XC APPROACHES CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

With the regular season having come to a close, the Marauder harriers begin the championship portion of the season with the Morris County Championships Saturday, October 30. Close on its heels is the North 1, Group 3 State Sectional Championships Saturday, November 6. The top 5 teams and top 10 individuals advance from the sectional meet to the Group 3 State Championships at Holmdel Park on November 13.
In late September action, the squads traveled to Garrett Mtn. Park to race over the state sectional course. The boys and girls both came in 6th in their respective Varsity Group 3 races. Senior Zach Miller led the boys with a 10th place finish in 17:49. Soph Marissa Karl and junior Steph Smith were 22-23 to lead the girls. Junior Dan Nemeth led the j.v. boys team to 5th place with his 9th place finish. The frosh girls took home third place team medals with their 3rd place showing. Their boy counterparts were 4th. Of note, the team went home with 21 individual medals.
The teams traveled to the Brett Taylor Invitational on Oct. 9. The team brought home three first place trophies, a school record. The girls repeated as team champion in their race with Steph Smith breaking the tape first and running her best 5k of the season. Her six teammates picked up individual and team medals, all finishing in the top 20 (Karl, Kraemer, Tavalare, Schneeberg, Torres, Halikias). The JV boys won the B race. Dan Nemeth (4th) led Gennaro Ruggiero (6) and Brandon Kahan (7) and the rest of the team. The frosh girls took their 2nd 1st of the season in an invitational (Roxbury on 9/11). Atalia Bermudez was race champ and led Lindsay Schafer (4), Mariah Christian (5), and Nicole Mallett (10) in while the girls also took 15-16 (S. Miller, S. Christian). The frosh boys were a close 2nd in their race with Eddie Garcia coming in 3rd and Chris DuChemin 7th. The boys also had 13-15-16-21 (Gallagher, Kubicki, Tanenbaum, Ulbrich). The boys varsity were 5th in a competitive race. Zach Miller and Scott Rennalls were 16-17 and Mike Artiglere and Antonio Ruggiero grabbed medals in 34-35. Senior Steve Wagner was absent for the SAT's.
The boys ended the regular season at 8-7 overall. In the last meet, they just lost to Morristown, but shellacked Jefferson, High Point, and Par Hills. The girls split their last outing, losing to Morristown and High Point, but beating Par Hills and Jefferson. The girls record was 5-9. While the boys reached career win # 200 for Coach Sulley in the first meet, the girls moved to 198 wins by the end of the season and can reach that milestone at the beginning of 2011.