POSTED ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE FALL 2013 WARREN HILLS CROSS
COUNTRY SEASON
Fall Sports Awards Program, 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3: Students from all fall
sports, along with parents and other guests, will start this program in the Warren Hills
Regional High School auditorium listening to presentations from the head coaches.
Afterward, athletes from each sport will go to different classrooms for individual awards
presentations. Each cross-country runner will receive one of three awards: certificate,
numerals, or varsity letter. In addition, special recognition will be given to cross-country
runners in the following seven categories: Most Valuable Player on the girls' team, Most
Valuable Player on the boys' team, Most Improved Athlete on the girls' team, Most
Improved Athlete on the boys' team, Newcomer of the Year on the girls' team,
Newcomer of the Year on the boys' team, and Coaches' Award (to just one male or
female athlete whose work ethic, attitude, and team commitment served as a positive
model for teammates during the 2013 season). Hope to see you at the Fall Sports
Awards Program!
NOV. 9: 20-team NJSIAA North II, Group 3, Sectional Championships on Saturday,
Nov. 9, 2013, in Elizabeth, NJ (Warinanco Park)
The Sectional results mean that the Warren Hills 2013 cross-country season is over.
(The top 10 individual finishers and the top five teams in Sectionals move on to the
Group State Championships next Saturday.) (2) Two of our 14 Warren Hills runners
(seven girls and seven boys) ran slower at Sectionals than at a race on the same
course in late September, but the remaining 12 runners improved their times at
Sectionals anywhere from 15 seconds to 1 minute 52 seconds.
GIRLS (111 runners competed):
Team: The WH girls’ team finished in 10th place with 314 points, just 4 points behind
ninth-place Parsippany Hills. The first-place team was West Morris Central with 59
points.
WH individuals: 40th place, Corinne Boucher (senior), 21:39; 58th place, Julia Watts
(freshman), 22:45; 67th place, Sarah Kochan (freshman), 23:22; 73rd place, Amanda
Valli (junior), 24:10; 82nd place, Monica Nguyen (senior), 24:39; 90th place, Kathryn
Sanders (sophomore), 25:08; 96th place, Allyson Schmieder (freshman), 25:47. The
race’s winner was Mackenzie Barry, a senior from West Morris Mendham, in 18:24.
BOYS (117 runners competed):
Team: The WH boys’ team finished in 11th place with 284 points. The first-place team
was Chatham with 65 points.
WH individuals: 43rd place, Brandon Meyer (junior), 18:01; 51st place, Nick DiSessa
(senior), 18:18; 54th place, Glenn Edmondson (sophomore), 18:27; 66th place, Rob
Servilio (junior), 18:47; 70th place, Brian Spolarich (freshman), 18:53; 82nd place, Evan
Turner (junior), 19:33; 83rd place, Jack Antley (sophomore), 19:33. The race’s winner
was Sean Lyons, a senior from Morristown, in 16:18.
LOOKING AHEAD TO NOV. 9: Warren Hills is in the NJSIAA's North II, Group III,
Cross Country Sectional and will be running at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth, NJ, at
12:05 p.m. for the girls and 12:55 p.m. for the boys on Saturday, Nov. 9. The following
19 team members are the varsity runners who will be training, on our usual after-school
practice schedule, for the Sectionals during the next couple of weeks (Oct. 25 through
Nov. 9, 2013):
Girls: Corinne Boucher, Meadhbh Carroll, Jenna Ischinger, Sarah Kochan, Monica
Nguyen, Kathryn Sanders, Allyson Schmieder, Amanda Valli, Julia Watts.
Boys: John "Jack" Antley, Nicholas DiSessa, Glenn Edmondson, Bill Hayes-Sanders,
Brandon Meyer, Scott Ruskan, Rob Servilio, Justin Singh, Brian Spolarich, Evan Turner.
Saturday, Oct. 26: Each member of the top running group runs a relatively easy 10 to
12 miles; second-tier runners complete a relatively easy 8 miles.
Sunday, Oct. 27: Distance run of 6 to 8 miles
Monday, Oct. 28: Speed workout; details will be given out at the start of practice at 2:50
p.m. in Coach Kurpat's room.
OCT. 24: 23-team Skyland Conference Championships
BOYS' TEAM: Nine of our 22 competing boys (40 percent) ran personal-best 5kilometer times for the season, including four of our top five varsity runners, indicating
that the boys’ team is peaking nicely toward the NJSIAA Sectionals on Nov. 9.
Disappointingly, though, the boys’ team almost beat Phillipsburg, but didn't quite do it,
for the first time in about two decades or more. P-burg’s top 5 runners ran an average of
8 seconds faster in the 5 kilometer race than the WH top 5. The varsity boys finished in
14th place out of the 23 teams. Freshman Scott Ruskan earned a ribbon in the
freshman race. Quick results:
1st place, Hillsborough, average time per top 5 team runner = 16:22
13th place, Phillipsburg, 17:50 average
14th place, Warren Hills, 17:58 average
15th place, Delaware Valley, 18:00 average
23rd place (last), Bound Brook, 22:18 average
GIRLS' TEAM: The varsity girls finished in 18th place out of 21 teams. Senior Corinne
Boucher, WH’s No. 1 runner, was only 2 seconds slower than her fastest 5K time of the
season. Quick results:
1st place, Hillsborough, average time per top 5 team runner = 19:29
17th place, Somerville, 23:13 average
18th place, Warren Hills, 23:15 average
19th place, Belvidere, 23:54 average
21st place (last), Rutgers Prep, 24:48 average
LOOKING AHEAD TO THURSDAY, OCT. 24: SKYLAND CONFERENCE
CHAMPIONSHIPS at Natirar County Park, 2 Main Street, Peapack, NJ 07977; (908)
901-9500. Team's bus departure time from WHRHS: 11:00 a.m. Classes end for lunch
at 10:40 a.m. We'll need all runners to get dressed and get on the bus as soon as
possible; that means you'll have to bring your own lunches to school and probably eat
them on the bus. As usual, eat light; don't eat anything heavy that will sit in your
stomach and slow you down! Schedule of races:
1:00 Boys Varsity
1:30 Girls Varsity
2:00 Boys Junior Varsity
2:30 Girls Junior Varsity
3:00 Freshmen (boys and girls running the full 5-kilometer course together)
OCT. 17: SIX PERSONAL BESTS RECORDED AT HUNTERDON/WARREN/SUSSEX
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Despite a grueling schedule that saw WH run five races in nine days (including back-toback races on Monday and Tuesday), six athletes -- that's 25 percent of our runners
who competed in the 5K at the H/W/S Counties Invitational on Thursday -- recorded
personal-best 5K races for the year. That's pretty incredible for a group of runners with
tired legs:
(1) Corinne Boucher ran 20:57 (although she could argue that her conversion time for
the not-quite-5K race at North Warren the previous Friday was faster).
(2) Justin Singh broke the 20-minute barrier for the first time -- and he broke it by a lot -by finishing in 19:37, which gave him our seventh best time on the boys' team. One of
Justin's teammates called him "awe-inspiring."
(3) John Fluck ran 20:14. We hope, John, that you'll be thinking sub-20:00 this coming
Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Skyland Conference Championships!
(4) Tristin Joachim went 20:26. Again, could we be looking at sub-20:00 next week?
(5) David Maxson went 20:26. Yet again, how about sub-20:00 next week?
(6) Chris Marrero finished in 21:20. Sub-21:00 is on the horizon for you next week. In
fact, no one would be surprised if you ran with Tristin and David and broke 20:00 with
them.
Results for all five races at the Oct. 17 championships are available at:
http://nj.milesplit.com/meets/152893-hunterdon-warren-sussexchampiohsips#.UmCAuxCohlt
OCT. 15: WH GIRLS, BOYS BEAT COUNTY RIVAL BY LARGE MARGINS TO REACH
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS! The male and female Blue Streaks each notched a tenth win for
the 2013 season by beating perennial Warren County rival Hackettstown by 27 points
each in a home meet. Warren Hills joins only two other Skyland Conference schools,
Voorhees and Bernards, in reaching double-digit wins for the season. Most of the WH
runners competing against Hackettstown were running their second 5K race in 24 hours
due to a fluke in this year's schedule, but they dominated Hackettstown despite their
tired legs. Senior Corinne Boucher won the girls' race, followed by freshmen Julia Watts
(2nd place) and Sarah Kochan (3rd place). Senior Monica Nguyen took 5th place, and
freshman Allyson Schmieder earned her second varsity-letter point in two days by
taking 6th place. Sophomore Kathryn Sanders (8th place) and freshman Meadhbh
Carroll (9th place) pushed back Hackettstown's final score, and they were followed
closely by sophomore Jenna Ischinger (11th place). The girls' overall record is 10-5. In
the boys' race, a Hackettstown runner finished No. 1 (J.P. Mortgamay in 18:29), but WH
runners took the next nine places: Nick DiSessa, Glenn Edmondson, Brandon Meyer,
Brian Spolarich, Robert Servilio, Bill Hayes-Sanders, John Antley, Evan Turner, and
Justin Singh. The boys' record is 10-4.
OCT. 14: ANTLEY, NGUYEN CAPTURE 1ST PLACE IN WH TEAM VICTORIES!
Sophomore Jack Antley finished in 18:32 in the boys' race, and senior Monica Nguyen
ran 24:49 for the girls, as both the WH boys' team and WH girls' team defeated
crosstown rival Warren Tech by sizable margins. In winning their races, Antley and
Nguyen outright earned 2013 varsity letters for the 2013 season. The boys won by a
score of 15-48 (low score wins in cross country) and increased their overall season
record to 9 wins, 4 losses. Besides Antley, the four other point-scorers for WH beat
Tech's No. 1 man (Austin Young, 6th place in 20:24). Those four WH runners, each of
whom earned a point toward a varsity letter, were Bill Hayes-Sanders (2nd place,
18:56), Evan Turner (3rd place, 20:05), Scott Ruskan (4th place, 20:05.5), and Justin
Singh (5th place, 20:07). Two other WH runners also ran well enough to beat Tech's
second finisher (Tim Perschy in 21:20) and push Tech's score further back: Kyle
Janowski (7th place, 20:34) and John Fluck (8th place, 20:47). The five girls who ran for
WH took the first five places in the race, boosting the girls' overall record to 9 wins, 5
losses. The girls won by a score of 15-40. Besides Nguyen's first place, the other four
runners (each of whom earned 1 point toward a varsity letter) in order of finish were
Kathryn Sanders (24:51, only 2 seconds behind 1st place), Allyson Schmieder (25:21),
Meadhbh Carroll (25:59), and Jenna Ischinger (28:26).
LOOKING AHEAD TO THURSDAY, OCT. 17: All cross-country runners will be leaving
school during lunchtime to compete in the 20-team Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Cross
Country Championships at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ. LET YOUR
BLOCK 7/G, 8/H, and 5/E TEACHERS KNOW IN ADVANCE ABOUT YOUR PLANNED
ABSENCE, especially if you have a quiz or test scheduled for that day. Five races are
scheduled:
1:30 p.m. boys/girls' combined race for freshmen
2:00 p.m. boys' varsity race
2:30 p.m. girls' varsity race
3:00 p.m. boys' junior varsity race
3:30 p.m. girls' junior varsity race
As things stand now, we will enter at least three freshmen in the two varsity races. We
will sort out our specific entries for the five races on Wednesday (Oct. 16) when we
determine how everyone is feeling after our meets on Monday (Oct. 14) and Tuesday
(Oct. 15).
WH X-C RUNNING SCHEDULE OCT. 12-15:
We discussed this thoroughly on Thursday, but in case you forgot...
OCT. 12: Very easy run of a few miles; you've had two successful races in three days;
don't push today.
OCT. 13: If you're running at Warren Tech on Monday (Oct. 14), please jog a couple of
miles. If you're NOT scheduled to run at Warren Tech, then get in a relatively easy 6 to
8 miles, depending on how you feel. The list of nine runners NOT running at Warren
Tech appears below, under "Oct. 14."
OCT. 14 (no school for students): Be at the entrance to the Franklin Township Library
(just west of Warren County Community College) by 3:00 p.m. to face crosstown rival
Warren Tech; the library is on the campus of Warren Tech, 1500 Route 57, Washington,
NJ. Every boy and girl on our WH team will run the race EXCEPT for Corinne Boucher,
Julia Watts, Sarah Kochan, Amanda Valli, Brandon Meyer, Nick DiSessa, Brian
Spolarich, Glenn Edmondson, and Rob Servilio. Those NOT running at Tech should put
in a few easy miles either at home or at Tech while cheering on your teammates
(although you are not required to attend the Tech meet).
OCT. 15: Our last home meet of the season, vs. cross-county rival Hackettstown. Boys'
race is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m.; girls will follow about a half hour later.
GET LOTS OF SLEEP THIS WEEKEND! REST UP! THE SCHEDULING GODS HAVE
BEEN UNKIND TO US (five races in nine days)!
OCT. 11: BOUCHER CAPTURES 2ND STRAIGHT GIRLS' COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP!
WH BOYS' TEAM WINS INVITATIONAL AND RECORDS HISTORIC VICTORY!
GIRLS' 3.05-MILE RACE: WH senior Corinne Boucher took first place for the second
year in a row at the 5th Annual Warren County Invitational in Blairstown on Friday (Oct.
11). Early in the race she ran with a front pack of opponents from North Warren
Regional High School and Belvidere High School, biding her time as one-by-one girls
dropped back because they were unable to maintain the brisk pace. Corinne out-kicked
three NW girls during the final 400 meters to claim the individual county title. NW's team
placed first out of the five teams, with Warren Hills claiming second place. Other WH
finishers were freshman Julia Watts (21:58), freshman Sarah Kochan (22:02), senior
Monica Nguyen (23:07), freshman Meadhbh Carroll (23:57), sophomore Kathryn
Sanders (24:12), freshman Allyson Schmieder (24:44), and sophomore Jenna Ischinger
(26:01). Junior Amanda Valli was forced to drop out due to injury.
BOYS' 3.05-MILE RACE: The WH boys' team was able to hoist the Warren County
Invitational's championship plaque after a close battle against host North Warren.
What's more, the boys' cross-country team beat NW for what is believed to be the first
time in WH history! With things looking bleak for the Blue Streaks late in the race, WH's
fifth runner and final point-scorer, sophomore Jack Antley, ran perhaps the fastest final
600 meters of his life to pass a NW runner in order to grab 9th place and secure a WH
victory. WH's top four runners were junior Brandon Meyer (2nd place), senior Nick
DiSessa (3rd place), freshman Brian Spolarich (6th place), and sophomore Glenn
Edmondson (7th place). This pack of four patient runners let a dozen opponents run a
blistering pace in front of them for half the race before picking off one tired opponent at
a time. (The finishing times for the boys' race were not immediately available at press
time.)
OCT. 9: At Delaware Valley Regional H.S. today, the Warren Hills boys' team improved
its record to 6 wins 4 losses, while the girls dropped to 6-5. Twenty-six of the 30 WH
runners competing in the race – including all eight girls – ran personal-best times for the
2013 season.
BOYS (low score wins): WH 27, Delaware Valley 28
Warren Hills' boys beat Del Val by 1 point; this is a significant improvement over last
year’s meet at Del Val, where Del Val had 10 boys finish the 5K race before WH’s first
runner crossed the finish line. A total of 55 boys (including 22 from WH) competed. The
top five WH finishers (each of whom received 1 point toward a varsity letter) were senior
Nick DiSessa (2nd place/17:48), junior Brandon Meyer (3rd place/17:49), freshman
Brian Spolarich (5th place/17:55), sophomore Glenn Edmondson (7th place/18:03), and
junior Rob Servilio (10th place/18:27).
GIRLS (low score wins): Delaware Valley 22, WH 37
A total of about 30 girls (including eight from WH) competed. The top five WH finishers
(each of whom received 1 point toward a varsity letter) were senior Corinne Boucher
(2nd place/21:16), freshman Julia Watts (5th place/22:39), freshman Sarah Kochan (7th
place/22:59), junior Amanda Valli (11th place/23:27), and senior Monica Nguyen (16th
place/23:51).
OCT. 2:BOYS (cumulative record: 5 wins and 4 losses): Warren Hills' boys recorded 1
win and 1 loss against two Skyland Conference schools. A total of about 35 boys
competed. The top five WH finishers (each of whom received 1 point toward a varsity
letter) were senior Nick DiSessa (5th place/18:32), sophomore Glenn Edmondson (6th
place/18:35), freshman Brian Spolarich (7th place/18:57), junior Brandon Meyer (8th
place/19:11), and junior Rob Servilio (9th place/19:17). Team scores (low score
wins): WH 15, Bound Brook 50; Bernards 20, WH 35. GIRLS (cumulative record: 6 wins
and 4 losses): The girls recorded 1 win and 1 loss against both Skyland Conference
schools. A total of 28 girls competed. The top five WH finishers (each of whom received
1 point toward a varsity letter) were senior Corinne Boucher (2nd place/22:26), freshman
Julia Watts (10th place/24:37), junior Amanda Valli (12th place/25:05), freshman Sarah
Kochan (13th place/25:17), and sophomore Kathryn Sanders (14th place/25:33). Girls’
team scores (low score wins): WH 15, Bound Brook 45; Bernards 19, WH 44
SEPT. 25: The WH boys' and girls' teams each put in superior efforts today in beating
Belvidere but losing to Pingry in a triangular meet at Belvidere High School. The boys,
led by Brandon Meyer and Nick DiSessa in a race that saw the top 19 runners
accidentally go off-course during the second mile, beat Belvidere 15-50 but lost 35-22 to
Pingry. The girls ran without top runner Corinne Boucher (leg injury), but freshmen Julia
Watts and Sarah Kochan stepped up to take the team to a 25-32 victory over Belvidere.
The girls lost to Pingry 15-45.
SCHEDULE UPDATE: The WHRHS cross-country schedule was updated Sept. 21.
Only one change: On Saturday, Oct. 5, we will have a practice from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.,
instead of a race that was originally scheduled for that date. Two main reasons:
(1) We already have conference meets scheduled for Oct. 2 and 9, so throwing another
race into the middle on Oct. 5 would have prevented us from boosting our training in
preparation for the final four weeks of the season; such a schedule would have allowed
us to train hard on only one day (Oct. 7) during the first half of October. Thus, replacing
the Oct. 5 race with a practice gives us additional, valuable practice time.
(2) We don't want to burn out physically and emotionally on too many races, especially
considering that starting Oct. 9, our schedule has us running five races in nine days!
Negotiations are continuing with other teams' coaches to try to cancel at least one of
those five races and to send only our "B" team to another one.
For a complete, four-month calendar of the 2013 cross-country season, click on the
"Practice and Meet Schedule" link above.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 21: Four Blue Streaks won medals today at the 34th Annual New
Jersey Catholic Track Conference Class Cross Country Championships, Bernie Magee
Memorial, at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth, NJ. Some 60-plus high school teams
competed at the park, with freshmen running a 3,600-meter race and sophomores,
juniors, and seniors covering 5,250 meters (250 meters longer than the standard 5kilometer race). For the girls' team, senior Corinne Boucher captured an 18th-place
medal with a time of 21:55 (average mile time of 6:43); freshman Julia Watts (15:43,
7:02 per mile) missed earning a medal by just 3 seconds. Medalists on the boys' team
were sophomore Glenn Edmondson in 18:46 -- an average of 5:46 a mile, making it
easily his best race of the season -- and freshmen Brian Spolarich (12:47, mile average
of 5:43) and Scott Ruskan (13:02, 5:50 per mile). A total of 22 boys and nine girls from
Warren Hills competed. Results for all runners are available
at http://nj.milesplit.com/meets/148617-njctc-bernie-magee-class-meet#.Uj76Uxbdzwz
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 18: Led by senior Corinne Boucher, who took first place overall
with a time of 21:48 for the 5-kilometer course, the Warren Hills girls beat both of the
Skyland Conference teams they faced today, upping their season record to 4 wins and
2 losses. The boys' team lost to Somerville 26-31 but easily outdistanced Immaculata
20-43; the boys' record stands at 3-2. The vast majority of runners for both the boys'
and girls' teams recorded personal records on the home course during the races.
GIRLS: The future looks especially bright for the girls' team, whose top 7 varsity
finishers contained four freshmen: Julia Watts (third place, 24:00), Sarah Kochan (fifth
place, 24:12), Meadhbh Carroll (10th place, 25:27), and Allyson Schmieder (who is
recovering from a leg injury, 12th place, 25:54). They were joined by senior Monica
Nguyen (eighth place, 24:52) and sophomore Kathryn Sanders (14th place, 26:41).
Team scores for the three girls' teams (low score wins):
WH 27, Somerville 28
WH 15, Immaculata 49
Somerville 15, Immaculata 47
BOYS: The Blue Streaks had seven boys finish before Somerville's fifth and final scorer
in the meet, but it wasn't enough for WH to win. Somerville took first and second place,
and an Immaculata runner placed third. Junior Brandon Meyer (18:37) and senior Nick
DiSessa (18:52) took fourth and fifth places, respectively. Freshman Brian Spolarich
continued to impress his coaches and teammates by placing eighth (19:15). Rounding
out WH's top 7 were sophomore Glenn Edmondson (ninth, 19:20), junior Rob Servilio
(10th, 19:22), sophomore Matt Sella (11th, 19:23), and junior Bill Hayes-Sanders (12th,
19:46).
Team scores:
WH 20, Immaculata 43
Somerville 26, WH 31
Somerville 19, Immaculata 40
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 11: Warren Hills' boys recorded 2 wins and 1 loss on their home
course on a sunny, humid, 90-degree day. The girls ended up with 2 wins and 2 losses.
Team scores (low score wins):
BOYS
WH 15, Manville 49
WH 15, South Hunterdon 49
Voorhees 19, WH 39
GIRLS
WH 17, Manville 42
WH 15, South Hunterdon 48
Voorhees 16, WH 39
Mount St. Mary's Academy 17, WH 44
Top 7 (varsity) WH boys and their places/times: Brandon Meyer 4/19:02, Nick DiSessa
5/19:15, Glenn Edmondson 9/20:00, Brian Spolarich 10/20:11, Rob Servilio 11/20:18,
Jack Antley 12/20:19, and Bill Hayes-Sanders 17/21:04.
Top 7 (varsity) WH girls and their places/times: Corinne Boucher 8/23:52, Monica
Nguyen 13/26:40, Julia Watts 14/26:51, Amanda Valli 16/27:35, Tess Anastasio
19/28:13, Allyson Schmieder 20/28:29, and Kathryn Sanders 28/30:12.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 7: THE EXPRESS-TIMES newspaper, Sports Section, page B6,
Saturday, Sept. 7. Skyland Conference Boys Cross Country Preview: North Hunterdon
ready to roll. "... [second column of story] Warren Hills features No. 1 runner Brandon
Meyer. The junior will be backed by a strong pack that includes Nick DiSessa, the only
senior in the program, junior Rob Servilio and sophomores Glenn Edmondson and Jack
Antley, and freshman Brian Spolarich."
FRIDAY, SEPT. 6: THE EXPRESS-TIMES newspaper, Sports Section, page B5,
Friday, Sept. 6. Skyland Conference Girls Cross Country Preview: New Faces Highlight
the New Season. "... [third column of story] Warren Hills returns senior Corinne
Boucher, who has spent time as the Blue Streaks' No. 1 runner when not battling
injuries. Senior Monica Nguyen and junior Amanda Valli are also back and coach Andy
Oakley hopes to mix in a pair of promising freshmen in Julia Watts and Allyson
Schmieder."
TUESDAY, SEPT. 3: Warren Hills girls' and boys' cross-country teams beat Newton
High School today. The double victory was especially sweet for two WH teams that had
lost to Newton by sizable margins just one year earlier. For the girls, Newton captured
first and second place in the 5K race at Newton's home course, but WH took the next
five spots -- senior Corinne Boucher (21:43), junior Amanda Valli (24:22), freshman
Julia Watts (24:27), senior Monica Nguyen (24:55), and freshman Allyson Schmieder
(25:01) -- to win 25-34 (low score wins in cross country meets). Two other runners also
ran well enough to push the opponents' score further back: freshman Sarah Kochan
(ninth place in 25:42) and Kathryn Sanders (10th place in 25:50). In the boys' race, WH
junior Brandon Meyer grabbed first place with a time of 17:30 for the first outright victory
by a Warren Hills male runner in close to a decade. In sorting out a mix-up by race
officials at the finish line, the WH coaching staff determined that Nick DiSessa (the only
senior on the boys' team) took second in 18:13, sophomore Jack Antley was third (also
in 18:13), sophomore Glenn Edmondson nabbed fifth place in 18:15, and junior Rob
Servilio rounded out the scoring with 18:28 for seventh place. Two other WH runners
finishing high enough to push back the opponents' score were Matt Sella in 18:39 and
Brian Spolarich in 18:49. After the competition, WH athletes celebrated the birthdays of
sophomore A.J. Kowski (who ran a personal-best 22:06 in the boys' race) and freshman
Meadhbh Carroll (who ran 30:48 in the girls' race for her first official cross-country meet
of her young career). Thank you to Mrs. Kowski for supplying birthday refreshments!
SEPT. 3 AND SEPT. 7: Our first two away meets are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 3,
and Saturday, Sept. 7; more details on these two meets appear below, under
"SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF SEPT. 2." On our return trip on the team bus from each
away meet this year, students will be asked to call their parents when we are 20
minutes away from the school to alert the parents to pick up their WH runners. Parents,
please be on time to meet the bus when it pulls into the parking lot to drop off your
runners outside of the cafeteria on the north side of the high school. Student-athletes on
the cross-country team (and on ALL WH sports teams, for that matter) are required to
travel with teammates and coaches on the team bus to and from away competitions. If a
parent attending an away meet wants to drive his/her child home from the competition
(instead of having the child take the bus back to WHRHS), the parent MUST fill out a
"Transportation Application (to transport own child)" form and submit it to the Warren
Hills Regional High School Athletic Office at least 24 hours in advance of the away
competition. If a parent wants the option of driving home his/her child from all away
meets during the entire Fall 2013 cross-country season, the parent merely needs to fill
out the "Transportation Application (to transport own child)" form only once and print "all
season" on the form's first blank line. There are no exceptions to this rule! Under both
school policy and state law, an athlete ABSOLUTELY MUST return from a competition
on the team bus if the Athletic Office does not receive the completed "Transportation
Application" on time. If a parent thinks he/she might need to take his/her child home
from an away meet at least once this year, please fill out the "Transportation
Application (to transport own child)" form now; it is available at
http://www.warrenhills.org/domain/44 at the bottom of the computer screen, under
"ADDITIONAL FORMS you may need."
SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF SEPT. 2:
MONDAY, Sept. 2: Labor Day (no practice, run on your own)
TUESDAY, Sept. 3: Bus leaves WHRHS at 2:35 p.m. for a scrimmage 5-kilometer race
against Newton High School at Kittatinny Valley State Park in southern Sussex County.
For park location and other info:
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/kittval.html When school lets out at
2:18 p.m., all team members should hurry to the boys' and girls' locker rooms to get
dressed in WH race uniforms before catching the bus, which will pick us up by the exit
doors next to the cafeteria. The race is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 4: Practice 2:50 to 4:35 p.m.
THURSDAY, Sept. 5: Practice 2:50 to 4:35 p.m.
FRIDAY, Sept. 6: Practice 2:50 to 4:35 p.m.
SATURDAY, Sept. 7: Bus leaves WHRHS at 7:30 a.m. for the Petty Classic 5-Kilometer
Fun Run at Delaware Valley Regional High School in northern Hunterdon County. A
main rule for this race is that runners are asked NOT to wear clothing that identifies
which school they are from; thus, each WH runner should NOT don a WH race uniform
but, instead, should wear comfortable T-shirt and shorts unrelated to WH but that are
school-appropriate (e.g., no T-shirts containing profanities, advertising alcoholic
beverages, etc.). This event is a "fun run" designed to downplay team competition. The
first race is scheduled to kick off at 9:00 a.m.
SUNDAY, Sept. 8: No practice; complete a race-recovery run on your own
Aug. 31 through Sept. 2: We will have no practices over the Labor Day holiday
weekend (see the team schedule, whose link appears above). Run on your own during
those three days, keeping in mind that we have a scrimmage meet at Kittatinny Valley
State Park against Newton High School on Sept. 3 (so don't commit to any strenuous
training runs on Sept. 2). Some of our runners plan to enter, on their own (this is not an
official WH function), the Stroudfest 5K road race in Stroudsburg, PA (only about a 30minute drive from Washington, NJ), at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, as part of a weekend
workout. Check-in is from 7 to 7:45 a.m. at the intersection of Seventh and Monroe
streets in Stroudsburg. Entry fee is $20. If interested, you should ask Coach Oakley for
a copy of the entry form. The race can serve as a good change-of-pace workout for
you! You and your family might also want to stick around for all of the festival activities
during the day.
TIME TRIAL RESULTS FOR MONDAY, AUG. 26: All 32 of our runners who competed
in our 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) time trial this morning on the WHRHS cross-country
course will receive a handout at Tuesday's practice that will give you your 5K time and
your splits for the first and second miles. We can discuss your pace and determine how
you can improve your overall 5K time!
Following is the list of the top seven female finishers and top seven male finishers in the
time trial. The varsity team consists of the seven fastest runners for the boys' team and
for the girls' team. Come October, we will need to determine which runners are our
varsity runners so that we can enter only those seven in the state sectionals, state
championships, and other important competitions. If you didn't break into the top seven
today, you still have all of September to work your way up there. If you made the top 7
today, keep working hard, because there are plenty of teammates who want to take
your place on the varsity.
TOP 7 GIRLS (10 ran the time trial):
Corinne Boucher, 24:35
Monica Nguyen, 27:59
Julia Watts, 28:11
Allyson Schmieder and Amanda Valli, 28:20
Kathryn Sanders, 29:56
Meadhbh Carroll, 33:10
TOP 7 BOYS (22 ran the time trial):
Brandon Meyer, 19:27
Glenn Edmondson, 20:29
Jack Antley, 20:33
Rob Servilio, 20:44
Brian Spolarich, 20:50
Nick DiSessa, 20:56
Bill Hayes-Sanders, 21:14
Monday, Aug. 26: 5K time trial and team/individual photos. Practice starts at 8 a.m.
After a warm-up, everyone (except any runner with an injury) will run our 5-kilometer
cross-country course as fast as possible for time. At 10 a.m., team and individual photos
will be taken at the football stadium across the street from the high school. Please
remember to bring your team jersey/singlet and shorts for the photos; you may either
wear them during the workout or change into them after the workout is over. Team
uniforms were distributed to runners on Saturday (Aug. 24).
Timeline related to team/individual photos and uniform distribution:
FRIDAY, AUG. 23: Receive picture order forms after practice.
SATURDAY, AUG. 24: Pick up your official jersey, shorts, jacket, duffel bag, and other
items related to your 2013 cross-country uniform; ask for a picture order form if you
didn't get one on Friday.
MONDAY, AUG. 26: At our 8 a.m. practice, ask for your cross-country uniform if you
didn't get one on Saturday. Team and individual photos IN UNIFORM will be taken at
the stadium at the end of cross-country practice (10:00 a.m.); don't forget your
completed picture order forms!
Aug. 12, 2013: Official start date for fall sports at New Jersey public high schools.
Cross country athletes will meet for practices at 8:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday
during August (except no practice Saturday, Aug. 31, due to the Labor Day weekend) at
the bench on the northeast side of the school, just outside the band room and
greenhouse (same gathering place as last year).
July 11, 2013: All runners should complete school paperwork -- primarily, documents
related to a physical exam and/or completion of an online registration form -- as soon as
possible so that they are allowed to practice with the cross-country team by the official
start of the season on Monday, Aug. 12. Information on all needed paperwork is
available on the WHRHS web site; go to "Athletics," then click on "Information for
Athletes." A current physical (one performed within the last 365 days) must be on file in
the nurse's office before you may begin participating in the weight room in July and
August and in summer activities. Parents may check the Parent Portal on Infinite
Campus to determine their children's most recent physical exam dates.
July 2, 2013: Captains' summer workouts started at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 2, at the WH
track, across from the high school on Jackson Valley Road, Washington. These
voluntary workouts are scheduled to meet at the track at 6 p.m. every Tuesday and
Thursday through Aug. 8. Tuesdays will be strength/speed-building hill or track
workouts. Thursdays are distance runs, anywhere from 3 to 12 miles (depending on
your ability and desire levels).
Last Modified on November 16, 2013