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The Westfield boys, led by rising star Jack Leahy, completed its
best season since 1996 by placing fifth while the Summit girls turned in a
solid performance at Saturday's 38th NJSIAA/Star-Ledger Meet of Champions at
Holmdel Park.
Leahy, who came into the meet tied for Westfield's
sophomore class record at Holmdel, finished 22nd in 16:18, a new sophomore
school record, to help coach Jack Martin's team, No. 5 in The Star-Ledger Top
20, finish fifth with 161 points.
Leahy ran 16:27 last week in the Group 4 race, which
equaled the Westfield sophomore record set in 1994 when the great Matt Elmuccio ran 16:27 to win the state Group 4 title.
"I guess it means I have a bright future,'' said
Leahy. "I'm pretty happy with the way I ran.''
The fifth-place finish by Westfield capped a remarkable
season, highlighted by its first state Group 4 title since 1996. Westfield has
now won a state Group 4 title in five straight decades.
"Coach Martin put up posters in the locker room this
week, and finishing in the top five was one of the things he put down as a
goal,'' said senior Ryan Scrudato, who ended 52nd in
16:49. "This certainly feels a lot better than last year when we didn't
even make it here.''
Summit, led by senior Kearsley Olcott,
was the only Union County girls' team to make the trip to the M of C. After
placing third in Group 2, Summit celebrated its first M of C berth in four
years by placing 13th overall.
The last time Summit qualified for the M of C was in Olcott's freshman season of 2006. Olcott
led the way then, crossing 41st in 19:37, and she led the way this time, too,
finishing in 58th in 20:07 yesterday.
"We're all so excited to get this far,'' Olcott said. "It definitely was a pleasant surprise.
Since we didn't do so well at sectionals (third in North Jersey, Section 2,
Group 2), we were pumped up for groups. This was a great way to end the
season.''
Summit qualified for the M of C by placing third in Group
2 with 147 points, one more than fourth-place Bernards.
The top three teams in each group automatically qualified for the M of C.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood junior Kathleen Leeper, a
first-year cross-country runner and the first girl from her school to qualify
for the M of C, placed 59th overall in 20:07. She earned this historic berth by
placing 15th in 20:04 in the Group 3 meet.
Last year at this time she was a member of the flag team
that performed at halftime of her school's football games.
Nichelle Harris was the first Rahway girl in 15 years
to qualify for the M of C after placing 10th overall in the Group 2 race in
19:56. The last Rahway girl to earn that privilege was Marissa DeFreese in 1994.
Harris had a tough time in her first M of C appearance, as she sprained her ankle
in the race and struggled home to finish 98th in 21:00.
The Delaware Valley boys, under first-year coach Dave Giantisco, completed a storybook season with a very
impressive 12th-place finish in the 20-team field. It was the first trip to the
M of C for Delaware Valley since 1975.
On the road to the M of C, Delaware Valley won its first
Central Jersey, Group 2 title since 1986 and the Hunterdon County team then
went on to finish second in Group 2.