Cross-country: Previewing the Bergen County Group Championships; latest Top 25 rankings
The 56th running of the Bergen County Group cross-country championships will be held Saturday at Darlington County Park in Mahwah with the 53 schools competing in two pods, divisions A and C starts scheduled between 9 a.m. and 10:30, followed by divisions B, D and E scheduled between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
The winning team of each varsity division will qualify for the Lou Molino Memorial Bergen Meet of Champions on Oct. 22 at Darlington, along with the next six team finishers from the meet merge (of which at least one must be from Division C or D). All individuals that finish in the top 50 of the meet merge also qualify.
Here's a look at the meet, division by division:
POD ONE
Boys Division A
Start: 10 a.m.
Reigning champion: Ridgewood (five straight).
Contenders: Ridgewood, Northern Highlands, Teaneck, Bergen Tech, Hackensack
Individuals returning from last year's top 10: Dylan Decambre, Bergen Tech (2nd); Jeff Sohn, Northern Highlands (8th); Dylan Guarquila, Hackensack (10th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Luke Pash, DJ Murphy, Ian Bajraktari and Trevor Kane, Ridgewood; Bryce Teto, Paramus; Jackson Vogel, Northern Highlands; Josh Tejada, Teaneck; Moses Barrera, Hackensack.
Projected winner and wild card teams: Ridgewood; Northern Highlands, Teaneck; Bergen Tech; Hackensack.
Projected Individual cutoff time (for all races): 17:30.
Girls Division A
Start: 10:30 a.m.
Reigning champion: Ridgewood (three straight) and Brianna Braver, Ramapo.
Contenders: Northern Highlands, Ridgewood, Ramapo, Paramus, Bergen Tech.
Individuals returning from last year's top 10: Braver (1st); Rebecca Maclaren, Northern Highlands (3rd); Avery Sheridan, Ridgewood (9th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Amelia Keogh, Ramapo; Sadie Meloro, Autumn Ritter and Allison Courtney, Northern Highlands; Mary Daclan, Paramus; Cellina Rabolli and Ayla Cooke, Ridgewood.
Projected winner and wild card teams: Northern Highlands, Ridgewood, Ramapo.
Projected individual cutoff time (all races): 21:22.
Boys Division C
Start: 9:45 a.m.
Reigning champion: Leonia (NOW IN DIVISION B)
Contenders: Indian Hills, Glen Rock, Pascack Hills, Park Ridge-Emerson.
Individuals returning from last year's top 10: Tadael Mihret, Rutherford (2nd); Ben Raser, Glen Rock (8th); Patrick Tallman, Park Ridge/Emerson (9th); Hayden DeKoyer, Lyndhurst (10th). (Dan Phillips, Indian Hills was 3rd in Division B)
Other probable top 10 finishers: Raffi Buchakjian, Deniz Kalkandelen, Indian Hills; Peter Priestner and Jack Herrington, Pascack Hills; Brandon Barretto, Dumont; Ben Habler, Glen Rock.
Projected winner and wild card team: Indian Hills; Glen Rock.
Girls Division C
Start: 10:15 a.m.
Reigning champion: Park Ridge/Emerson.
Contenders: Indian Hills; Glen Rock; Rutherford.
Individuals returning from last year's top 10: Madison Sovak, Ramsey (5th); Lily McNair, Glen Rock (8th); Emma Leishear, Glen Rock (10th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Camryn Finn, Kayla O'Neill, Annelise Barney, Summer Myrhen and Alyssa Maybeck, Indian Hills; Sophie Walder, Park Ridge/Emerson.
Projected winner and wild card team: Indian Hills, Glen Rock.
Pod Two
Boys Division B
Start: 1:15 p.m.
Reigning champion: River Dell.
Contenders: Pascack Valley, Leonia, Demarest, Old Tappan.
Returning top 10 finishers: Brayden Lowe-Massi, Mahwah (2nd); Matt Malora, Old Tappan (6th); Michael Pizzella, Pascack Valley (8th). (Josh Gelayder, Leonia was 7th in Division C)
Other probable top 10 finishers: Jay Ramirez and Aaron Ng, Pascack Valley; Ekuyami Conteh, Fort Lee; Andrew Kroczynski, Mahwah; Ethan Kalajian and Ivan Timochko, Demarest; Lucas Lopez, River Dell.
Projected winner and wild card team: Pascack Valley and Leonia.
Girls Division B
Reigning champions: Old Tappan and Christina Allen, River Dell.
Start: 2 p.m.
Contenders: Old Tappan, River Dell, Demarest, Fort Lee, Mahwah, Leonia.
Returning Top 10 finishers: Allen (1st); Kristen Johnson, Old Tappan (3rd); Sophia Katechis, Old Tappan (5th); Kate Meeks, Old Tappan (7th); Diana Valentini, Fort Lee (8th); Zoe Merryman, Mahwah (9th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Rachel Mills, River Dell; Lily Dipple, Demarest; Sarah Cookson, River Dell; Rowan Leddy, Old Tappan.
Projected winner and wild cards: Old Tappan; Demarest; River Dell.
Boys Division D
Reigning champion: Hasbrouck Heights (fourth straight)
Start: 1:30 p.m.
Contenders: Hasbrouck Heights; Cresskill, Saddle Brook.
Returning top 10 finishers: Aidan Morrow, Hasbrouck Heights (2nd), Joe Capuzzo, Waldwick (4th); Ayaan Modak, Hasbrouck Heights (10th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Ryan Ober, Kyle von Seidelmann and Bobir Asatov, Hasbrouck Heights; Jayden Cedeno and Kevin Senzamici, New Milford; Nick Suero, Saddle Brook; Chris Choi, Palisades Park.
Projected winner: Hasbrouck Heights.
Girls Division D
Start: 2:15 p.m.
Reigning champion: Hasbrouck Heights (four straight)
Contenders: Bogota and Hasbrouck Heights.
Returning top 10 finishers: Amandine Fernandez, Bogota (2nd); Mackenzie Bua, Hasbrouck Heights (3rd); Lexi Powers, Hasbrouck Heights (4th); Danielle Tilp, Cresskill (5th); Isabel Michel, Bogota (8th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Skyler McGuire, Saddle Brook; Shantal Urgiles, Hasbrouck Heights; Francesca Feltman, Waldwick; Silvia Andrade, Hasbrouck Heights; Denisse Sotomayor, Bogota.
Projected winner: Hasbrouck Heights.
Boys Division E
Start: 1:45 p.m.
Reigning champions: Don Bosco and Paul Maguire, Don Bosco.
Contenders: Don Bosco and Bergen Catholic.
Returning top 10 finishers: Maguire (1st); Ryan Locicero, Don Bosco (3rd); Thomas Petrie, Don Bosco (7th); James Hughes, Bergen Catholic (10th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Thomas Rogers, Bergen Catholic; Colin Hall and Brenden Klemm, Don Bosco; James West and Musashi Shabazz, Dwight-Englewood.
Projected winner: Don Bosco.
Girls Division E
Start: 2:30 p.m.
Reigning champions: IHA and Leanna Johnston, IHA.
Contenders: IHA and Holy Angels.
Returning top 10 Finishers: Johnston (1st); Grace Kelleher, IHA (4th); Meaghan Keating, IHA (5th); Emily Wunsch, IHA (7th); Uma Rajan, Dwight-Englewood (9th).
Other probable top 10 finishers: Sarah Dickson, Paramus Catholic; Reagan Scarpelli, IHA; Razil Fernandes, Dwihgt-Englewood; Emma Spadora and Frederica Zazzali, Holy Angels.
Projected winner and wild card: IHA and Holy Angels.
Boys Top 25 Rankings
Ridgewood
Don Bosco
Northern Highlands
Clifton
Teaneck
Pascack Valley
Lakeland
Indian Hills
Wayne Valley
Bergen Tech
Glen Rock
Kinnelon
Hasbrouck Heights
Leonia
Hackensack
Bergen Catholic
Pascack Hills
Park Ridge/Emerson
Mahwah
Passaic
Tenafly
Demarest
Old Tappan
Paramus
Secaucus
Girls Top 25 Rankings
Northern Highlands
Ridgewood
Ramapo
Indian Hills
Lakeland
Old Tappan
IHA
Clifton
River Dell
Demarest
West Milford
Bogota
Glen Rock
Holy Angels
Kinnelon
Paramus
Passaic Valley
Wayne Hills
Weehawken
Bergen Tech
Fort Lee
Hasbrouck Heights
Rutherford
Secaucus
Mahwah
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cross-country: Previewing Bergen Group Championships, Top 25 rankings
