Boys cross-country: North Jersey team-by-team previews for the 2022 season
Big North
AMERICAN
Cliffside Park is always a threat in the league and with seniors Frane Cebalo and Andres Gomez returning and junior Darwin Ruiz having worked hard to improve, the Raiders should again. Senior Jaime Xec Orden and junior Chris Catalon, former soccer players, should add needed depth.
Dwight Morrow hasn't got a senior on its team and returns juniors Ryan Chen, Adam Baptiste, Pedro Herrera and Bora Temel and soph Justin Bolanos from last year's squad. There's a larger turnout than usual which could mean that the Maroon Raiders are turning things around.
Dumont returns senior Brandon Barretto and All-American race walker Colin Graham (Jr.). The Huskies have another senior Alberto Ramos and look to freshman Karl Andre to help rise within the division.
Fort Lee has one of the top runners in the league in senior Eku Conteh and hopes freshman John Walsh can help a very young team be competitive in the division.
Ridgefield Park returns only three varsity runners, senior Murtaza Syed, junior Adam Vercelli and soph Joaquin Salcedo, but has a solid junior varsity that worked hard all summer and if they develop, could be a league contender.
FREEDOM
Hackensack returns a pair of aces in senior Moses Barrera and junior Dylan Guarquila. Senior newcomer Luis Ortiz should also help the omets try and rebuild while remaining competitive.
Northern Highlands looks to win it's first ever BMOC championship and repeat its 2021 group 3 sectional title, returning six of its top seven runners from last year. The Highlanders are led by seniors Jackson Vogel, Sebastian Anderson, and Gabe Johnson and juniors Jeff Sohn, Freddy Liljegren, Carter Monaco and Tim Cobb. If Sohn, who had some physical problems last spring, is fully healthy, the Highlanders could make a run at group 3 state contention.
Paramus has a very good senior class led by Bryce Teto, who could be an all-Bergen contender, Yosuke Myazaki, Ray Hennessey, Will Houck and Arash Ahmadi and also returns junior Raj Modi. The Spartans will be much improved but are in the area's hardest division.
Ramapo loses a lot of graduating talent and while the Green Raiders return seniors Sebastian Dash, Dan Frenkel, Eric Lynch and junior Conner Layng, they are an inexperienced group. Look for first year senior James Cindrario to make an impact.
Ridgewood did not win the group 4 North 1 sectional for the first time since 2009, but did win its fourth straight BMOC title. This year's group hopes to extend the BMOC streak, regain the sectional title and perhaps go even further. Seniors Ian Bajraktari and Tommy Koltermann and juniors DJ Murphy and Chris Brady are a strong group of returnees but it's a terrific sophomore class of Luke Pash, Trevor Kane, Benjamin Papageorge and Tom Mevissen that could make this team special.
INDEPENDENCE
Fair Lawn has a new head coach in Chelsea Waidlich and returns junior Jacob Babitsky and senior Dylan Aks from last year's team. Soph newcomers Chase Amin and Alex Michaelman should contribute.
Lakeland could be a contender for league, Passaic County and group 2 sectional honors behind a strong senior trio of Owen Horevay, Nathan Caldwell and Divine Crilly. Newcomers Josh Donza and TJ Cook will be needed to step up if the Lancers are to achieve their ambitious goals.
Passaic Valley will use a pack mentality to try and finish in the to half of the conference, top five in Passaic County and top five in the state sectionals to return to the state group meet for the first time in 23 years. Senior Nathan Stone, juniors Basell Dahhan and Connor Heil and soph T.J. Hill return from last year's varsity and cross-country newcomers senior Dev Patel and soph Eamon Cathcart are improving rapidly.
Wayne Hills has a very good junior class in Avery Vallerta, Brendan Carroll, Jon Novembre and Michael Chen. Freshman Wilson Stansfield may have an immediate impact.
Wayne Valley returns a veteran corps of runners led by seniors Sean Matthews, Sal Gencarelli, and Ryan Schectman and juniors Matt Califf, Milan Mistry and Hudson Devine. The Indians should contend for league and Passaic County titles and could return to the state group 3 meet for the second straight year.
West Milford has only one returning varsity runner, junior all-Passaic standout Colin Menier. But the Highlanders have a good turnout, especially in the younger grades and first year senior Wyatt Space is coming off a fine track season.
LIBERTY
Bergen Tech has a dedicated senior group led by all-Bergen star Dylan Decambre, who got even better in winter and spring track. Sebastian Toro, Ray Zhang, Christian Lencsack and Jonathan Ding also return and the Knights should contend in the conference and could surprise at Bergen Counties and in the sectionals.
Clifton won the league, Passaic County and state sectional group 4 Triple Crown last year and could be in position to do it again despite the graduation of 2021 North Jersey Runner of the Year Jacob Heredia. The Mustangs return seniors Hisham Ettayebi, Harrison Schimpf, Josue Xochipa and Raphial Cabanilla, junior Patrick DuBois and a potential soph standout in Lamarr Olive.
Eastside did not submit information.
Kennedy returns Alex Rivera and Desean Curry and newcomers Christian Diaz, Channelle Facey and Angel Oyola look to make big improvements.
Passaic is poised to make a big jump into contention for league and Passaic County contention, and potentially its first trip to the state group 4 championships in five years. Returnees Diego Payares, Angel Rodrigurz, Michael Coliente and Gael Morales are joined by newcomers Isaac Diaz (Passaic 800 champ) and Sebastian Munoz.
Passaic Tech has a new head coach in Shadi Taha and some good returning runners in seniors Andrew Aguila and Matt Ginart and juniors Nathan Harris and Raynier Galvez. Soph Gabriel Torres is the top newcomer. The Bulldogs find themselves in one of the strongest years the division has had in a while.
NATIONAL
Bergenfield is on the rise behind Johannes Rivera, Fred Vasquez and Michael Roman and welcomes newcomer Aiden Castellanos. The Bears are building and Rivera could surprise individually.
Demarest has senior leadership and talent in Ethan Kalajian, Harrison White and Wyatt Besnoy and a fine junior in Matthew Sands. But it's the sophomore class led by Ivan Timochko which will determine just how good the Norsemen will be.
Old Tappan has a new head coach in Tom Walsh who sees four returning starters, including senior Matt Malora and juniors Tristan Trinadad, Nicholas Kim and CJ McNamara. The Golden Knights have a huge turnout which should bode well for seasonal development and for the future.
Pascack Valley has a cohesive and strong senior class led by Mike Pizzella, Chris Martino, Connor Oates, Aaron Ng, Jay Ramirez and Anthony Sileo and some good sophs in Patrick Kurtz, Marc Monti and Dominic Scozzafava. Look for the Panthers to have their best sectional finish since their second place in 2006 and their first BMOC appearance since 2014.
Teaneck has a pretty good veteran base led by senior Michael Ian Delgado, junior Joshua Tejada and sophs Derek Wiecenski and Rakhshan Sayed. Freshman Derek Coleman Jr. should come along quickly.
Tenafly lost a lot of graduation and hopes senior Matthew Hall, juniors Akashgi Chhaya, Michael Forde and William Reiser and sophs Pablo Estua Carillo and Ben Sandler to try and challenge for a league title.
PATRIOT
Indian Hills has a new head coach, former Braves great Pete Tuohy, who replaces the retired Tom Zaccone. Tuohy expects to build on Zaccone's success, and should be able to behind four returning underclassmen, junior Dan Phillips, second team all-North Jersey last year, junior Mike McCormick and sophs Brady Dransfield and Justin Vitale. But how the Braves can go sits squarely on the shoulder of three seniors, Raffi Buchakjian, Sameer Katwala and Deniz Kalkandelen, who did not run cross-country last fall. Buchakjian has never run cross-country before but had a tremendously successful sprint track season.
Mahwah has two of the area's top runners in seniors Brayden Lowe-Massi and Andrew Kroczynski and hopes to capitalize on their talent and motivate and improve the rest of the team.
Pascack Hills did not submit any information.
Ramsey did not submit any information.
River Dell is always a league and county group contender, but the loss of Alex Saldana to Union Catholic will hurt. The Golden Hawks return some solid runners in seniors Matthew McGinnis, David Arturi, Thomas Short and Nick Spelda. Sophs Lukkas Lopez and first year runner Alex Sharifian will contribute but River Dell will only go as far as their fourth and fifth runners will take them.
Westwood welcomes a new coach, Bethany Kazimir, after longtime coach George Glover decided to retire after a long and successful career. Seniors Sean Mullen and Nicholas Rosado-Velasquez and junior William Roche are the top returning runners and there is a good group of freshmen.
UNITED
Bergen Catholic did not submit information.
DePaul has a small turnout with seniors Patrick McEvoy and Michael Dox and juniors Johnathan Long and Kevin Bornemann the leaders.
Don Bosco should contend for its first BMOC title since 2015 and first SMOC berth (if there is a SMOC) since 2016, led by last year's BMOC runner-up, Paul Maguire and returning standouts Ryan Locicero and Thomas Petrie. Colin Hall and Aidan Moclair should be ready to take the next steps after fine junior varsity seasons in 2021 and freshman Owen Hickey could surprise.
Paramus Catholic is still very young, led by juniors Nick Michael, Rey Diaz and Aidan Cannon. Freshman Aiden Bednarz leads a solid group of newcomers who could help the Paladins have its best team in recent years. Another returnee is assistant coach Ron Sparagoski, who returns to the school he served as head coach for more than a decade.
Senior Fintan Henry is the only St. Joseph Regional returnee but the Green Knights add senior track standout Ryan Dormelas and wrestlers Alex Naddeo (Sr.) and Rocco Dellagatta (Jr.) along with a large freshman class and should be much improved.
NJIC
COLONIAL
Becton has a new head coach in former Indian Hills standout David Dorsey, and he returns only one varsity runner, Samprit Bajracharaya. But soph Sebastian Delgado leads a young enthusiastic group of newcomers who will improve as the season goes forward.
Dwight-Englewood has a new coach in Ryan Vettoso and a large turnout headed by returnees James West, AMari Boyd, Baptiste Louis and Musashi Shabazz. Aaron Harrison is a promising newcomer and the Bulldogs should contend for the first division.
Eastern Christian did not submit any information.
Brandon Meneses and Peter Guzman will help new Elmwood Park head coach Megan Barretto build a program.
Garfield returns three stalwarts from last year's team, senior Adriano Sotomayor and juniors Pawel Deyzmala and Sean Lee. Sophs Jakub Stypulkowski and Aaron Gilkes add depth to a team that expects a better record this season.
Glen Rock lost two-time sectional champ Aidan Carroll to graduation but returns senior Jacob Bae and junior Ben Raser, on a team that is always competitive in the conference.
Harrison did not submit any information.
Leonia returns seniors Joshua Gelayder, Matt Kalender and Ben Leynse from last year's great team that finished sixth at BMOC and made a strong run for the North 2, group 2 sectional championships. Aidan Schurr is also back and Andrew Coello is the top newcomer for a team that expects equally good results this year.
Lodi did not submit any information.
Lyndhurst did not submit any information.
Rutherford has one of North Jersey's top runners in senior Tadael Mihret, who is joined by classmates Dev Patel, Dylan Kelly, DJ Sing and Ibraheem Afzai in a strong and experienced pack. The Bulldogs also have a very good sophomore class which could make them a league favorite.
MEADOWLANDS
Butler has two solid returnees in senior Joseph Henerson and soph Quinn Juhlin. Soph Taylor Peters and freshmen Chris Wild and Brady Neuberger should help the varsity be better this season.
Hasbrouck Heights looks for a sixth straight league, fifth straight Bergen groups and second straight sectional crown behind a solid returning squad that includes soph Aidan Morrow, Ayaan Modak, Bobir Asatov and Kyle Von Seidelmann. Newcomer Ryan Ober and a good sophomore class will keep the Aviators in every race, especially if they stay healthy.
New Milford figures to be much improved with seniors Jayden Cedeno, Ben Zelasco and Hayden Day leading the way. Junior Kevin Senzamici come over from soccer and should contribute immediately.
North Arlington returns senior Thomas Maleski.
Palisades Park has a new head coach in Bill Hutchinson, who was part of the great Tiger dynasty that won eight eight of nine sectionals from 1993 to 2001. He welcomes back returnees Christopher Choi, Bernstein Castro, William Shales and Ezekiel Maisonneuve, and expects their good chemistry to carry over into an improved team effort.
Pompton Lakes did not submit any information.
Saddle Brook has a very young team and thinks senior captain Nick Suero and soph Devin Thomas to have strong breakout seasons as the Falcons rebuild.
Saddle River Day did not submit any information.
Secaucus has everyone back from the team that won the North Hudson championship, was second in the North 2, group 1 race and was fourth in Hudson County. Senior co-captain Younes Abada is the clear standout with co-captain Andrew Curry right behind. Seniors Adrian Delos Santos, Krushay Bhavsar, Roger Pragados, Lohitaksh Senkesi, Armann Budhrani, Jorge Rodriguez and Joshua Unsay make the experienced Patriots a dangerous team.
PATRIOT
Bergen Charter did not submit any information.
Bogota will be challenged to keep its four year unbeaten streak going while rebuilding behind juniors Christopher Inman and Dillon Benipayo. Coach Pat Rochford says his program is young and looks for contributions from freshmen and other newcomers and to improve with each race.
Cresskill returns senior Aidan Riccardo and junior Ryan Chung. Newcomers George Stogioglou (Jr.) and John Jamieson (Soph.) will help the Cougars contend for a title.
Hawthorne Christian returns sophs Victor Henrique Baez and Theo Cho and adds soph Cole Higby and freshman Colby Oostdyk as the program builds towards the future.
Midland Park did not submit any information.
PCSST did not submit any information.
Ridgefield did not submit any information.
St. Mary's did not submit any information.
Waldwick has just four boys but senior Joe Capuzzo and junior Marshall Carver are among the best small school runners in North Jersey. Senior Chris Cassidy and junior Dan Pauwels should also excel.
Weehawken returns senior Keanu Ray and sophs Benjamin DeMarco and Elan Kagan. Ray could be one of the best runners in state Group 1.
Others
Kinnelon lost a lot to graduation but return a small but potent squad capable of winning a third straight North 1 group 1 sectional. Seniors Andrew Garcia and Matt Mazurkiewicz, junior Kyle Bjornson and sophs Will Portman and Jaden Hur are returning and freshman Caden Lombardo is a promising piece.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ boys cross-country: North Jersey team-by-team previews
