Cross-country: Highlights from the State Group Championships

Kinnelon won its first boys state championship in more than 50 years. Weehawken produced its first ever individual state champion. And Lakeland became the first school in North Jersey history to win back-to-back state group titles with different runners.

It was hot and humid at Holmdel County Park Saturday for the 76th edition of the state group championships, which began in its current form in 1946. But North Jersey had successes in nearly every race and as a result three teams and 28 additional runners will advance to the Nov. 12 State Meet of Champions, also at Holmdel.

Here's a look, group by group at the highlights of a long day.

Kinnelon and Keanu make history

Andrew Garcia reflected on Kinnelon's first state group championship since 1970 and wanted to remember three guys who weren't there on Saturday.

"We started thinking about winning a state champion when I was in eighth grade and Braeden Carroll, Eli Gately and Ryan Hur were a year ahead of me,'' said Garcia, whose third place finish in 17:01, got the Colts off to a surprisingly easy 88-136 victory over Metuchen to win Group 1. "Those guys handed us the baton after we came so close (a 24 point loss to Audubon) and we began preparing last summer. We knew we had to do.''

Garcia was the only finisher in the top 10 for Kinnelon, but the Colts beat each of the other 19 teams at each of the next six spots in the lineup.

Junior Kyle Bjornson was 12th (17:33), soph Jayden Hur 24th (18:21), senior Matt Mazurkiewicz 29th (18:28), and soph WIll Portman 40th (18:51), as the Colts put their fifth runner across the line before anyone else finished four. Seniors Ryan Bjornson (54th, 19:16) and Lucas LoRusso (57th, 19:21) ran well enough that even if Garcia had been unable to finish, the Colts still would have won.

"I thought we could win if we ran the way we were capable of,'' said Kinnelon coach Laura Chegwidden-Jacobs. "But I was surprised it was by this much.''

She credited the Colts mental approach and consistent attitude for the victory, which while not totally unexpected, was considered a bit of an upset.

"We knew it was going to be warmer this week than last week and we prepared for that. We talked about staying hydrated all week, getting a good night's sleep, eating normally and preparing mentally. Everyone was going to face the same conditions so it can't be an excuse.''

While Kinnelon's win was a mild surprise to those who follow the sport, Keanu Ray's individual win was a complete shock, even to the winner.

"It's unbelievable,'' the Weehawken senior exclaimed after he became the individual state champion in any sport in the school's history. "I just wanted to make the top 10.''

Defending champion Colin Riley of Jonathan Dayton was the overwhelming favorite to repeat. But the senior never started the race, scratching for unexplained reasons. That left the race wide-open and Ray, who was third in the North 2, group 1 race last week at Oak Ridge Park in Clark took full advantage.

"I got into the top 10 early in the race and somewhere between the first and second mile I was still there,'' say Ray, who won by about 50 meters in 16:46 over Hayden Singer of New Providence. "Usually I like staying behind the front group and then finishing strong but today I felt really good and went to the lead.''

Singer, North 2 group 1 champ Ian Zalewski of Verona and Elijah Whitaker of Glassboro followed, but first Zalewski and Whitaker dropped off the pace and eventually so did Singer.

"It just felt right,'' said Ray, who moved from England with his family just as COVID was breaking out in March, 2020, and tried running for the first time in the spring of 2021.

"I started running track and cross-country to stay in shape for basketball,'' said Ray, an all-NJIC divisional choice in basketball who averaged nearly 20 points a game last winter. "I found out I was good at it and last spring I found out I was legit.''

The 6-2 senior would have found that out last fall, but he skipped the state group meet after taking fourth at sectionals a year ago to play in an AAU basketball tournament. That resulted in Saturday being his first trip to Holmdel, and he made his first race there, his first major title anywhere.

Ray still loves hoops, as he went from the state site at Holmdel to play in an AAU game last night. And in case you were wondering -- yes his mum named him after Keanu Reeves, the actor. And no, he has no idea what The Matrix means either.

Lakeland stars nearly pull off a state group double

The first words out of Owen Horevay's mouth when asked about his classmate Morgan Uhlhorn's brilliant win in the girls group 2 race Saturday: "She's insane. To see what she's done since freshman year is so inspiring.''

Fifteen minutes later, the first words out of Uhlhorn's mouth when asked to describe Horevay's brilliant second place finish in the boys group 2 race: "He's insane. He's been so much fun to watch the last four years and he's so inspiring.''

The mutual admiration society between the Lakeland seniors is understandable and may even be understated.

Uhlhorn went from 11th at the mile mark to second at the two mile and then exploded away from a talented field to win the state title by more than 85 meters in 19:01, more than a minute faster than she had run in the State Meet of Champions last year when Lakeland qualified for the race for the first time.

In the process she succeeded former teammate Angelina Perez, now a freshman at the University of Florida as the group 2 champ, making Lakeland the first school in North Jersey history, boys or girls, to have different runners win consecutive state cross-country championships.

"It feels surreal,'' said Uhlhorn, who called the feeling of coming down the final downhill towards the finish line in front of a loud and enthusiastic crowd a moment she'll never forget. "It's so rewarding and it's reminded me of how much work I've put in the last few years.''

Uhlhorn won the race by executing the race plan she and her coaches had plotted out.

"We wanted her to stay back the first mile, and run a negative split (faster for the second half of the race than the first) and make her mark on the hills,'' said Lakeland head coach Damiano Conforti. "We run hills every day at practice and we knew that coming out of the woods towards the finish that we didn't want a foot race.''

"I started to push at the mile marker and then when I came out of the bowl (the hill near the 2 mile mark) I zoned in on myself and focused on keeping the lead.''

Uhlhorn began to pull away from eventual runner-up Melina Johnston of Robbinsville at that point and with about 800 meters to go heard one of her coaches telling she had built a good lead.

"From there on I started to feel on cloud 9 and just kept pushing,'' she said.

Horevay had some doubts coming into his race an hour or so earlier. It wasn't his training or his ability that was in question, but his health.

"I got sick right before the sectional race (last weekend) and didn't run at all Sunday or Monday.'' said Horevay, who felt poorly after brief workouts Tuesday and Wednesday before the race. "But I got a lot of rest, drank a lot of water and took a lot of vitamins and I started feeling better Thursday.''

When the gun went off Saturday, Horevay had determined to stay back early and then move up. But favorite (and eventual race winner) George Andrus of Haddonfield burst to the front early, and concerned he'd open up an insurmountable lead, Horevay followed through fast splits of 5:12 for the first mile and 10:11 through two miles. By the time they went through the second mile mark, the duo was way ahead of anywhere else and Horevay relaxed.

" I just wanted to stay with George and if I did I knew I'd finish well.'' said Horevay who finished about 60 meters behind Andrus but about 200 meters of the third place finisher en route to a sizzling 15:52 clocking, seventh best of all the races and the third fastest Holmdel time in Passaic County history. "I've talked about wanting to finish in the top 10 (at MOC) and now it's right in front of me.''

Johnston and Maguire shatter personal bests and prepare for Meet of Champions assault

IHA's Leanna Johnston and Don Bosco's Paul Maguire had two weeks to prepare for their respective Non-Public A races Saturday. And they approached their preparation from totally different mindsets.

Johnston was relaxed and excited after her impressive and comfortable win at the Lou Molino Bergen Meet of Champions Oct. 22 while Maguire was upset but determined after his second straight third place finish in the event.

Whatever both did paid off Saturday as both finished very strongly in their races and stamped themselves as contenders for high finishes at the MOC, that eluded both a year ago.

"I just decided to go after it and stay in the top five the whole race,'' said Johnston, who verbally committed to Ivy League power Columbia a week ago and was seventh in this race a year ago.

"After about the 1,000 meter mark, I kind of realized I could stay within the top five and I even took the lead for awhile,'' said Thompson, who finished third in 19:03, behind Cate DeSousa of Red Bank Catholic and Lindsay Hausman of Kent Place, who repeated their 1-2 finish of a year ago. "I felt good the whole race and next week I want to break 19 minutes and get on the stage (with the top 20 finishers).''

Johnston was 36th at MOC a year ago.

Maguire flew out to an official visit to the University of Buffalo right after his loss two weeks ago but after his return began preparing to improve upon his 12th place finish a year ago.

"I was upset and I was talking the talk and it was time for me to start walking the walk,'' said Maguire, who used his wild card to take 50th in the MOC. "I just came in determined to get to the front and stay there no matter what.''

Mission accomplished.

Joe Barrett of CBA won the race in 15:43, followed by Collin Boler of Delbarton and Nick Sullivan of CBA. Then came Maguire in a huge Holmdel course best of 16:02, among the top 20 times ever run by a North Jersey runner at the state's signature course.

"I just stayed with them all the way to the bowl and then battle as hard as I can to stay there and finish,'' said Maguire. "This whole race today was about preparing for next week, but I was happy today.''

Ridgewood and Northern Highlands girls make State Meet of Champions, but seek improvement

As expected, the Ridgewood and Northern Highlands girls qualified as two of the 14 teams for next Saturday's State Meet of Champions. The two teams have consistently been among the state's top 10 all year.

But both teams had run faster earlier in the season at the Shore Coaches Invitational at the same site and hope to return to that form a week from now.

"We didn't run poorly today but I think we can be a lot better,'' said Northern Highlands coach Joel DeStaso. "Autumn (Ritter) had a great race and got us into the top 10, and Farrah's (Dello Russo) coming in as our fifth girl at about 21 minutes put us in good shape.''

Ritter, a junior, was 8th in the race, running 19:48, a personal best at the Holmdel course, while freshman Sadie Meloro was 20th in 20:26, junior Alison Courtney 21st in 20:31 and junior Rebecca Maclaren 32nd at 20:57. Dello Russo completed the scoring in 34th place, running 21:06.

Clearview, paced by the 2-6 finish of seniors Abigail Waddington and Abigail Kotran, won the race with 57 points. North Hunterdon was second with 82 and Highlands followed with 85. North Hunterdon and Northern Highlands earned the top two of eight wild cards awarded to the eight fastest non-winning schools.

Ridgewood finished second in the group 4 state championship for the fourth straight time. But only two of the seven Ridgewood runners this year had been part of last year's runner-up team, juniors Cellina Rabolli and Avery Sheridan. And none of the five runners who ran in both the Shore Coaches race five weeks ago and the group race Saturday bettered their October performance.

That left Ridgewood nearly 80 points behind race winner Freehold Township, 67-114, and barely ahead of Hunterdon Central which was the only other wild card qualifier from the group 4 race.

Rabolli led Ridgewood, in 18th place at 20:30. Senior Eva Jacqueline was 42nd in 21:13, soph Eilat Kissil, 46th in 21:24, Sheridan 48th in 21:28 and soph Lola Jacqueline 57th in 21:43. The quartet made up a solid pack, but slower and further behind they had been all season.

Freshman Katie Adams (61st, 21:55) and soph Ayla Cooke (70th, 22:02), who had been bright spots all year, struggled in their first group race.

"We're better than this and we'll figure out what happened and run better next week,'' said Ridgewood coach Steve Opremcak, whose team did qualify for MOC for a North Jersey record 21st time and will tie the school record of four straight appearances. "I have a lot of faith in these kids and what they've done all year.''

North Jerseyans headed for the MOC

Here are the projected North Jersey qualifiers for the State Meet of Champions at Holmdel, Nov. 12, with the boys race scheduled for 11 a.m. followed by the girls race at noon. * wild card.

Boys

Group 1: Keanu Ray, Weehawken (1st, 16:46); Andrew Garcia, Kinnelon (3rd, 17:01); Aidan Morrow, Hasbrouck Heights (6th, 17:12). Team: Kinnelon (champions).

Group 2: Owen Horevay, Lakeland (2nd, 15:52); Tadael Mihret, Rutherford (6th, 16:35); Raffi Buchakjian, Indian Hills* (11th, 17:02).

Group 3: Bryce Teto, Paramus (5th, 16:35); Sean Matthews, Wayne Valley (10th, 16:42); Matt Califf, Wayne Valley* (19th, 17:04).

Group 4: Dylan Decambre, Bergen Tech (7th, 16:15); Hisham Ettayebi, Clifton* (20th, 16:44); Luke Pash, Ridgewood* (29th,16:55).

Non-Public A: Paul Maguire, Don Bosco (4th, 16:02); Ryan Locicero, Don Bosco* (18th, 16:58).

Non-Public B: Alex Culp, Eastern Christian (7th, 18:35).

Girls

Group 1: Amandine Fernandez, Bogota (5th, 20:28); Danielle Tilp, Cresskill (6th, 20:43); Astrid Taffarello, Weehawken (8th, 20:56); Tari Dunn, Weehawken (9th, 20:56); Mackenzie Bua, Hasbrouck Heights (10th, 20:59).

Group 2: Morgan Uhlhorn, Lakeland (1st, 19:01); Christina Allen, River Dell (4th, 19:27); Kristen Johnson, Old Tappan* (13th, 20:09); Lily Dipple, Demarest* (15th, 20:13); Zoe Merryman, Mahwah* (16th, 20:16); Kate Meeks, Old Tappan* (20th, 20:31).

Group 3: Autumn Ritter, Northern Highlands (8th, 19:48); Amelia Keogh, Ramapo* (13th, 20:02). Team: Northern Highlands* (3rd, 85 points).

Group 4: Remy Dubac, Clifton* (11th, 20:08). Team: Ridgewood (2nd, 144 points).

Non-Public A: Leanna Johnston, IHA (3rd, 19:03).

Non-Public B: none.

How North Jersey Teams did at the State Group meet

Here's a group-by-group at North Jersey's team at the state group meet:

Boys

Group 1 (20 teams): Kinnelon (Won, 88 points); Hasbrouck Heights (5th, 203); Glen Rock (6th, 209); Park Ridge/Emerson (8th, 219); Secaucus (16h, 400); New Milford (19th, 430); Ridgefield (20th, 561).

Group 2 (20): Indian Hills (10th, 282); Pascack Valley (11th, 300); Lakeland (12th, 306); Demarest (15th, 396).

Group 3 (20): Northern Highlands (8th, 232); Wayne Valley (10th, 323); Teaneck (13th, 339).

Group 4 (20): Ridgewood (10th, 254); Bergen Tech (14th, 340); Clifton (16th, 378); Hackensack (20th, 469).

Non-Public A (21): Don Bosco (5th, 156); Bergen Catholic (13th, 328); Paramus Catholic (19th, 504); DePaul (21st, 611).

Non-Public B (14): Eastern Christian (11th, 245)

GIRLS

Group 1 (20): Glen Rock (5th, 217); Bogota (6th, 218); Weehawken (7th, 229); Hasbrouck Heights (10th, 272); Kinnelon (11th, 298); Secaucus (19th, 422); Saddle Brook (20th, 437).

Group 2 (19): Old Tappan (5th, 172); Lakeland (6th, 226); Demarest (10th, 281); Indian Hills (12th, 306); River Dell (16th, 329).

Group 3 (19): Northern Highlands (3rd, 85); Ramapo (10th, 242).

Group 4 (20): Ridgewood (2nd, 144); Clifton (19th, 443); Bergen Tech (20th, 516).

Non-Public A (18): IHA (5th, 166); Holy Angels (14th, 342).

Non-Public B (8): no teams.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cross-country: Highlights from the State Group Championships