mackenzie Bua, Hasbrouck Heights, 20:57; 5. Tarikwa Dunn, Weehawken, 21:23; 6. Kali McDonald, Weehawken, 21:35; 9. Nina Castellano, Hasbrouck Heights, 21:58; 11. Taitum Sandoval-Diaz, Bogota, 22:16; 12. Shantal Urgiles, Hasbrouck Heights, 22:26; 13. Silvia Andrade, Hasbrouck Heights, 22:35; 15. Brianna Carrasco, Ridgefield, 23:02

'* denotes qualified for State Group 1 meet.

Indian Hills sweeps North 1, group 2 for second time

While the Lou Molino Bergen Meet of Champions wasn't the most important race of the year for the Indian Hills boys and girls, the Braves were disappointed with their all-around performances at Bergen County's premier meet a week ago,

"For us to come in third place in the boys race was amazing, but I know the guys wanted to run better than they did,'' said Indian Hills coach Pete Tuohy, who will leave the program after the state championship to take over as the head cross-country and assistant track coach at Montclair State University. "And the girls were all disappointed in finishing eighth at BMOC after being so impressive in winning Bergen C the week before.''

All is forgotten and forgiven after the Braves' impressive performance in the searing heat last Saturday. The boys turned in one of the lowest scores in the history of the North 1, group 2 sectionals and had six runners finish before any other team had three cross the line to win its first title in three years, 36-90 over Demarest while the girls put together their best race of the season, putting three runners ahead of Old Tappan's first and upsetting the Golden Knights, 79-99, for its first title since 2019.

"The guys have had a great year and even though we were disappointed last week, maybe we put too much on BMOC last week and we just let them go (Saturday),'' said Tuohy

Dan Phillips trailed Pascack Valley's Patrick Kurtz for most of the race and made a gallant effort to catch his fellow senior, but Kurtz hung on to win by less than five meters, in 16:54, becoming the Panthers' first sectional champ since Ben Malone won group 3 in 2011.

Nico Tucci, who was unable to finish last week's race, came back to finish sixth in a Garret best 17:45, while freshmen Frank Coppa and Lukas Kertesz finished eighth and ninth, the only freshmen across all four races to break the 18 minute mark. Juniors Justin Vitale and Brady Dransfield went 14-15 as the Braves completed their excellent performance.

The girls win, while not as dominating, might have been even more satisfying.

"These girls haven't caught a break all year when we had our races,'' said Touhy. "Either it's boiling hot, pouring rain or just muddy and difficult conditions. But they kept showing up and competing, regardless of the conditions and we know if our top five can have a good day on the same, we could win this.''

"We tried to take the pressure off after last week and showed them the results from the rest of the section during the week, and they delivered.''

Any of the five teams that ultimately qualified for the state group 2 meet at Holmdel Nov. 4 could have run the race but the Braves hung tough.

Senior Alyssa Maybeck finished a strong third behind sectional champ Christina Allen of River Dell, who outkicked Maya Van Horn of Morris Tech to finally capture the elusive title, and Summer Myrhen and Camryn Finn both had their best races of the year to finish seventh and ninth, respectively. Cross-country newcomer Madeline Coppa was 28th and sprinter Avarie Bergen took 36th to clinch the victory. The top five teams finished within 41 points of each other, the closest 1-5 finish of the 32 sectional races.

Allen gets some encouragement from a rival coach, finally gets her sectional title

Christina Allen of River Dell has been a star from her very first high school race in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic more than three years ago. She's won at almost every level in cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track, but one thing was missing from her impressive resume', a state sectional cross-country title.

It wasn't for lack of trying. Allen recorded one of the fastest non-winning performances in North 1 history her freshman year, the first of two losses to Garret Mountain record holder and state champion Angelina Perez of Lakeland in 2020 and 2021, and led for most of the race last year become succumbing to a late drive by the Lancers' Morgan Uhlhorn, who won the state group 2 race the following week.

Allen and Morris County Tech junior Maya Van Horn battled throughout the 5,000 meters Saturday with Allen letting Van Horn take the lead early but became a little frustrated during the race.

"I wanted to stay with her for as long as I could and then try to pass her, but every time I caught up, she sped up and retook the lead,'' said Allen, who is known for her blazing finishes on the track. "As we got to the final hill, I was afraid she was going to extend her lead like Morgan did last year to me when she beat me. ''Then she spotted Lakeland's head coach, Damiano Conforti and yelled to him, "This is what Morgan did to me last year.''

Conforti responded quickly, "get that out of your head and don't let it happen.''

Allen didn't, beginning a long drive of her own which led to a 30 meter win in 19:10, the fastest she had run at Garret since freshman year.

"I'm very happy I got the title and it's nice that now he can cheer for me the way he did. I really appreciated that.

BOYS TEAM SCORES: INDIAN HILLS 36*, DEMAREST 90*, PASCACK HILLS 124*, WEST MILFORD 128*, OLD TAPPAN 148*, PASCACK VALLEY 149, DUMONT 232, Morris Tech 240, LAKELAND 249, RIVER DELL 249, Sussex Tech 292, Vernon 303, MAHWAH 325, High Point 326, RAMSEY 345, WESTWOOD 449, Newton 455.

NORTH JERSEY BOYS IN TOP 15: 1. Patrick Kurtz, Pascack Valley, 16:53*; 2. Dan Phillips, Indian Hills, 16:54; 3. Colin Menier, West Milford, 17:18; 5. Marcus Koshy, Pascack Valley, 17:33*; 6. Benjamin Johnson, Old Tappan, 17:38; 7. Nico Tucci, Indian Hills, 17:45; 8. Frank Coppa, Indian Hills, 17:51; 9. Lukas Kertesz, Indian Hills, 17:58; 11. Dylan Barrett, Pascack Hills, 18:06; 12. Karl Andre III, Dumont, 18:09*; 13. Markus White, Demarest, 18:11; 14. Justin Vitale, Indian Hills, 18:17; 15. Brady Dransfield, Indian Hills, 18:19.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: INDIAN HILLS 79*, OLD TAPPAN 99*, LAKELAND 106*, DEMAREST 113*, WEST MILFORD 120*, RIVER DELL 139, Morris Tech 155, RAMSEY 225, Vernon 232, Jefferson 266, PASCACK HILLS 281, High Point 331, PASCACK VALLEY 339, DUMONT 364, ELMWOOD PARK 400.

NORTH JERSEY GIRLS IN THE TOP 15: 1. Christina Allen, River Dell, 19:10*; 3. Alyssa Maybeck, Indian Hills, 20:51; 4. Ciara Clinton, West Milford, 21:00; 6. Isabella Gabay, River Dell, 21:09*; 7. Summer Myhren, Indian Hills, 21:14; 8. Kayla Barnhardt, Lakeland, 21:22; 9. Camryn Finn, Indian Hills, 21:22; 10. Anna Lynch, Ramsey, 21:26*; 11. Madison Sovak, Ramsey, 21:37*; 12. Brenna Traverso, West Milford, 21:38; 13. Sophia Katechis, Old Tappan, 21:41; 14. Brianna Fahy, Lakeland, 21:44; 15. Katelyn Reuter, Dumont, 21:47*.

NORTH 2 BOYS TEAM SCORES: Bernards 31*, Madison 78*, Voorhees 92*, LEONIA 103*, West Morris Central 131*, Parsippany 193, RUTHERFORD 248, Caldwell 250, Hanover Park 253, LYNDHURST 259, Parsippany Hills 272, PASSAIC VALLEY 299, BECTON 315, RIDGEFIELD PARK 320, Hackettstown 353, Newark Collegiate 435, West Essex 447, Marlon P Thomas 524.

NORTH JERSEY BOYS IN NORTH 2 TOP 15: 11. Max Thorn, Becton, 17:26*; 12. Aidan Nogueira, Lyndhurst, 17:31*; 13. Ian Cortez, Leonia, 17:32.

NORTH 2 GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Voorhees 41*, Bernards 71*, Madison 126*, Parsippany Hills 129*, West Morris Central 134*, RUTHERFORD 190, LEONIA 207, BECTON 234, PASSAIC VALLEY 239, RIDGEFIELD PARK 245, Caldwell 266, Hackettstown 269, LYNDHURST 311, Parsippany 316, Marlon P. Thomas 454.

NORTH JERSEY GIRLS IN NORTH 2 TOP 15: 2. Mika Tampadong, Becton, 20:25*; 14. Jodi DeSalvo, Rutherford, 22:00*; 15. Sasha Raskin, Leonia, 22:06*.

'* denotes qualified for state Group 2 championship.

Northern Highlands girls win seventh group 3 title in nine years

It's been a frustrating year for the Northern Highlands girls team. The Highlanders returned their top five runners from last year's team, that won the Bergen County Meet of Champions and took fifth at the State Meet of Champions.

It's not that the Highlanders haven't run well -- they've stayed in or near the state top 10 all season and had never finished lower than second in any of the six meets they've entered before the North 1, group 3. But they only won one of those six, losing to Ridgewood five other times including at last week's BMOC.

"We talked about that all week leading up to this race,'' said Northern Highlands coach Joel DeStaso. "This is the race we've been gunning for.''

The Highlanders went out easier than usual but as the race moved into the second, Northern Highlands came to the front. With defending champion Amelia Keogh of Ramapo sidelined by illness, Morris Hills junior Ivory Piskula ran away with the win by nearly 125 meters over Brianna Potaki of Ramapo in 19:44. But Northern Highlands took six of the next 15 spots and re-established its dominance over the group.

Seniors Allie Courtney and Autumn Ritter finished 3-4 and soph Sadie Meloro was eighth. Rebecca Maclaren was 11th and junior Farrah Dello Russo, finally rounding into shape after a preseason injury was 14th and freshman Sophie Smith was 17th, as the Highlanders put six runners ahead of anyone else's thir and scored an easy 40-134 win over Morris Hills.

"We're still not overly sharp but we're happy with the win and are looking forward to a big race next week at states,'' said DeStaso.

Passaic County boys champion Wayne Valley didn't have its best race of the year, but the Indians still managed to be the only North Jersey boys team to qualify for the state group 3 meet. Defending sectional champ Matt Califf managed fifth place behind the winner, Luke Schagelin of Morris Knolls, one of the state's fastest 800 runners. He held off Alex Pelov of Montville by 40 meters in 16:36, with Bergen County runner-up Josh Tejada a close third.

BOYS TEAM SCORES: Randolph 86*, Morris Hills 111*, Sparta 128*, Morris Knolls 149*, WAYNE VALLEY 153*, Montville 197, NORTHERN HIGHLANDS 205, Mount Olive 219, RAMAPO 232, WAYNE HILLS 239, TENAFLY 242, Roxbury 288, TEANECK 291, GARFIELD 357, CLIFFSIDE PARK 382, BERGENFIELD 476. Dover 478, Nutley 480, FORT LEE 506.

NORTH JERSEY BOYS IN THE TOP 15: 3. Josh Tejada, Teaneck, 16:44*; 5. Matt Califf, Wayne Valley, 16:59; 9. Ryan Welch, Ramapo, 17:22*; 10. Jimmy Hernandez, Bergenfield, 17:23*; 12. Milan Mistry, Wayne Valley, 17:25.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: NORTHERN HIGHLANDS 40*, Morris Hills 134*, Randolph 136*, Mount Olive 147*; TENAFLY 158*, Morris Knolls 175, Sparta 189, TEANECK 226, RAMAPO 250, Roxbury 254, WAYNE HILLS 268, Montville 286, GARFIELD 339, CLIFFSIDE PARK 343, WAYNE VALLEY 373, FORT LEE 378, Nutley 421.

NORTH JERSEY GIRLS IN THE TOP 15: 2. Brianna Potaki, Ramapo, 20:14*; 3. Allie Courtney, Northern Highlands, 20:27; 4. Autumn Ritter, Northern Highlands, 20:41; 8. Sadie Meloro, Northern Highlands, 21:09; 9. Kara Langbaum, Wayne Hills, 21:20*; 11. Rebecca Maclaren, Northern Highlands, 21:26; 14. Farrah Dello Russo, Northern Highlands, 21:44.

'* denotes qualified for State group 3 championships

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: cross-country state sectionals highlights