Girls 5th in Group 3 State Championships

The 2011 girls squads had one of the best Holmdel performances in program history at the Group 3 State Championships on Nov. 12. The girls placed 5th overall, just 7 pts. out of 3rd and 10 pts. out of 2nd.

Sarah Masukewicz and Marissa Karl (lower picture) had the 10th and 11th fastest MO girls times at the famous course, a history that stretches back to the late 1970's. Karl became # 10 with her 30t-place 20:28 while Masukewicz became # 11 with her 31st 20:29. Mariah Christian (21:02) and Steph Smith (21:03) finished in a tandem also in 44 and 45 (top picture above). Erin Miller's 66th in 21:39 finished MO's scoring. Alex Schneeberg was 86th and Lindsay Schafer 140th as #'s 6 & 7.

The ladies averaged 20:58. The 1989 team which won the MOC averaged 20:53, proving how much more competitive the ladies' racing has become! The 2011 squad brought back the winning ways of the girls teams of the past with an undefeated season (7-0), a conference title, and runnerup finshes in the Counties and Sectionals. Their finishin Group 3 is the best since 2004, when the team was 5th.

Morris County Championships: Girls--Silver; Boys 9th

The girls team, with only 2 days rest, stormed back after their Sectional qualifying race, to finish their highest at the Morris County Championships since 1996. Sarah Masukewicz placed 16th and Marissa Karl 18th to lead the Marauder cause. Sarah's time of 20:04.67 was a p.r.and a freshmen class record. Seniors Steph Smith and Erin Miller were next in, taking 26th and 28th. Mariah Christian was the 5th finisher for MO in 34th, while Danielle Halikias (39th; p.r. 21:19) and Alex Schneeberg (48th) brought all the red and gold in. The girls ran their second fastest ever at Greystone, averaging 20:33.

For the boys team this was their last race of the season and a preview of 2012. Sr. Scott Rennalls was unable to finish after being pushed off the course just past midway and suffering an injury. First-year soph Nick Yanakas had his best race of the season placing 35th in 17:50. Peermate Eddie Garcia followed right in at 17:59, taking 42nd. Steve Kubicki stayed close in 47th with his best race at 18:10.42. Nick Miele, Sean Gallagher, and Joey Ulbrich piled in at 74, 79, and 83. The total underclass team ran 18:26 and were 9th overall. Every team in front of the Marauder boys had an average of half their top 5 as seniors.

The J.V. Girls were 2nd. Erin Schafer was the top finisher in 5th. Sara Christian, 9th; Jamie Tavalare, 14th (in a p.r. 22:48); Katrina Laemmerhirt, 15th; and Jackie Pignataro, 22nd, completed the team.

The J.V. boys were 8th. Anthony Talanca was first in in 53rd.

Girls 2nd, Boys 6th at Sectionals

The girls team narrowly missed adding a sectional title to their conference title, when they took second at the North 1, Group 3 State Sectional Championships, on Saturday, 11/5. The Lady Harriers scored 96, just shy of Northern Highlands 92.
Fr. Sarah Masukewicz led the way, placing 8th and running her fastest-ever 5k in 19:39.39, a school record for the Thompson Park course in Jamesburg. Marissa Karl was right behind in 11th in her second sub-20 clocking of the season at 19:50. Mariah Christian and Stephanie Smith both ran close, taking 21st and 23rd, and recorded 5k p.r.'s in 20:28 and 20:32. Lindsay Schafer recorded her 2nd sub-21 time on the course in 20:55 and getting 33rd to finish the MO scoring. Alex Schneeberg ran a p.r. 5k time of 21:03, taking 37th. Erin Miller was 43rd in 21:20. The team time of 20:17.8 was a season-best and possibly the fastest ever on a 5k course for any M.O. girls team in its 35 year history.
The boys came agonizingly close to advancing to the Group 3 Championships with their 6th place finish. The boys beat out every local team to represent Morris County against its Bergen and Passaic opponents. The team also ran a season-best average time of 17:52. Sr. Scott Rennalls and soph Eddie Garcia ran a close tandem, placing 28 and 29, in 17:34 and 17:35, the latter a 20 sec. improvement for Garcia from his initial run at Thompson 3 weeks earlier. Jr. Nick Miele (36th) showed he likes this course, running 17:49 to go along with his 17:44 earlier race here. Nick Yanakas took 47th in 18:02. Joey Ulbrich (59th--18:21), Steve Kubicki (65th--18:34), and Sean Gallagher (76th--18:49) each recorded their bests ever atthe 5k xc distance. Gallagher's time was his first ever under 19 min.

NJAC Championships

After completing the regular season, the boys and girls settled their sights on the championship races, starting with the NJAC Championship Race, which combines the two large school divisions--the American and National. The 5-2 boys squad led things off by placing 7th overall in their race. The team averaged a new best team time for the season, clocking 18:00.5. Senior Scott Rennalls (above left) was 23rd overall in 17:20. Soph Eddie Garcia wasn't far behind in 29th with a big p.r. of 17:32. Soph Nick Yanakas cracked the 18 min. mark in 17:58. Jr. Nick Miele (50th--18:12) and soph Steve Kubicki (67th--18:57) rounded out the scoring.

The girls finished 5th in a tight battle for 3rd. Their tally of 135 pts. trailed Morristown by 2 and Pope John by 1. Their 20:27 was a new school record, breaking their own. Marissa Karl's 10th in 19:31 was a new school individual record and a breakthrough performance. Frosh SarahMasukewicz continued to gain strength with each race as she nabbed 24th in 20:22. Erin Miller, Mariah Christian, and Lindsay Schafer rolled in to complete the scoring (29th--20:39; 34th--20:48; and 38th--20:56) and recorded p.r.'s.

Joey Ulbrich led the j.v.'s, running a p.r. 18:42 in 35th. The squad was 10th.

The j.v. girls were impressive, taking 1-2-3. Alex Schneeberg won in 21:21, Sara Christian was 2nd in 21:23, and Erin Schafer was 3rd in 21:35. The team was second. Jr. Jackie Pignataro (22nd) and fr. Jamie Tavalare (28th) were the other two scorers.

Girls & Boys Post Improvements at Old Bridge Fall Classic

The xc teams traveled to Jamesburg on Saturday, 10/15, to race at Thompson Park.
The girls varsity turned in their most impressive performance of the season taking 3rd place behind the #9 and 12 ranked teams in the state. Their total of 85 points was just behind Group 4 powers Bridgewater-Raritan's 55 and Hunterdon Central's 73. After setting a school record for team average at Greystone Park in last week's NJAC meet at 20:40, the top 5 girls ran 20:38.2, one of the best team average's ever recorded by the M.O. girls, and possibly the best ever. Junior Marissa Karl led the way in 9th (20:19), followed closely by frosh Sarah Masukewicz in 14th (20:25), senior Steph Smith 15th (20:33), sophs Lindsay Schafer in 19th (20:44) and Mariah Christian 28th (21:10). Sr. Danielle Halikias was 59th (22:15) and soph Erin Schafer 63rd (22:26).
The J.V. girls were 5th with soph Sara Christian crossing the line in 4th (22:14) and sr. Katrina Laemmerhirt 10th (22:51). Also scoring were junior Jackie Pignataro (23rd, 23:30) and frosh Jamie Tavalare (31st, 24:01) and Katherine Bausch (36th, 24:06).

The boys faced tough competition in their race with 3 state ranked teams and many Group 4 schools. The team placed 14th overall and recorded their best team time of the season at 18:00, better than their 18:46 last time at Greystone. Scott Rennalls continued to be the team leader and ran his best time of the season,placing 52nd in 17:39. Junior Nick Miele and soph Eddie Garcia both cracked the 18 minute mark for the first time ever, in 56th (17:44) and 66th (17:54) respectively. Also running their bests ever were sophs Nick Yanakas (84th, 18:13) and Steve Kubicki (98th, 18:34). Soph Joey Ulbrich got his first sub-19 time as well (106, 18:46). Soph Jake Tanenbaum, moving up to the varsity, was 142 in 19:55.
The boys j.v. were 18th. Jr. Matt McNamara was in first at 120 (21:08). The other runners were Ryan Schilling (132), Mike Henry (155), Scott Gong (160), Ryan Leone (163), and Jon Bass (170).

Passaic Invite Results

9/24: Garrett Mtn. site of the North Jersey State Sectionals

The boys and girls teams made their annual trip to the Passaic Coaches Invitational on Saturday, September 24, to test themselves out on the North 1 State Sectional course.
The Marauders left with 21 medals overall and competed in all six available races to them at the varsity, novice, and frosh levels.
In varsity action, the girls took 4th, even though holding back for their upcoming race 3 days later back at Greystone Park (NJAC race #2). Marissa Karl was the top finisher in 20th at 22:21, followed by Steph Smith (22, 22:28), Lindsay Schafer (25, 22:34), Mariah Christian (26, 22:35), Danielle Halikias (28, 22:39), Erin Miller (29, 22:40), and Alex Schneeberg (38, 23:13).
The boys placed 6th and were led by Scott Rennalls in 19th at 17:55. Soph Eddie Garcia came next (27, 18:32) and jr. Nick Miele (32, 18:54). Soph newcomer Nick Yanakas just missed a medal in 36th and was followed by sophs Joey Ulbrich (54), Sean Gallagher (61), and Steve Kubicki (62).
The girls novice race was the highlight of the day as M.O. put its 6 runners from 1st to 11th and romped over the field, taking 1st with 26 points. Sara Christian won the race in her first time over the varsity course in 23:21. Newcomer sr. Katrina Laemmerhirt (3rd), soph Erin Schafer (6th), jr. Jackie Pignataro (7th), soph Sarah Miller (10th), and sr. Sam Tavalare (11th) dominated the race to earn the first place trophy. In the boys novice race, Jack Tanenbaum (24), Gennaro Ruggiero (30), Dan Nemeth (32), and Jack Greenbaum (34) all earned medals and brought the boys in 5th.
Katherine Bausch (24) and Jamie Tavalare (29) got medals in the freshmen girls race.

Opening NJAC Action Highlighted by Sulley Girl Win 200

The girls went 3-0 and the boys 2-1 in the opening NJAC race Wednesday, 9/21, at Greystone Park. After just missing the 200 girl win milestone for their coach at the end of last year, the girls began the season by besting Vernon (26-33), Pope John (25-32), and Montville (19-42). Team depth proved the key to all three victories. Against Pope John, MO put four in before the Lions' 3rd and 11 in before their 5th. Against Vernon, Marissa Karl won and then 9 Marauders got in before the 4th Vernon runner. The score against Montville was the most lopsided, with 7 in the first 9 places. Karl also took first in that race. After Karl, the MO varsity was Steph Smith, Erin Miller, Mariah Christian, Lindsay Schafer, Danielle Halikias, and Alex Schneeberg.

The boys got off to a good start. While Montville took 1-2, the male harriers struck back by taking 7 of the next 8 positions to win in 27-32. Vernon, who handily beat MO boys last year, proved to be a weaker team in 2011. The Marauders took places 1-4 and 6-10 to wallop them 16-47. Pope John was too strong as it down the boys 15-49. P.J. would have beaten every team in the race, which included Mendham, Randolph, Roxbury, and Morris Knolls.

In the frosh/j.v. race, 9th grader Katherine Bausch was a close 2nd.