Memory Lane

This Saturday Mike Paustian and TJ Harkins have earned the right to compete at the most prestigious running event in all of New Jersey High School Running: The Cross Country Meet of Champions. In the summer and early season every runner trains relentlessly with the dream of taking the line at the Meet of Champions. Only 193 runners actually will (21 teams and 46 individuals) and we have 2 of them. Not bad for a team of 5 guys. So now that Mike and TJ have become the 12th and 13th different runners in Immaculata history to earn a bid, let's take a walk down memory lane and see how the first 11 fared.

(Fun fact: Since its inception in 1972, the Meet of Champions has been at Holmdel Park all but 4 years. In 1972 it debuted at Ocean County Park before moving to local Bridgewater West in 1973. It stayed local in 1974 at Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick, jumped to Pennsauken in 1975 and then found it's permanent home at Holmdel in 1976)

1. 1977: Kevin Dyer - Kevin qualified for the MOC with an 8th place finish and time of 17:30 at the Group Meet (note the course was 3 miles then and the Bowl was run in reverse). But get this. At the time there was a Non-Public C!!! And we were in it. And thus Kevin became the first runner in school history to qualify. Sadly, 1977 was a long time ago and the internet only has results from the top 25 at MOC, so there is no record of his time and place at the Big Dance.
2. 1991: Blair Witkowski - Blair finished 6th in the Non-Public A Group Meet with a time of 17:02 to make MOC. He then improved the following week and ran 16:53 to capture 27th place at MOC. It was a local affair that year as North Hunterdon's Brendan Heffernan won in 15:31 and Somerville HS legend Jon Clemens finished 23rd in 16:51 (Clemens went on to have a decorated collegiate and post-collegiate career, and get this -- a few years ago in San Diego he randomly crossed paths with and briefly coached Mr. Heibell. It took weeks until they realized Somerville was both of their original stomping grounds). As for Blair, he transferred to Hunterdon Central in 1992 and missed making MOC, finishing 14th in Group 4 in 17:04.
3. 2000: Immaculata Girls Team - That's right, the entire girls team qualified by getting 3rd place in Non-Public A to be the lone team in school history to make it.  At the Group Meet Erin Geiger led the way with a 4th place finish and time of 20:25 as a junior. Following her were: Bridget Skeuse (16th, 21:30), Lizzie Geiger (17th, 21:41), Mary Shea (29th, 22:25), Mellanie Pellowski (41st, 22:52), Becca Hancock (58th, 23:41), and Megan Varela (78th, 26:15). The team went on to finish 16th at MOC with Lizzie Geiger leading the way with a 68th place finish in 20:50, and Kelly Mulligan replacing Megan Varela as the 7th runner.
4. 2001: Erin Geiger and Lizzie Geiger - The twins both made the trip to Holmdel for MOC in their Senior season. First it should be noted the twins had a season for the ages this year, highlighted by a 1-2-3 showing at the Somerset County Championships with Bridget Skeuse as the third girl. At the Group Meet, the Geiger's finished 2nd and 3rd, with Erin nabbing 2nd in 19:46 and Lizzie 3rd in 19:52. Despite this, the team placed 4th and just missed earning a trip back. At MOC, Erin finished 23rd in 19:56 with Lizzie a few steps back in 20:09, good enough for a 40th place finish.
5. 2002: Bridget Skeuse - Bridget stepped into the spotlight her Senior year and did not disappoint. With the Geiger's gone, it was Bridget's time to shine. She took down the Non-Public A Meet by running 19:46, a 22 second victory over 2nd place finisher and frenemy Leah Brogan of Monsignor Donovan. She then stepped it up again at MOC. She ran 19:28 (Holmdel school record) to finish 6th place -- the highest ever MOC finish by an Immaculata runner. The best part is, no lie, she almost didn't run at MOC because she got to Holmdel only to realize she left her spikes at home. Luckily freshman Anthony Grina was there to cheer her on and inexplicably had his spikes on hand despite not racing himself that day. And the shoe fit, Bridget wore them, finished 6th, and the rest is history. Thus concluded the Golden Era of Girls XC at Immaculata.
6. 2004: Chris Heibell - Some may call Chris the best looking runner to ever make MOC, but that's not why we're talking about him here. Fueled all season by a disappointing 2003 State Meet, it was MOC or bust for him in his Senior season. The week before Groups, Coach Robinson pulled him out of school early to make a special trip to Holmdel for a joint workout with Piscataway. This gave Heibell the edge he needed as he finished 9th at the Non-Public A Meet with a time of 16:52 to book his trip to the Show. The next week he dropped 10-seconds on his way to a Holmdel school record time 16:42 and a 43rd place finish. 
7. 2008: Erin James - Erin was the last Immaculata runner before this season to earn a bid.  In this her Junior year, Erin ran 20:03 to secure a 10th place finish at the Non-Public A Group Meet and punch her ticket to MOC. She ran 20:07 the following week to earn a 63rd place finish at MOC.  Erin went on to have a successful collegiate career at St. Joe's (PA) running 17:16 for 5k and 10:38 for 3k Steeple.

And there you have it folks. Now we look ahead to Saturday. How will Mike Paustian and TJ Harkins fare? Will they challenge the Holmdel school record of 16:42? When the dust settles, where will they be remembered in Immaculata history? Can't wait til' Saturday to see what these 2 have up their sleeves. Catch it live at 11:45am at Holmdel Park!!!

Dance, Dance

That's right, baby. Bust out your dancing shoes because Mike Paustian and TJ Harkins just punched their tickets to the THE SHOW. Meet of Champions. Clear your calendar for next Saturday, November 18, at 11:45am, and find your way down to Holmdel to cheer these two boys on. How did they become the first Immaculata Boys XC runners to qualify for the Meet of Champions since 2004, when some strapping young lad named Chris Heibell booked his ticket, you ask? Let's find out.

Going into the race TJ and Mike both looked like good bets to finish in the top 10. But we all know races aren't run on paper and even the slightest slip up could cost them dearly. With that in mind, this is how the race played out:

• 1000m: TJ comes out of the Roller Coasters leading a 4-man pack of places 6 thru 9. They are about 20m behind 4th and 5th place while the top 3 (Spinelli, Wilson, Bronstein) have already broken away. Paustian is about 10m back of this pack sitting in 10th but cannot let them get away.
• 2500m: Right before they go up the bowl, TJ is still in a pack but this time has fallen to 7th. 4th thru 6th are within reach. Mike has dropped to 11th but urgency starts to set in as he makes a move up the hill to get back in the top 10.
• 3600m: At the tennis courts TJ remains in the pack but it's stringing out and Mike has moved up into battle for 9th.
• 4800m: TJ pops out of the woods and hits the homestretch neck and neck with Jack Farrell in a race for 7th place. The two duke it out to the finish and Farrell just nips him by a second but TJ still secures an 8th place finish to move on. Paustian pops out of the woods in 9th place but three kids are hot on his tail. Jackson Powers from Newark Academy looks strong and pulls up next to Mike with about 100m to go. Luckily Paustian finds another gear to just hold him off in a photo finish and earn his trip to MOC with a 9th place showing. With 11th and 12th place only 4 seconds behind this last stretch was not for the faint of heart.

And there you have it my friends. That is the story of how TJ Harkins and Mike Paustian became dancing buddies. But that's not the only story to tell from Holmdel today. Also in the boys race Michael Blandino finished 35th while dropping 35 seconds from his previous Holmdel best. Giovanni DeSapio, racing with the intentions of others at heart, dropped 1:33 from Shore Coaches and Sean Castellano showed grit down the stretch in outkicking a rival from Ranney (no, not Josh Zeng) to propel the team score. Speaking of team scoring, the Boys team finished 10th, which is a huge step in the right direction for this young squad.

In the girls race, Sophia Gonzales led the way with a 45th place finish and time of 23:51. She ran 3:02 faster than at Shore Coaches and 14 seconds faster than her all-time Holmdel PR. Carly Makowicz followed closely with a time of 24:17, which is 50 seconds faster than her Holmdel best and only 6 seconds off of what she ran at Greystone last week, which considering the courses, is a very impressive feat. And Taylor Luger, who now claims she a is cold weather specialist, finished in 25:02, which not only is a drop of 40 seconds from her Holmdel best but is also her second best lifetime race. Quite the impressive end of season showing from Taylor between this week and last week.

Lastly, who had the better Power Rankings, Heibell or Leddy? Welp, by being cocky and choosing not to update his Power Rankings to account for Oratory getting bumped up or Paustian being healthy again, Heibell sadly made a grave mistake. Despite his best efforts, not even he could create a scoring system so wild it would crown him the winner. So congratulations to Coach Leddy, who by correctly predicting 8 of the top 10, has won nothing. Except maybe bragging rights.

We'll catch you all at Holmdel next Saturday morning dressed in your finest blue face and body paint. GET UR IMMAC..... (just kidding Lambo, that's all you)

11/07 - Boys NPB Championship Power Rankings & Predictions for Groups

My friends, we are back with another edition of the Boys NPB Power Rankings! Well, not we, because someone decided that his were good enough already. No worries, the show goes on and we continue with our wild conjectures regardless.

There aren't many changes, but with the weekend of racing ahead it's important to check in to see how our competition is doing. We've had quite a few good results from faces new and old and it's finally time to see how we stack up!

I'm not going to add any more commentary than I did last time, and instead I'm just going to put up my raw findings here. It's important to note that Oratory Prep has since been moved from B to A, so there are some new names up here that are filling the gaps.

1. John Spinelli 

2. Nick Wilson 

                

3. Jeremy Bronstein 

4. Joe Kinney 

5. Matt Petrocelli 

6. TJ Harkins 

7. Charlie Koenig 

8. Kevin Mulligan 

9. Michael Paustian 

10. Jackson Powers 

Yup, here are the names I expect to see in the top 10 tomorrow at Groups. I trust my system enough to believe that my wishes will come true and both TJ Harkins and Mike Paustian will come in the top 10.

Or not. Like I always say, there are a lot of different factors that can affect someone's race day performance. Heck, the cold might even get to some of these guys. 

Regardless of what I say, it's going to be a fun one tomorrow. Screw the Power Rankings. You decide how you want to remember your Group Championship race, fellas. Not MileSplit, not some dumb website run by two washed-up Catholic school bums.

YOU decide.

LET'S GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

The NJCTC Championships, held Saturday at Greystone Park, turned out to be the most successful meet of the season for the Immaculata Cross Country team. Coming off a much needed two and a half week layoff from racing, the team looked spry, fresh, and hungry out on the race course.

In the boys race, TJ Harkins and Mike Paustian became the first pair of teammates in Immaculata history to both break 17 in the same race, but more on that in a second. First, let's give it up for Sean Castellano, who had the biggest PR of the day. He ran a whopping 1 minute 33 seconds faster than he ran just 5 weeks ago at this same exact course when he set his previous PR. The way Sean has progressed throughout the season shows that he is on his way to becoming "the man" -- as does his position in the picture above.

Now back to TJ and Mike. While standing at the mile mark, the coaches were ecstatic to see Paustian pop out of the woods leading the entire race. He hit the first mile in 4:51 while Harkins followed closely in 4:55. This hard early pace was great to see as it's exactly the kind of aggression these two will have to show next week at the Group Championships. Harkins ran a strong second mile, coming thru the two-mile mark at 10:15 with Paustian close behind in 10:20. The two pretty much held steady over the final mile with TJ coming thru the finish line in 16:39 for a 19th place finish and Mike at 16:53 with a 26th place finish. TJ's time of 16:39 represent's the second fastest time in school history.

The girls race was just as delightful as Taylor Luger absolutely smashed her PR. Taylor followed the boys lead by setting a hard early pace and giving herself a chance for success which led to the best race of her life. Not only did she break 25:00 for the first time but she crushed it as she finished in 24:23, almost a minute faster than her previous PR. Carly Makowicz also flashed superb form as she crossed the line in 24:11, which is by far the best and toughest she's run since coming back from injury recently. Carly didn't stop there though, as she also competed in a road race Sunday morning in which she ran an even faster time of 22:44.

Next up for the Spartans is the Non-Public B State Championships held at Holmdel Park on Saturday November 11th. If CTCs is any indication, everyone is rounding into peak form at the right time and Saturday at Holmdel should be a very exciting day for the Immaculata Cross Country program. The girls race at 12pm with the boys following at 1pm. Abeamus!!